Transcript Best Practices in Embracing a Positive School Environment

Best Practices
in Embracing a
Positive School Environment
CAIS Southern Regional Meeting
March 8, 2010
THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Parents of teen who shot himself sue school district
Daniel Mendez, 16, was "systematically tormented" by bullying at school.
Friday, August 28, 2009
By SCOTT MARTINDALE
SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO – The parents of a San Clemente High School sophomore
who killed himself have filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Capistrano
Unified School District that alleges administrators failed to stop the "blatant
and ongoing" bullying leading up to his suicide.
Daniel Mendez, 16, was found May 1 in a residential neighborhood near his San
Clemente home, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. His
parents, Danny and Anna Mendez, filed the lawsuit today in Orange County
Superior Court.
“You can’t eliminate all bullying, but you can certainly deal with bullying when it gets
to the level of a kid who is just chronically being tormented,” said the parents’
attorney, James Traut. “Parents should be able to rely on schools to protect
their kids.”
“Daniel Mendez experienced bullying and racial harassment incidents frequently
while enrolled in the school,” the lawsuit says. “When complaints of Daniel
Mendez being abused by other students were brought to the attention of
administrators, nothing was done.”
Traut said he did not know why Mendez was bullied or the nature of his exchanges
with other students, but described the bullying incidents as frequent and
involving multiple groups of students who verbally and physically assaulted
the teen on campus during the school day.
He then drove to a friend's house in San Clemente's Forster Ranch neighborhood,
parked a couple of doors down, got out of the car, and shot himself in a front
yard in broad daylight. He did not leave a suicide note.
The lawsuit follows a $3 million legal claim filed in June against the school district that
contained essentially the same allegations. The school district did not respond
to the claim, paving the way for the lawsuit.
Mendez’s parents have declined all requests to be interviewed since taking legal
action, but in a Register interview shortly after her son's death, Anna Mendez
talked extensively about her son’s accomplishments and his aspirations to
study law and attend college in San Diego.
Both Mendez and his parents approached San Clemente High administrators at
separate times to discuss the bullying, which began in middle school, Traut
said.
"He was consistently an honor-roll student,” Anna Mendez said. “He was an amazing
young man and will forever be loved."
“He complained about the bullying to school administrators,” the lawsuit says. “In
response, students labeled him a rat.”
Mendez was a freshman football player, a Boy Scout, a trombone player and a black
belt in tae kwon do.
The lawsuit cites two unnamed “older students” who “systematically tormented him
for years.” It’s unclear whether Mendez, described in the suit as Hispanic
American, was targeted because his race, Traut said.
The bullying "intensified" the week of Mendez's suicide, which was on a Friday, Traut
said.
Asked what about Mendez might have made him a bullying target, Traut said he was
an extremely quiet young man who never provoked or fought back.
After classes ended on May 1, Mendez went home, broke into a locked cabinet
where his father kept guns, and loaded a revolver, according to the lawsuit.
What is Bullying?
A person is bullied
when he or she is
exposed, repeatedly
and over time, to
negative actions
whether verbal, written,
or physical by one or
more individuals where
he or she has difficulty
defending himself or
herself (Olweus).
This definition includes the following
important components:
1. Bullying is aggressive behavior that involves
unwanted, negative actions.
2. Bullying involves a pattern of behavior repeated
over time.
3. Bullying involves an imbalance of power or
4. Bullying
creates an intimidating
strength.
or hostile environment that
substantially interferes with
student educational
opportunities.
Types of Bullying
1. Verbal bullying including derogatory comments and bad
names
2. Bullying through social exclusion or isolation
3. Physical bullying such as hitting, kicking, shoving, and
spitting
4. Bullying through lies and false rumors
5. Having money or other things taken or damaged by
students who bully
6. Being threatened or being forced to do things by students
who bully
7. Racial bullying
8. Sexual bullying
9. Cyber bullying (via cell phone or
Internet)*
What is Cyber Bullying?
• Cyber bullying includes, but is not limited to, the following
misuses of technology: harassing, teasing, intimidating,
threatening another student by way of any technological
tool, such as sending or posting an inappropriate or
derogatory email message, telephone message, instant
message, text message, digital picture or image, or
website posting (including an individual or collective
blog) (Connect with Kids). The problem is compounded
by the fact that a bully can hide behind an electronic veil,
disguising his or her true identity (Do Something). This
makes it difficult to trace the source, and encourages
bullies to behave more aggressively than they might
face-to-face.
Why Students Bully
1. Students who bully have strong needs for power
and (negative) dominance.
2. Students who bully find satisfaction in causing injury
and suffering to other students.
3. Students who bully are often rewarded in some way
for their behavior with material or psychological
rewards.
4. Students who bully are often victims of bullying
themselves.
Impact of Bullying
A single student who bullies can have a
wide-ranging impact on the students they
bully, students who observe bullying, and
the overall climate of the school and
community.
Students Who are Bullied
Students deserve to feel safe at school. But
when they experience bullying, these types of
effects can last long into their future:
• Depression
• Low self-esteem
• Health problems
• Poor grades
• Suicidal thoughts
• Missed school
Students Who Bully Others
•
•
•
•
•
•
Students who intentionally bully others should be
held accountable for their actions. Those who
bully their peers are also more likely than those
students who do not bully others to:
Get into frequent fights
Steal and vandalize property
Drink alcohol and smoke
Report poor grades
Perceive a negative climate at
school
Carry a weapon
Observers of Bullying
•
•
•
•
Students who see bullying happen also
may feel that they are in an unsafe
environment. Effects may include feeling:
Fearful
Powerless to act
Guilty for not acting
Tempted to participate
Schools with Bullying Issues
When bullying continues and a school does not
take action, the entire school climate can be
affected in the following ways:
– The school develops an environment of fear
and disrespect
– Students have difficulty learning
– Students feel insecure
– Students dislike school
– Students perceive that teachers and staff
have little control and don't care about them
The Bullying Circle
• Nearly one in five students in an average
classroom is experiencing bullying in some way.
The rest of the students, called bystanders, are
also affected by the bullying.
• The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
describes students involved or witnessing a
bullying situation as having roles in the Bullying
Circle
Bullying Prevention at St. Mary’s
Positive behavior should be encouraged
through…
– Christian Values / Code of Conduct
– IB Learner Profiles
– Empowered and Confident Students
*Remember, the word “discipline” comes from the
same root as the word “disciple” which means “to
teach.”
Proposed Steps for
Bully Prevention
(from Stan Davis, Stop Bullying Now)
1. Create a School-wide Bullying
Prevention committee to oversee the
program
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–
–
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Arrange staff training
Assess effectiveness
Suggest changes
Monitor consistency
Define and recruit members
Proposed Steps for
Bully Prevention
2. Train all staff
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–
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Staff serves as role models
Consistent response and reporting
Staff encourage student reporting
Possible online trainings
Proposed Steps for
Bully Prevention
3. Maintain a positive feeling and strong
staff-student connections
– Staff models respectful behavior
– Use a variety of mentoring strategies
– Maintain optimism and belief that students can
change
– Avoid anger as a disciplinary strategy
Proposed Steps for
Bully Prevention
4. Address gender issues
a)Homophobic bullying in boys
b)Sexual slurs for girls
c)More physical aggression in boys
d)Covert bullying in girls
Proposed Steps for
Bully Prevention
5. Use frequent descriptive praise for
positive behavior
• Use descriptive behavior (“I noticed that you have
been playing without fighting”) instead of traitbased (“You’re so kind”)
• I – messages (“I’m so happy you are treating
others nicely”)
• Provide opportunities for students to see the
positive effects of their changed behavior
Proposed Steps for
Bully Prevention
6. Develop consensus about specific rules
– Unacceptable behaviors grouped by action:
teasing and exclusion, severe harassment,
physical aggression
– Focus rules on action rather than intention
– Avoid “who started it” by focusing on the choices
each student made
Proposed Steps for
Bully Prevention
7. Maintain a school-wide reporting
expectation for any form of physical or
verbal aggression
– Report behavior to one central person
(ie. Division Heads)
– Allow for consistent consequences
– Emphasize importance of behavior
Proposed Steps for
Bully Prevention
8. Develop a school-wide behavior rubric
– Outlines specific, predictable, and escalating
consequences
– More severe behavior leads to more severe
consequences
– Consequences are predictable and based on the
student’s choice in behavior
– Allow for case by case discretion
Proposed Steps for
Bully Prevention
9. Support reflection and develop empathy
after consequences are known
–
Ask students to write about their involvement,
how their behavior affected others, how they can
reach a goal through their positive actions and
choices
– Ask open-ended questions to promote reflection
– Avoid questions that allow the student to blame
the target, give excuses, or trivialize the behavior
Proposed Steps for
Bully Prevention
10. Involve Parents
– Inform parents of positive and negative
behaviors
– Acknowledge when a student tells the truth they
show concern for the effects of their actions and
respect for others
– Find roles for the parent
– Invite parents to add other interventions
– Meet regularly without issue to strengthen bond
Proposed Steps for
Bully Prevention
11. Empower peer bystander
– Students need to feel safe in making staff aware
of situations
– Protect and praise those who report
– Develop and identify select students who are
willing to help others by stopping bullying
– Encourage students to befriend isolated peers
Proposed Steps for
Bully Prevention
12. Celebrate your successes
– Share specific positive feedback with all
stakeholders
– Conduct anonymous surveys for data
– Collect positive and negative feedback to
continue to evaluate
“Never be bullied into silence. Never
allow yourself to be made a victim.
Accept no one’s definition of your
life, but define yourself.”
Harvey S. Firestone
Works Cited
Connect with Kids. CWK Network, Inc. 2006. Web. 7 October 2009
< http://www.connectwithkids.com >.
Davis, Stan. Stop Bullying Now. 2009. Web. 7 October 2009
< http://www.stopbullyingnow.com > .
DoSomething.org. 2009. Web. 7 October 2009
< http://www.dosomething.org >.
Martindale, Scott. “Parents of teen who shot himself sue school district.” The Orange County Register.
28 August 2009. Web. 7 October 2009
< http://www.ocregister.com/articles/school-lawsuit-mendez-2544726-bullying-san >.
Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Hazeldon Foundation. 2008.
Web. 7 October 2009 < http://www.olweus.org/public/index.page >.
Additional Resource:
Stop Bullying Now. Health Resources and Services Administration.
Web. 7 October 2009 < http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov >.