What Parents & Educators Can Do
Worried about bullying in your child's school? Looking for insight into bullying prevention programs for kids? You might want to start at the playground.
In a thought-provoking and eye-opening post from PlaygroundProfessionals.com called "Take a Stand - Preventing bullying, interpersonal conflict and violence on the playground", Dr. Sherryll Kraizer, executive director of the Coalition for Children, and author of the “Take A Stand Program for the Prevention of Bullying” program, shares how vital the playground environment can be for helping prevent bullying. Read an excerpt of the post below and the entire thing here.
Bullying, intimidation and interpersonal conflict have been a part of playground management for generations. Children struggle with being called names, being picked on, being excluded, not knowing how to make friends, or being the ones acting unkindly or aggressively toward others. For too long, adults have believed that bullying is just part of growing up, that there have always been kids who are jocks and kids who are geeks, those who are in and those who are out. This acceptance has prevented adults from stopping this pattern.
We know the statistics, that 15 percent of students are bullied regularly and that 80 percent of middle school children admit to bullying behavior at least once a month. What we need to recognize is that all forms of bullying are abusive. They are also opportunities to teach children how to get along, how to be considerate people and how to be part of a community or group. The playground is part of this learning process for problem-solving, shaping behavior and coping skills, and teaching young people how to be good citizens.
When developing a playground, school or community-based plan to address and prevent bullying, it is necessary to . . .
>> Read the entire post over on PlaygroundProfessionals.com <<
Related:
3 Real-World Tips for Parent-School Engagement
