Bullying Awareness and Prevention for Educators
Learn how to identify, interrupt and remediate patterns of bullying.
Bullying is 100% preventable. Yet, children all over the world continue to be victims of this growing public health crisis. Invite ICBYK to provide education and tangible solutions to eradicate bullying in your school environment.
The Secret Responsibility of Educators
As if educators don't already have enough to do. Now, keeping children physically and emotionally safe is at the forefront of educator responsibility. At It Could Be Your Kid, we understand the frustration and feelings of inadequacy born out of increased responsibility often presented without increased resources. We will teach you how to recognize, prevent and remediate bullying behavior without increasing your workload or the need for additional resources. We will provide real life, actionable strategies for you to implement on day 1 or day 91 that will improve the culture and climate of your school building.
What is Bullying?
Bullying is a form of youth violence. CDC defines bullying as any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths, who are not siblings or current dating partners, that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated. Bullying may inflict harm or distress on the targeted youth including physical, psychological, social, or educational harm.
Who Is At Risk?
Every child is at risk for bullying. However, there are circumstances that make children more at risk for bullying. The biggest indicator of risk is having a characteristic that makes the child "other".
Being a member of the LGBQT community or of a racial group that is in the minority are risk multipliers. It could also be a difference as minimal as wearing glasses, being perceived as overweight, underweight or simply being new to the environment.
Where Does Bullying Occur?
Bullying occurs across every demographic and is widespread in the United States. There is no one group of people who are less likely to be bullied. People of every racial group, financial status and geographic region experience bullying. Bullying isn't a socio-economic issue. It's a heart issue.
In school settings bullying most often occurs out of sight of adults. Educators should pay special attention to bathrooms, classroom closets, hallways and school buses.
Classroom Teachers and Staff
I've never met a teacher who didn't call their students "my kids". So, it's second nature to protect them, because you think of them like your own from the start. Still, it can be difficult to identify all respective needs because of the ever increasing workload and diverse needs of students. This program will help you recognize and transform power imbalances that breed bullying into empowered empathy for all. We will also help teachers and staff identify school community blindspots that are prime for bullying behavior.
Administrators
The stakes are high and everything matters. The school district and/or individual school buildings are counting on you to make the best decisions for everyone everyday. But is your focus on meeting goals intersecting or crashing with the social emotional health of the community? The best teammates are happy, valued, empowered ones. How are you cultivating a community of inclusion, kindness and appreciation? With a focus on building a community of upstanders, this program centers on personal and professional reflection in leadership.