Welcome Guest!
Teachers are welcome to read and post on Teachers.Net.
Login to access to these free features:
• Relaxed spam filters
• Post pics, links & comments
• Get notified of responses |
• Join teacher groups
• Apply to teacher jobs
• Post a resume |
Welcome Guest!
You must login to comment on posts.
Login to access to these free features:
• Relaxed spam filters
• Post links & upload pics
• Get notified of responses |
• Join teacher groups
• Apply to teacher jobs
• Post a resume |
Welcome Guest!
Your account must login to post.
Login to access to these free features:
• Relaxed spam filters
• Post, comment, & upload pics
• Get notified of responses |
• Join teacher groups
• Apply to teacher jobs
• Post a resume |
by Barb S. hs/ret
Oct 11, 2017
There are respectful, considerate things that can be done in life that will be appreciated by the recipient, and only good things can result.
~ Randy Pausch
Hello Guys, our company are recruiting foreign English teachers in China, we can provide working visa for natives and non-natives，, free apartment, if u want to know more about our company please read our website and send your resume to our email:santarelli@qq.com
http://www.kelvininternationaleducation.com/English/
Dear School Teachers, Administrators, and School Board Members,
My name is Rachel Yirigian and I am a senior Psychology major at Hamilton College. I am writing to you out of concern for today's K-12 students regarding our country's all time high rates of bullying.
Earlier this year ABC News reported that 90% of elementary scho...See MoreDear School Teachers, Administrators, and School Board Members,
My name is Rachel Yirigian and I am a senior Psychology major at Hamilton College. I am writing to you out of concern for today's K-12 students regarding our country's all time high rates of bullying.
Earlier this year ABC News reported that 90% of elementary school students have been subjected to either psychological or physical bullying (Mozes, 2017). Additionally, recent studies have found that more than one in five students ages 12 to 18 have experienced peer victimization (US Department of Education, 2015). These alarming statistics demonstrate just how prevalent bullying is across grades K-12, despite efforts to combat bullying in schools. Bullying has proven to be tremendously damaging to development, both in childhood and adolescence, with potential harms ranging in severity from poor academic performance to suicide (Paul & Cillessen, 2003).
The potential consequences and current high rates of bullying call for action to be taken in the form of interventions within our schools to ensure the safety and success of students. As teachers, administrators, and board members, you have the authority, and therefore the responsibility, to take the necessary actions to protect students from the dangers of bullying to the best of your abilities. With the many types of approaches to bullying interventions out there, it is difficult to determine which would benefit students the most; however, there exists empirical evidence that certain interventions are more effective than others in reducing the frequency of bullying in our schools (Smith, Ananiadou & Cowie, 2003). Based on current research, I strongly believe that you should implement Peer Mediation Bullying Intervention Programs into your schools in order to give our students the best and healthiest experience in education possible.
Peer mediation programs have existed since the 1960s and have become one of the most common, and effective, methods to combat bullying behaviors and reducing interpersonal conflict between students (Sanders & Phye, 2004, p. 218; Jones & Compton, 2003, p. 109). They focus on helping students learn how to apply conflict resolution skills to help settle disputes with peers, thus giving them the responsibility to foster healthy interactions with one another (Jones & Compton, 2003, p. 110). By placing the responsibility on students to keep the peace, we are giving them ownership of solving the problem of bullying in schools.
This approach is superior to interventions that respond to bullying behaviors with discipline because interpersonal conflicts should be addressed through conflict resolution, not punishment. By using punishment to counter bullying, there is a lost opportunity for perpetrators to understand how their actions impact others, it also requires that interpersonal conflicts spiral to the point of breaking school rules before adults intervene (Jones & Compton, 2003, p. 113). Peer mediation has the power to address interpersonal conflict between peers before it escalates to harmful bullying behaviors, thus serving as a preventative measure of bullying, while simultaneously holding students accountable for their actions. These programs has been proven successful not only in creating lasting agreements in 85% of disputes students, but reducing the number of bullying incidents requiring teacher intervention by up to 80% (Sanders & Phye, 2004, p. 155). The latter statistic in particular speaks to the ability of peer mediation programs to give students the necessary negotiation and conflict resolution skills to resolve interpersonal conflicts before they become instances of bullying.
Students themselves have attested to the benefits of peer mediation programs, with 82% of one school saying they found the newfound support helpful in coping with situation of peer victimization. Moreover, one school found all of their students who intervened in bullying situations reported their own personal benefits from engaging in peer mediation, such as an increase in social sills and self-confidence (Naylor & Cowie, 1999). This proves that peer mediation programs have to potential to be advantageous to all students, not just those being victimized by bullies. Interventions like this are worth implementing because they can have a positive impact on schools as a community, not just a few individuals. This would make it easier to reduce bullying in the long run because every year, new students will be integrated into this inclusive learning environment and work to sustain it as they progress through their education.
In addition to helping students with their interpersonal relationships, peer mediation programs also instruct teachers to promote cooperative and prosocial values within the classroom (Sanders & Phye, 2004, p. 148-149). Not only would this help students further develop their conflict resolutions skills, but also it would also prepare them to work with peers outside of individual friendships. This is yet another aspect of peer mediation programs that can be beneficial to all students and the overall school community.
Overall, a reduction of bullying behaviors in schools will lead to students having healthier experiences in education, higher academic performance and a decreased risk of serious psychological disorders. It is also likely that the impact of peer mediation programs will help lower the frequency of adolescent suicide, since victims of bullying are anywhere from two to nine times more likely to consider suicide than other students (CDC, 2014).
In order to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students, it is critical that those in authority, such as yourselves, prioritize the tackling of bullying in schools across age groups. These programs are extremely simple to implement and maintain throughout school systems and even educate teachers on how to successfully implement the programs into their classrooms (Sanders & Phye, 2004, p. 219). Peer mediation programs have the power to make school the kind of safe, cohesive learning environment that all students deserve to have. Not only will this type of intervention decrease student's risks to a variety of psychological and physical harms, it will foster a school atmosphere that puts students in a position to achieve academically.
Peer mediation programs can create a sense of community in which support is valued and bullying is not acceptable. They can help teachers and administration by building a safe school environment that encourages prosocial behaviors and lifts some of the responsibility to intervene in student disputes. In addition to the direct impact on school life, students from all types of social situations will benefit from learning how to mediate conflict and work together towards a resolution rather than allowing disputes to build into bullying. Giving students the tools to solve disputes will likely result in a reduction of interpersonal conflict overall because students learn to become proactive in their social interactions. Rather than simply waiting for a teacher to intervene, students will learn to address underlying issues of disputes and, in turn, learn how to avoid repeating that same conflict in the future. These same conflict resolution skills will help students throughout their adult life, in both personal and professional settings. I implore you to consider implementing peer mediation programs in your schools in order to give your students the type of safe and supportive learning environment they deserve.
References
Center for Disease Control, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (2015). Understanding bullying. Center for Disease Control (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullying_factsheet.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Suicide Prevention (2014). The relationship between bullying and suicide: What we know and what it means for schools. Center for Disease Control (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullying-suicide-translation-final-a.pdf
Cowie, H., Naylor, P., Talamelli, L., Chauhan, P., & Smith, P. K. (2002). Knowledge, use of and attitudes towards peer support: A 2-year follow-up to the Prince's Trust survey. Journal of Adolescence, 25(5), 453-467. doi:10.1006/jado.2002.0498
Mozes, A. (2017, March 23). 90% Of elementary school kids are bullied: Survey. ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthday/story?id=4506556
National Center for Educational Statistics. (2015). Student reports of bullying and cyberbullying: Results from the 2013 school crime supplement to the National Victimization Survey. US Department of Education.
http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2015056
Paul and Cillessen, 2003. Dynamics of peer victimization in early adolescence: results from a four-year longitudinal study. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 19 (2003), pp. 25-44
Smith, P. K., Ananiadou, K., & Cowie, H. (2003). Interventions to reduce school bullying. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 48(9), 591-599. doi:10.1177/070674370304800905
Yale University, Office of Public Affairs. (2008). Bullying-Suicide Link Explored in New Study by Researchers at Yale. Yale University. https://news.yale.edu/2008/07/16/bullying-suicide-link-explored-new-study-researchers-yale
by Barb S. hs/ret
Oct 10, 2017
When asked by an anthropologist what the Native Americans called America before the white man came, a Native American said simply, "Ours."
~ Vine Deloria, Jr.
Are mothballs safe in ziploc baggies to get rid of black carpet beetles? How do I get rid of these pests?
Need someone to help me get this assignment done today is a quick interview all you have to do is respond to these 10 question I can email them to you and won't take long to do should take about 15-30 mins
Hey I a college student looking to interview a teacher for an assignment I need for my class, I really would like to get this done ASAP this can be done through email so if you can help out email me at [email removed]
by Barb S. hs/ret
Oct 9, 2017
Columbus gave the world another world.
~ George Santayana
I'm looking for DBQ workbooks to teach 6th grade World History. Any suggestions?
Thank you
next page »
« prev page
Teacher Chatboards
