Swanton School Guidance Counseling
Franklin Northwest Student Leaders Develop Bullying Prevention Programs
What can a group of third through sixth graders do to prevent bullying in their schools? A lot, according to a group of student leaders gathered at the Elks Club in St. Albans on Friday, October 2nd. Students from Swanton, Highgate, Sheldon, and Berkshire Elementary Schools traveled to St. Albans with their guidance counselors to learn more about bullying and work together to make plans to stop bullying in their schools.
Mike Dreiblatt, co-author of How to Stop Bullying and Social Aggression, spent the day with the students. It was a lively morning, full of engaging activities and role- playing that taught the students about the roles of bully and bystander, the types of bullying, and how to respond effectively to bullying. After a delicious lunch catered by Cosmic Bakery, student teams brainstormed activities for their school’s annual bullying prevention program. Students then worked with their counselors to select their top three ideas and shared those with the other teams. After hearing from one another, the teams had a chance to make revisions before developing their ideas into concrete action steps to present to their principal.
Each school team chose a name. The Highgate team will be known as “Bully Busters,” while Sheldon’s group is called the “Bully Free Bears.” In Berkshire, the small group will go by ABC – the Anti-Bullying Committee. Finally, team Swanton will be the “Speak Up Swans.” Plans range from weekly awards for courageous bystanders who speak out against bullying to school dances to creating videos and songs.
“It was a great day,” said Swanton school counselor Debbie Light. “The kids were really engaged. We got a lot accomplished! It was great to hear from kids who don’t always get a chance to have their ideas heard. We had some really creative ideas.” Student Max Boulerice of Swanton, one of the student leaders who initiated the conference with his principal, Julie Benay, wanted to know when the group would meet again, as he was eager to see the Speak Out Swans ideas in action.
All agreed the first “Step Up! Speak Out! Franklin County Bullying Prevention Day” was a great success. Plans are already underway for next year’s conference.
back to topThink First & Stay Safe program by Child Lures Prevention of Shelburne, Vermont
March 24, 2010
Dear Parents and Friends,
Our school plans to implement the Think First & Stay Safe program by Child Lures Prevention of Shelburne, Vermont. This acclaimed personal safety program is currently taught in over 5,000 school systems nationwide. You may have seen Child Lures Prevention profiled on such television programs as Oprah, CNN, MSNBC, NBC Today and CBS News.
The Think First & Stay Safe program teaches student to identify and outsmart the lures that are consistently used in predatory crimes against children. Students learn essential personal safety skills to improve their self-reliance and raise their self-esteem. These students are consistently reassured that most people are kind, safe and committed to their well-being. Depending on the grade level, lessons on recognizing additional lures such as Internet lures will be taught.
We recognize that you may be concerned about whether or not the information in this program is appropriate for your child. With this in mind we invite you to review the Child Lures website at childluresprevention.com. There is detailed information about this school program as well as parent information about specific issues around child safety. We would also be happy to show you the curriculum in detail if you have further questions. We expect to begin this child safety program in grades two, three and four in the next few weeks.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have further questions.
Debbie Light
School Counselor – Grades 2, 3 and 4, Central Building
868-5346, X210, dlight@fnwsu.org
Cindy Rose
School Counselor – Grade 2, Babcock Building
868-4920, crose@fnwsu.org
