The Transformation of West Philadelphia High School: a story of hope

West Philadelphia High School was on the state’s “Persistently Dangerous Schools” list for six years. After one year of implementing Restorative Justice, the climate improved dramatically: suspensions dropped 50%, violent acts and serious incidents declined 52% in 2007-2008, and another 40% by the end of the Fall semester in 2008-2009. This video takes a look at what was done there.

PAX Good Behaviour Game

A game some Winnipeg students are playing in class dramatically reduces disruptive behavior, according to their teachers.

Teaching Students How to “Stand Up” to Bullying – Webinar Archive

Bystanders are present in the majority of student-student bullying situations. Often, bystanders who witness bullying feel unsafe themselves, and don’t know how to stop the bullying and help the victim. However, bystanders can be taught a variety of “upstander” skills, so that they can safely interrupt bullying and create a peer culture of respect. Participants in this international webinar hosted by the Inter-American Teacher Education Network received instruction in how to teach and reinforce ten “upstander” strategies to students, ages 5-18.
The presenter is Christa M. Tinari, MA, a Safe Schools Specialist and a champion of whole-child education. A former Student Assistance Counselor, she has been training children and adults in the skills of peacemaking, for over 15 years. Ms. Tinari is founder of PeacePraxis Educational Services.

Cyberbullying (UNICEF)

According to Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the child, all children have the right to be protected from all forms of violence while in the care of parents or other caregivers. This problem needs awareness and education. UNICEF Digital Citizenship and Safety project team is working on addressing cyberbullying, with this video as one example of their work.

Cyberbullying Toolkit: Webinar Archive

This video provides an archive of a professional development webinar presented by Kelly Mendoza from Common Sense Media on May 23, 2012. Increasingly, state laws are being passed and schools are incorporating cyberbullying into their policies and curriculum. In this session Common Sense Media introduces their free Cyberbullying Toolkit, which offers resources that will help educators jump-start cyberbullying education efforts in your school or district.

Students Take on Cyberbullying

When Facing History teachers Jamie Lott and Mary Sok asked their World Cultures class about bullying at their school, the class described the hallways as safe. But after listening to a presentation given by hate crimes task force officer Dave D’Amico, they started a discussion about the widespread problem of online bullying, and how they as a class could take the first steps toward preventing it. Note: Not in Our Town offers a sample lesson plan that can be used in conjunction with this video.

Puppet Show – Kids Against Bullying

The PACER Center in Minnesota has a special focus on supporting students with disabilities. The KIDS AGAINST BULLYING puppet show features five endearing multicultural, child-size puppets that portray children with and without disabilities. These puppets have proven to be a comfortable medium through which to teach children about bullying prevention. Opportunities exist throughout the presentation for children to learn through dialogue and question/answer. The KIDS AGAINST BULLYING Puppet Program is offered in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. Communities outside of Minneapolis have the option of purchasing the puppets and scripts.

Peaceful School Bus Program – Hazelden Foundation

This video provides a short overview of the Peaceful School Bus Program (hazelden.org/peacefulschoolbus), a bullying prevention program designed to decrease inappropriate behavior on school buses while creating a climate of respect and cooperation.

Overview of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) (www.olweus.org) is the most researched and best-known bullying prevention program available today. Designed for students in grades 1-8, OBPP is a bullying prevention program that has produced reductions in school bullying by 50% or more. This video gives an overview of this bullying prevention program with feedback from those who have used it.

Girls Bullying

This 27-minute video was produced by Teachers TV in the U.K. Experts tackle the problem of girls bullying. Experts explore the problem of girls bullying other girls and give tips on how to identify the symptoms as well as tackling the causes. Because girls can be more subtle bullies than boys, using exclusion and verbal weapons rather than fists and fights, their actions can be more difficult to spot and change. Ways to combat this type of bullying such as peer mentoring are seen in action at both primary and secondary level, as well as a creative drama workshop which helps girls explore their role when faced with these incidents in the classroom or playground. One school shows how by running anti-bullying sessions they have been able to forewarn and forearm girls against the actions of bullies.

Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History

Bullied is a Teaching Tolerance documentary film that chronicles one student’s ordeal at the hands of anti-gay bullies and offers an inspiring message of hope to those fighting harassment today. It can become a cornerstone of anti-bullying efforts in middle and high schools.

Another Bully Busters Song

A song performed by storyteller Debbie Dunns aimed to let bullies know it is NOT okay to bully, teach witnesses what to do should they see a bully bullying, and tricks that victims should utilize to help them become bully free. (This song is sung to the tune of Sipping Cider Through A Straw learned at Camp Sky Wa Mo, a Girl Scouts camp, back when the presenter Debbie Dunns was a girl.)

On-the-Spot Bullying Prevention

This video presents a quick overview of an on-the-spot bullying intervention. It takes place at a Conflict Resolution Education in Teacher Education (CRETE) training and features Tricia Jones as the lead presenter.