"Woodland Middle School launches anti-bullying program"

I've been posting articles where parents of teens who have committed suicide have pleaded for help from the school system. Here is one school that is taking action, implementing a "Stop, Walk and Talk" program. From the article, what is great about this program is that it addresses the issue from the kids all the way to the teachers and staff. Mediation is provided with a counselor. The idea is to get children to stand up to their bullies and tell them, "Enough!" Hopefully it proves to be a successful program for them.

In an effort to encourage students to stand up for themselves while decreasing bullying, Woodland Middle School recently launched a new, anti-bullying program called “Stop, Walk and Talk,” according to assistant principal Bill Schufreider.

“Stop Walk and Talk is a bully prevention program that works where our need is. It revolves around respect, about kids being respectful to each other,” Schufreider said. “We’re finding that kids don’t really know what it means to bully each other. What they can put their hands on is what is respectful and what is disrespectful.”

The program teaches students to advocate for themselves. They are taught to speak up, walk way from someone who is being disrespectful and talk to an adult.

Teachers and staff will intervene when a student approaches them or if an adult overhears the word “enough.”

That is the trigger to know that something is going on, Schufreider said.

“You don’t hear that word as often as ‘stop.’ That’s the trigger that we’re trying to get kids to use when they are being disrespected,” Schufreider said.

Teachers and staff are working “continuously” along with students to implement this program, he said.

The challenge is getting students to remember to follow these steps, he said.

The school’s bullying procedure is to investigate any allegations made, Schufreider said. The bully and victim are spoken to. If it happens repeatedly over a period of time, there are disciplinary consequences.

“We try to get to the source of what’s going on, if it’s a misunderstanding (or) rumor spreading,” Schufreider said. “We try to get some sort of a resolution, depending on what the problem is.”

A school social worker also does mediation with students on an as-needed basis.

Bullying does happen from time to time, but Schufreider did not have any numbers in terms of frequency.

“I believe there are some incidents of bullying that we never know of because kids don’t speak up,” Schufreider said.

Stop, Walk and Talk is an extension of the district-wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports Program. PBIS encourages students to be respectful of each other.

Woodland Middle School is the only school utilizing the Stop, Walk and Talk program.

“We want students to have a positive, safe environment to come to school. We want students to feel safe so they can have the best quality of education,” Schufreider said.

Source: http://newssun.suntimes.com/news/9101023-418/woodland-middle-school-launches-anti-bullying-program.html