By Jim Davis - Florida Catholic
MIAMI | Many archdiocesan schools strive to stop bullying before it even starts, with a broad array of preventive programs.
Modeling Jesus
Besides the thumbprinted poster, Mother of Our Redeemer School, Miami, has used videos by the likes of McGruff, the Crime-Fighting Dog.
One year, a teacher read the children a book, "Chaka the Cow," on a bovine heroine who stands up against herd behavior. And Maria Acosta, social studies and religion teacher, promotes "values of the month" for lower grades, like respect and kindness.
"It's about modeling Jesus' behavior," Acosta said.
Students are also prodded to "mix it up for lunch," sitting with kids they don’t usually meet. The school even gives them a little questionnaire — "What's your favorite food? What are your hobbies?" — to help them break the ice.
Just takes one
St. Anthony School, Fort Lauderdale, literally grades its approaches to bullying.
In lower grades, the school teaches "friendly and unfriendly behavior," said guidance counselor Michelle Schneider. In fourth and fifth grades, the focus is on "digital citizenship," or responsible behavior online. Starting in middle school, St. Anthony moves to more pointed examples, like boys pushing each other around or girls cutting others out of social circles.
There's also a Peer Mediation Program, teaching some students skills like conflict resolution, listening, and speaking without offending.
"In middle school, it's difficult to assert yourself without bullying," Schneider said. "Students are learning social emotional skills; how to advocate for themselves and understand how to be assertive without being aggressive. The reporting of bullying is what becomes a dilemma for some.
"Kids have to learn to advocate for themselves," she continued. "If they notice something on social media that they're not comfortable with, they're bystanders. We tell them to be upstanders. It just takes one to say, 'Hey, that’s not cool,' to turn the tide."
Power to change
St. Lawrence School, North Miami Beach, uses the No Place for Hate program by the Anti-Defamation League. In one exercise, the 170 students got clay tiles from a shop in Aventura. Each student then painted a tile with the theme of tolerance and acceptance. Then the shop took the tiles back and fired them, and they now stand at a wall in the school breezeway.
Last year, religion teacher Denise Broughton visited Israel with 17 other Catholic educators as part of the ADL's Bearing Witness Advanced Program. She brought with her letters from 20 students from St. Lawrence School. Now, they’re trading emails with their Israeli counterparts on topics including their "best educational experiences" throughout their school years.
"One of my students said she enjoyed the lessons on bullying that I teach," said religion teacher Denise Broughton said. "One of the things I learned from ADL was to teach it randomly throughout the year, not on set days or months. If you bring it up subtly, they're more attuned to be drawn into it."
She plans to suggest the topic of bullying to her Israeli educational counterpart for the student email exchanges sometime next year.
She said St. Lawrence School constantly switches up bullying prevention programs to maintain interest. They may include watching the 2000 movie "Pay it Forward." Or role-plays in classes on how to treat one another. Or helping out once a month at Habitat for Humanity.
"It's not about judging them or focusing on the negative," Broughton said. "Kids come to school with so much baggage these days. But they have the power within them to change. That's a lesson I learned from ADL."
On Cloud 9
St. Agnes Academy on Key Biscayne uses the ongoing Cloud 9 World Program, which creates a culture of respect and kindness, even seeking to extend those to students' homes.
Another program at St. Agnes — called "Empower Me" for girls and "Peacemaker" for boys — builds what school counselor Lourdes Krause calls social-emotional skills. Those include empathy, cooperation, confidence, leadership, and problem-solving skills.
"We believe the most effective bullying interventions acknowledge that students benefit when schools empower students and create a culture of kindness, care, and respect that permeates throughout the school community," Krause said.
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Editor's note: This article was modified after it was published in the April print edition of the Florida Catholic. A quote about bullying from St. Anthony's Michelle Schneider has been expanded to make her meaning clearer.
