Students Taught How to Handle Bullying
Students Taught How to Handle Bullying Written for the web by C. Johnson, Internet News Producer The schoolyard bully is someone nearly every student has witnessed or experienced. Now a health provider's program is giving children some tools on how to handle bullying without resorting to violence. Kaiser Permanente's PEACE Signs program is a conflict resolution workshop for elementary school-age children. On Monday at Tahoe Elementary School in Sacramento, workshop health educators presented a five-step plan for dealing with bullies in a positive way. "Our five-step model is to stop the situation, stop yourself from reacting right away, feel, understand your feeling and express your feeling," said Eduardo Draven. "Then it's think, think about what your options are, and act." Draven explained that the five tenets of the program are stop, feel, think, choose and act. Bullying may be more common than parents think. The National Crime Prevention Council found in a recent survey that 52 percent of students witness one or more acts of bullying every week. Six in 10 students said they know a student who could hurt someone. Underscoring the findings in the report, students at Tahoe Elementary say they frequently see or experience bullying. It happened to Andrew Arguello last year. "This one fifth grader was like bullying me around," he said. "He would run up to me and hit me on the head and stuff." Another student said classmates sometimes make the situation worse. "They're instigating and stuff, making them fight," said Isais Martel. "They're like, 'Yeah, fight! Fight!'" At Tahoe, students have been taught to find a yard supervisor or teacher to intervene. It's hoped what they learned from today's workshop will help them deal with bullies at school and elsewhere in life. There are warning signs parents should be aware of that a bully may be bothering their child. They include: *Unexplained cuts, bruises or damaged clothing, *Fear of going to school. *Anxiety or low-self-esteem. *Depression. *A sharp drop in grades. Students who feel they're being picked on by a bully and can't talk to an adult about it are encouraged to call a youth crisis hotline counselor at (800) 843-5200. http://www.kxtv.com/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=14629