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Showing posts from October, 2020

Unity Day 2020

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Today is #unityday2020 . According to Pacer.org , 1 out of every 5 children are bullied. Research indicates that bullying prevention can be successful when students, parents, educators, and community members are involved.  Students - if you see bullying intervene and tell a trusted adult. If you are being bullied, talk to your parents/guardians and tell a trusted adult at school. Parents - learn what bullying is and how to recognize the warning signs. If you believe that your child is a victim of bullying, listen to your child and try to find out what is happening. Educators - work to establish an inclusive and safe learning environment. Respond when bullying happens.  Community Members - learn what bullying is and what it isn't. Learn how to respond.  To learn more about bullying prevention, please visit:  https://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/on-the-spot https://www.stopbullying.gov/resources/what-you-can-do#parents Wear and share ORANGE   (with us) to show your support of bul

Coping with a Lack of Control

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 A common frustration for many right now is the feeling that life is out of control. We can't control the fact that we are in the middle of a pandemic. We can’t control when school opens again, or how many days our children will attend. We can't control what's going to happen, in general. We don't KNOW what is going to happen. In the words of that great sage Yogi Berra “Predictions are hard to make, especially about the future.” That being said, what can we do to bring back some sense of control?      Stephen Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is credited with developing the idea of the circle of concern and the circle of influence. The circle of concern contains everything that people could be possibly worried about, whether they can have an impact on it or not. The circle of influence is much smaller, that is, it consists of things we can change or have an influence on. He suggests that we focus our attention on things which we can change.  Easier s

Cyberbullying & Remote Learning

The rapid growth of technology in our society has led to a new type of bullying...cyberbullying.  A surprisingly high number of students report being a victim of this type of bullying. According to a 2019 report from the CDC , cyberbullying among public school students is highest for middle school at 33%, followed by high school at 30%. Even 5% of elementary students report having been cyberbullied. Due to the impact of Covid-19 in 2020, many schools have had to switch to remote or distance learning. This situation has increased opportunities for cyberbullying since most learning occurs in virtual classrooms and other online platforms.   Children and teenagers are often more tech-savvy than their parents/guardians which can make it challenging to monitor their online behavior. Like other forms of bullying, cyberbullying can cause significant stress and emotional problems for the child, so it is important for parents/guardians to know the different ways children and teenagers can be bul