No Name-Calling Week

Having trouble viewing this email? Please click here Forward to a Friend Unsubscribe To ensure delivery, please add mike@balanceeducation.net to your address book. www.BalanceEducationalServices.com The Leader in Bullying Prevention No Name-Calling Week No Name-Calling Week was inspired by a young adult novel entitled "The Misfits" by popular author, James Howe. The book tells the story of four best friends trying to survive the seventh grade in the face of all too frequent taunts based on their weight, height, intelligence, and sexual orientation/gender expression. Motivated by the inequities they see around them, the "Gang of Five" (as they are known) creates a new political party during student council elections and run on a platform aimed at wiping out name-calling of all kinds. The No-Name Party in the end, wins the support of the school's principal for their cause and their idea for a "No Name-Calling Day" at school. Motivated by this simple, yet powerful, idea, the No Name-Calling Week Coalition created by GLSEN and Simon & Schuster Children's publishing, consisting of over 40 national partner organizations, organized an actual No Name-Calling Week in schools across the nation. The project seeks to focus national attention on the problem of name-calling in schools, and to provide students and educators with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate name-calling in their communities. 1. What is No Name-Calling Week? No Name-Calling Week is an annual week of educational activities aimed at ending name-calling of all kinds and providing schools with the tools and inspiration to launch an on-going dialogue about ways to eliminate bullying in their communities. 2. Who should participate? Anyone who wants to work towards eliminating harmful name-calling, harassment and bullying in their school can be a part of No Name-Calling Week, whether you are a teacher, student, guidance counselor, coach, librarian or bus driver. The curricular materials on this web site and in the Resource Kit are primarily aimed at middle school students, specifically grades 5-8, but may be modified for older or younger students. Feel free to download materials off this web site, or order the Resource Kit and create your own No Name-Calling Week initiative in your community. 3. How do I order a kit, how much is it, and how long will it take to get it? You can order your kit by clicking here and filling out the order form. The resource kit is $129.95, and will arrive at your door within 3-7 business days from the time you place your order. Expedited shipping service is available upon request. 4. What are some things I can do to promote No Name-Calling Week in my school right now? Click here to plan your No Name-Calling Week. When Was The Last Time Your Staff Had Bullying Prevention Training??? Every morning there are students who dread the approaching school day. Bullying prevention and anti-bullying training are critical in creating an environment conducive to learning. By adopting proven bullying prevention techniques and anti-bullying strategies teachers, staff, and bus drivers can all become active participants in bullying prevention. Make a commitment at your school to stop bullying and begin the process of preventing bullying before it begins. · Research shows that victims of prolonged bullying will eventually become withdrawn or aggressive; in extreme cases, suicidal or violently retaliative. · Research shows that schools with unified violence prevention program cut their incidents of violence up to 50% and increase their academic standing. Mike Dreiblatt provides specific and helpful information on all types of bullying prevention to students, teachers, and parents. His "Stop Bullying" workshops and presentations encourage audience participation through activities and role-playing. Learn how to STOP BULLYING today! Mike@BalanceEducationalServices.com Mike Dreiblatt is the co-founder of Balance Educational Services, LLC, and an outstanding national speaker and author. Mike provides dynamic, practical seminars and workshops to whole school communities: students, school staff, administrators, parents and community members. Using humor and practical strategies, Mike teaches best practices and realistic strategies that can be used immediately. A former teacher, Mike is an expert in bullying and violence prevention, character education, and discipline of students with special needs. See Mike In Action!!! http://www.youtube.com/user/MDreiblatt?feature=mhee http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLeiU6jasZQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukCyLeQduzo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7AZIooa1fM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LOuhFazEe8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TC9O1j13IJM Is Your Staff Really Prepared??? Testimonials I like that your program is research-based, it fits perfectly with our curriculum goals. Your examples were right on especially in regard to cyber bullying. Christian Educator CO Great! Mike was easily understood and clear in his objectives. Very articulate, clear, concise & knowledgeable. Examples were current and perfect for the school setting. High School Principal GA I loved the pace of this seminar – fast & funny. I also loved the role-plays and how you made all of the information come to life. Middle School Principal MA Thank you so much for the excellent presentation yesterday. I have been to endless seminars, and unfortunately it is rare that I have come away with so much practical information, and food for thought. Middle School Teacher NJ So much information packed into so little time! Great use of our professional development time and dollars. Assistant Superintendent OH The best seminar I’ve been to in years. Full of real-life detail and practical information that I will take back and use right away. High School Teacher VT Bullying Prevention Workshops Call Now: 802-362-5448 $36.95 (includes S/H) Lessons and Activities That Teach Empathy, Friendship and Respect Fax POs to 1-802-549-5024 Balance Educational Services 136 Clover Lane Manchester Center, Vt 05255 Click Here to Purchase Mike's book, How to Stop Bullying and Social Aggression, has been recognized as a practical resource to teach and reinforce character development and pro-social behavior. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ8gNzZwxA0&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yk9cq4vI9g This user-friendly resource provides K–8 teachers, school administrators, and counselors with fun, interactive lessons and activities that support students' safety and well-being, promote healthy social-emotional development, and improve academic achievement. Using role plays and sample scripts that can be adapted to specific situations, the authors illustrate how to teach critical concepts and behaviors, including how to stand up to a bully and how to stop another student from bullying. In clear, jargon-free language, this research-based book helps school districts meet the curriculum requirements of recently enacted bullying laws by fostering positive youth development around issues of respect, conflict resolution, and interpersonal relationships. Readers will also find: · Sidebars and icons that highlight important information · A supply list of commonly found classroom items within each lesson for quick and easy implementation · Illustrations and unit tests for students' review · Suggestions for enhancing lessons ​ How to Stop Bullying and Social Aggression helps educators engage bullies, victims, and bystanders at their own level and teach healthy behaviors to create safe, healthy schools. Book Reviews "This timely book includes perfectly sequenced, content-enriched, practical lessons that will enhance any anti-bullying effort. The student-focused activities will facilitate and maintain learning of important anti-bullying concepts that can never be overemphasized." —Allan L. Beane, Author of The Bully Free Classroom "A practical book packed with the kinds of anti-bullying strategies that teachers, coaches, therapists, and kids regularly request. Every chapter is packed with tips on how to stay physically and emotionally safe when bullying occurs, and children are coached to practice assertive behaviors and avoid the victim role." —Cheryl Dellasega, Author of Mean Girls Grown Up

Bullying Changes a School, One Child at a Time

10 Least Expensive Private Colleges

The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College and The Short List: Grad School to find data that matters to you in your college or grad school search.

50 Cent to Release Young Adult Book About Bullying

Having trouble viewing this email? Please click here Forward to a Friend Unsubscribe To ensure delivery, please add mike@balanceeducation.net to your address book. www.BalanceEducationalServices.com The Leader in Bullying Prevention 50 Cent to Release Young Adult Book About Bullying Rapper 50 Cent says he sometimes bullied others while growing up and now wants to use his influence on teenagers to get them thinking about the issue. By Molly Driscoll The Christian Science Monitor Rapper Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent, is adding author to his long list of job titles with a new book about bullying. The book, titled “Playground,” is a young adult novel published by Razorbill that will be released on Nov. 1. The novel, illustrated by Lizzie Akana, tells the story of Butterball, a 13-year-old living on Long Island who bullies a fellow student named Maurice. In an interview on “The Today Show” on NBC, the rapper said he drew inspiration from his own school days because he sometimes took the role of bully in the hallways. “I had more experiences where I was a part of the problem, where I was actually bullying,” Jackson said on the show. "To know now from an adult's perspective and be able to write things, I can look back on those actual situations and say, 'That was completely wrong.' ” Jackson said the issue is close to him personally because of his son, who is 15 years old. Jackson said he is in a better position than most to speak to young adults and hopes that his influence will help the message get across. “A lot of the times the kids that would actually be a part of the problem are listening [to my music],” he said. “When I offer it, they'll take the time to stop and read it." Islamophobic Bullying in Our Schools By Engy Abdelkader The Huffington Post "You boys were so much fun on the 8th grade trip! Thanks for not bombing anything while we were there!" read the yearbook inscription penned by the middle school teacher. The eighth grade yearbook was littered with similar remarks by classmates linking Omar to a "bomb." "To my bomb man!" read one note. "Come wire my bomb," read another. "What is this?" asked Omar's mother incredulously. He had handed the yearbook over to her moments earlier when he arrived home that afternoon. Omar answered quietly, "I know, Mom, I know." He stared down at the kitchen floor. His eyes could not meet his mother's but he began to tell her what had happened just one month earlier. In May 2009, Omar joined his classmates on a school trip to Washington, D.C. As they toured the Washington Monument, visited area museums and passed by the White House, the kids repeatedly told Omar they hoped he wouldn't "bomb" any of the sites. A teacher chaperoned the children, heard the comments and responded by doing... well, nothing, except leave a denigrating remark in Omar's yearbook a month later. It was clear to Omar's mother that her American born and raised son was harassed because of his Muslim faith and Arab ancestry. Unfortunately, this was not the first bias-based bullying incident involving Omar that school year. Only several months earlier a peer was intimidating Omar, calling him a "terrorist," during an elective trade course. Omar finally told his mother about the bullying when his report card indicated that he was failing that same class, while acing the others where he was not subjected to such humiliating treatment. More... Days of Bullying as Rite of Passage Are Gone, Officials Says By Elaine Sanchez American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2011 – After years of being bullied in school and online, 14-year-old Jamey Rodemeyer was reaching his breaking point. The openly gay teenager talked about his experiences in a video he posted on YouTube last spring. “They’d taunt me in the hallways, and I felt like I could never escape it,” the Buffalo, N.Y., native said. “People would just constantly send me hate.” Afraid of what lay ahead for him in high school, Rodemeyer committed suicide last month. In the past, bullying was deemed a rite of passage, but that’s not the case any more, a Defense Department official said. “Children can have terrible consequences from being bullied, whether it’s poor academic success, loneliness, not being able to make friends or just feeling like they can’t go to school,” said Barbara Thompson, director of the Pentagon’s office of family policy, children and youth. “They get sick. Eventually, the greatest tragedy would be suicide.” Surveys indicate that as many as half of all children are bullied at some time during their school years, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. And children from military families are comparable to their civilian counterparts in this regard, Thompson said, noting they may be even more vulnerable due to frequent military moves. “As they relocate from school to school, they are the new kids on the block and may be perceived as being different,” she explained. Children with deployed parents also may stand out as they deal with the anxiety and loss associated with separation from a loved one, she added, particularly when other children from their school don’t share those same experiences. More... Live Bullying Prevention Audio Conference November 02, 2011--1:00 pm – 2:30 pm EDT www.lorman.com/ID388618 AGENDA Effect of Bullying on Academic Achievement and Functional Performance • Defining Bullying, Cyber Bullying, Social Aggression and Other Acts of Misconduct • Common Traits of Bullies, Targets and the Crowd • Consequences to Address Bullying Developing a School-Wide Same Page Mentality to Stop Bullying • Staff Responsibility • Four-Step Response to Bullying • Teasing vs. Taunting Strategies to Stop Cyber Bullying and Social Aggression • The Overlap Between Cyber Bullying and Social Aggression • Chart Activity • Replacing Negative Behavior With Empathy, Friendship And Respect Schedule Student, Staff and Parent Bullying Prevention Workshops for Your School Call 802-362-5448 Mike's book, How to Stop Bullying and Social Aggression, has been recognized as a practical resource to teach and reinforce character development and pro-social behavior. $33.95 (includes S/H) Lessons and Activities That Teach Empathy, Friendship and Respect Fax POs to 1-802-549-5024 Balance Educational Services 136 Clover Lane Manchester Center, Vt 05255 Click Here to Purchase Mike Dreiblatt is recognized as an outstanding national speaker and author. Using humor and practical strategies, Mike provides dynamic seminars and workshops for staff, students and parents. A former teacher, Mike is an expert in bullying and violence prevention, character education, and discipline of students with special needs. Email Mike directly at Mike@BalanceEducationalServices.com

TweenParent.com: Is Your Tween Being Bullied or Harassed?

TweenParent.com: Is Your Tween Being Bullied or Harassed?

When parents should butt into kid's battles

Another kid is bullying your child on the playground.

Should you butt in? Not immediately, unless your child's safety is at stake. "If you're there, watch closely and give your child a chance to solve the problem on her own," says DeBroff.
The same goes for school: It's better first to equip your child with skills to stay safe and empower her to resolve the situation on her own. Realism: Good old-fashioned playtime
How to handle it: Rehearse ways for your child to respond. For example, if your child has a sense of humor, she can use a retort like "No, I'm not a baby, but thanks for asking," spoken in an assertive tone of voice. Otherwise, she can employ a strong "Cut it out" before walking away.
"Have her practice standing up straight, chest out, like she's wearing a bulletproof vest that taunts bounce right off of," says Borba.
When to reconsider: If the bullying persists and your child feels threatened, get involved. If you are the one intervening on the playground, nonchalantly pull your child out of the situation (snack time!) before discussing it. Talking to her in front of the bully could be more embarrassing.
If the bullying is at school, ask a teacher to keep an eye out. Most schools take bullying seriously -- 39 states have laws addressing it -- so teachers should have practices in place. To learn more, check out StopBullyingNow.hrsa.gov, which has suggestions for both parents and kids.