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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety, Uncategorized

  A child or parent reports bullying during the parent-teacher conference.  Then what?  What constitutes bullying?  What should a teacher do with this report?  Who does the information get shared with?  What type of investigation needs to be done?  Do you talk with the bully and victim together or separately or both?  Should you call in the other parents?   How much information can you give them?  What are the consequences for bullying? Is the situation getting better?  How do you know?  Has it gotten worse?  Are you monitoring behaviors ongoing?  Maybe the bullying stopped in your classroom, but do you know if it is goingRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety

  Rick recently sat down with Homer Public School’s Secondary Principal Randy Pirner to learn more about their school safety efforts and use of TIPS.  As a small rural school in Nebraska, we are definitely impressed with Homer’s leadership and their innovative efforts to keep their students safe! Below is a quick excerpt from the interview.  Click here to listen to the rest of Principal Pirner’s Lessons Learned!   Why did your school see the need for a proactive prevention program like TIPS? Principal Pirner: We found that we had an issue with bullying; not a significant number, but we had a total disconnect fromRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, Risk Management, School Safety

  Bullying.  Cyberbullying.  Harassment.  Violence.  Weapons. Truancy.  Student Achievement.  While most school leaders want to focus their attention on the last item mentioned in that list, student achievement, school districts are finding themselves overwhelmed with school safety issues and constantly working to investigate and respond to situations, leaving fewer and fewer resources to improve learning and achievement. So, what can be done to improve student safety and prevention efforts, and in turn, provide students with an environment they feel secure in to excel and expand their learning objectives? In many situations, gaps exist between school administrators and policy, and what is actually happening on buses,Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, Risk Management, School Safety

  If you missed part one of this blog, please click here for teachable moments and bullying laws… Now that you have reviewed Part 1, my other concern with this story involves communities and their taxpayers.  Is the complaint by school administrators and this vote by the Council on Local Mandates putting communities and taxpayers in a more vulnerable situation with even more liabilities and costs? Do these school administrators know what happens when a school does not take appropriate actions by equipping everyone to report incidents, investigating all reports, intervening, preventing a hostile environment and documenting their actions?  Are the Council on Local MandatesRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, Risk Management, School Safety

  A recent news story involving the NJ Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights, the Council on Local Mandates and a school district in Warren County in New Jersey caught my attention.  After reviewing related articles, are New Jersey school administrators missing out on a significant teachable opportunity? http://legalclips.nsba.org/?p=11962&utm_source=NSBA+e-Newsletter+Subscribers&utm_campaign=b060639842-Legal+Clips+Newsletter&utm_medium=email The Council on Local Mandates voted 7-2 that the New Jersey state law regarding anti-bullying must be amended because it includes an unfunded mandate for local school districts.  Is this really the message school administrators want to send to their students about doing the right thing?  Are these school leaders saying student safety and anti-bullying issues are notRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, School Safety

  Last week, Secretary Arne Duncan from the Department of Education, along with several other agencies, sponsored the second annual national summit on bullying. Multiple federal government representatives reminded the attendees that bullying remains a priority and that is good…Unfortunately we have heard similar messages at multiple White House Summits and multiple conferences. So based on the advice of Benjamin Franklin who said: Well done is always better than well said. Beginning this week, now is the time to take the next step from “well said” to “well done”.   To help with this transformation, I will identify examples of “well saids” along with potential waysRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, School Safety, Uncategorized

  A disconnect is seemingly growing and becoming more and more serious every day. Disconnects in schools exist for many reasons including: silos and departments hierarchy and org chart issues multiple locations lack of ongoing awareness and accountability ineffective and outdated policies and procedures the disconnect between “well said” and “well done”   What about disconnects between Adults and Students…are these disconnects also a problem? For example, most adults never experienced cyber bullying at a young age, so can adults really relate to what students are experiencing these days? As I work with K-12 and Higher Education leadership across the U.S., I come across numerousRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety

  When it comes to bully prevention, connecting the dots is one of the best ways to achieve better results and to achieve “well done”. Too many times after a bullying incident or targeted violence incident or a suicide, we hear school leadership, government leaders and expert review panels say the incident was not prevented because we didn’t connect the dots. Which dots?  And what dots are not getting connected? Take a moment and think about all the dots in your organization. Think about all the People Dots (boards, administrators, principals, student affairs, threat teams, counselors, staff, teachers, first responders, law enforcement,) you need toRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, School Safety

  What can schools do to ensure students do not fall through the cracks? Many of you may have watched the recent 48 Hours special segment on bullying.  The show highlighted one school district’s proactive efforts to implement bullying prevention programs and solutions.  We witnessed one young student who we felt like was rising above the bullying and truly being helped by these programs.  However, as the year progressed, we learned he began to hide the bullying, pretended like everything was okay, and later attempted suicide. In September we were also deeply saddened by the tragic suicide of Jamie Rodemeyer who had previously filmed anRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Education, Incident Reporting, School Safety

Is your school prepared to respond accordingly to reports of bullying and harassment? Are you prepared to investigate, stop, prevent, eliminate hostile environments, take appropriate actions and document your actions? Are your school leaders aware of the different types of bullying that may be creating hostile learning environments in your school? Studies show for students to achieve academically, they must feel secure and comfortable in their learning environment. A recent study from the University of Virginia revealed the academic performance of students in schools with persistent bullying may suffer because students are less engaged in learning due to fears about bullying or a greater levelRead More →