Cromwell Disabilities Center
The Cromwell Disabilities Center, a non-profit organization offers two programs as resources to schools in Maine to address the attitudes and understanding of all students towards individuals with disabilities. The focus of the presentations builds on individual understanding and facilitates awareness that leads to positive interaction and prevents bullying and harassment of students with disabilities.
- Student Disabilities Awareness Program consists of various interactive based exercises in classroom based presentations designed for Grades 3 through 8. The program material lead students to discover on their own and from their peers positive attitudes, sensitivity, and understanding about their classmates and individuals with all kinds of disabilities – learning, behavioral, developmental, and physical. The exercises demonstrate that persons with disabilities are different in the same way that every person is unique; that no one can change an inherent difference, whether or not the person has a disability; and that all differences are worthy of respect. The focus on youth builds into communities a value system that will better the lives of people with disabilities and contribute to a positive climate in classrooms and schools for all students. Quality books emphasizing disability diversity are left in classroom libraries for further student and teacher resources. The program has been offered at no cost to schools in southern, western, and central Maine with current and past funding from private charitable foundations and business, and an earmark grant through the Department of Education for the 2005-06 year. The Cromwell Center welcomes all school inquiries and is actively pursuing resources to expand to all Maine schools and the northern part of the state. There may be a fee for the program for schools outside the current geographic service area for instructor and transportation costs.
- Educator Disabilities Awareness Program offers training presentations that focus on the school and classroom environment as it relates to attitudes towards individuals with disabilities. The program consists of interactive exercises designed for adult participants to discover on their own and from their fellow colleagues the principles that promote disabilities awareness in all aspects of their work. The presentation explores perceptions and bias in relating to individuals with physical and silent disabilities. Each training session lasts approximately 3 hours, including a question and answer period. Session length can be adapted to specific school need in addressing the topic. There is a fee assessed for this program which can be negotiated.
For further information on the programs contact:
Donna Richard- drichard@cromwellcenter.org
(207) 775-9955
www.cromwellcenter.org
Maine Office of Substance Abuse
Videos :
- Bullying [video recording]
Columbia, S.C. : South Carolina Educational Television, 2001
12 min
Grade level: 5-8
Synopsis: This video and the accompanying teacher's guide illustrate strategies to reduce bullying in school. Students are presented with various bullying scenarios in the video. At the end of each scenario, questions are asked to provoke thought and discussion about the characters involved and the circumstances surrounding their situations. These strategies may be implemented on school-wide-level, on a classroom level, or on an individual level with the bully and the victim. This video may also be used in conjunction with the Blueprints for Violence Prevention: Bullying Prevention Program
Harriman, NY: New Day Films, 2003
35 min. accompanying curriculum guide
Grade level: 6-9, Adult
Synopsis: The students featured in Let's Get Real discuss racial differences, perceived sexual orientation, disabilities, religious differences, sexual harassment and more. From the youth who are targeted to the students who pick on them to those who find the courage to intervene, Let's Get Real examines bullying from the full range of perspectives. This film educates audiences of all ages about why we can no longer accept name-calling and bullying as just a normal rite of passage. Contains explicit language. Processing recommended.
- Dealing with Bullies, Troublemakers and Dangerous Situations
Plainview, NY: Bureau For At-Risk Youth, 1997
26 min.
Grade level: 7-12
Synopsis: This video (part of the 10 film Peace Talk series) educates kids about violence in our society, the risks they face every day, and the positive choices they can make to stay safe. It prevents violence by teaching kids how to avoid dangerous situations, handle their own emotions, and use conflict resolution skills
- Howard Grey : Counselor Version
Glenford, N.Y. : People on Board, 1992
16 min.
Grade level: . K-12, Adult
This is a video by Lee, a man who shunned a poor boy, Howard, in his childhood and has had remorse ever since. Lee finds Howard and talks to him about how it felt to be ridiculed by his peers. The issue of putdowns and their effect on people are of universal concern to both students and adults. Through the use of this video, students experience the pain felt by Howard Gray. They can identify how fragile a person can be and understand the importance of giving and receiving acceptance, support, and understanding.
The Intermediate version of this video (also available) includes a curriculum with lessons. This is the same video as the "Counselor Version," with 3 stopping points in the video for discussion.
Journal of the American Medical Association
Research Articles on Bullying Behaviors
jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/285/16/2094
Stan Davis': Stop Bullying Now
The Stop Bullying Now Web site is here to help you stop bullying in your school and community. Here you can learn about what works to stop bullying, Stan Davis's train-the-trainer seminars, and more.
www.stopbullyingnow.com/
Stop Bullying Maine
Working with Maine schools to prevent bullying.
stopbullyingmaine.com/
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Take a Stand. Lend a Hand. Stop Bullying Now Campaign website:
www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/index.asp
Prevention Programs That Work
_____________________________________________________________________
Many prevention programs have been developed to address the issues related to school violence and bullying. No one prevention program is appropriate for every school. Each school has unique needs. Educators and administrators must assess programs to find a good fit with their school. Among those that have been proven promising are the following, which are listed alphabetically.
Bully Proofing Your School
The Bully Proofing Your School Program was developed in Colorado in 1996. It is designed to work in elementary and middle school settings. The program is a comprehensive school climate program designed to create a safe and caring school community by shifting the power away from bullies and into the hands of the caring majority of students.
samhsa.gov/bully/bully_supps_pg37.htm
BullySafe USA
BullySafe USA is a comprehensive program that offers common terminology, concepts, and strategies for bullying prevention and intervention for students, educators, parents, and community leaders.samhsa.gov/bully/bully_supps_pg36.htm
Don't Laugh at Me
The Don't Laugh at Me Program (DLAM) is a program out of Operation Respect, Inc., that is working to transform schools into more compassionate, safe, and respectful places. The program was founded by Peter Yarrow of the music group Peter, Paul and Mary in collaboration with Educators for a Social Responsibility. It is designed to reduce the emotional and physical cruelty children can inflict on one another, often in the form of ridicule, bullying, and sometimes violence.
pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/bully/bully_supps_pg31.htm
The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
Dan Olweus, considered by most to be the pioneer in bullying research, developed the first research study in Norway in 1970, which served as the basis for this prevention program. He has continued to refine and expand his contribution to research on bullying. In the 1990s, he began working with two professors at Clemson University who conducted the first evaluation study of his prevention program in the United States. The Bullying Prevention Program has been identified as a Model Program by SAMHSA and by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention and by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV), University of Colorado.
samhsa.gov/bully/bully_supps_pg30.htm
Details of this program can also be found at SAMHSA's Model Programs Web site.
Peaceful School Project - Menninger Clinic
The Peaceful Schools Project, created and run by the Menninger Foundation's Child and Family Center in Houston, Texas, focuses only on the elementary level grades (K-5). The program also includes a research component that is examining the results of anti-bullying efforts.
pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/bully/bully_supps_pg32.htm
Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS)
This curriculum is a comprehensive program for promoting emotional and social competencies and reducing aggression in elementary school-age children. The program is designed to be used in a multiyear format by teachers and counselors.
pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/bully/bully_supps_pg33.htm
Safe Culture Project
This bullying prevention program is originally from Iowa, but has been implemented in States from Maine to California.
pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/bully/bully_supps_pg34.htm
Steps to Respect
The Steps To Respect Program is a bullying prevention curriculum designed to decrease bullying at a school and help students build more supportive relationships with one another. The program's dual focus is based on the research showing that friendships help protect children from the harm of bullying.
pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/bully/bully_supps_pg35.htm
_____________________________________________________________________
|
