Yes, schools should be involved to some degree in social issues. Being proactive in the areas of gay issues, girl violence and ethnic tension will have direct positive benefits on a school. Change. Our school has a gay/lesbian program and a CIS (community in schools program which reaches out low income minority groups). You hear on our morning announcements about "The Gay-Straight Alliance” so that all our students know there is adult support for gay issues. Our CIS program supports a “Me Casa, Su casa” program for Latino students. The program aims to ease Latino gang fighting through guest speakers and shared community events. I think we could also add to our programs with more outreach during and afterschool. The problems would involve the size of our school, money and time commitment.
One video discussed female violence and I can attest that female fighting is at least the equivalent of male violence by quantity and intensity. I broke up a female fight by corralling the girl who was being beaten…she then proceeded to push me ! In another case, I knew of a 5th grade girl who started punching and kicker her rather short female teacher. Change. Again I think we could add formal and informal programs to deal with male-on-male and female-on-female violence. I don’t see that we have anything proactive to avoid student violence.
We do not have a Student Ambassador program. Change. However, I think it would have a positive impact. Their website www.community-matters.org provided data on how the program has succeeded and how to create a program. As stated in the video, students have greater insight into what other students are thinking and saying. Students may also be able to change peer behavior than adults changing student behavior. The website even provided the economic cost of adding this program.
Me Casa, Su Casa...enough said!
ReplyDeleteI agree, peers to a bullied situation can be a huge asset to those on both sides of the drama. We need to find those student-leaders willing to have the courage to help those in need. We as mentors can model to those student-leaders and show them how to handle those situations, so they can then deal with the drama that is not heard by us, the teacher.
Having student ambassadors to promote a non-bullying school is a great idea. I also think that students often respond better to one another better than adults. I think it is a great idea, but it is also a HUGE burden for students to carry. How do we balance that??
ReplyDeleteWow! I have never heard of a school supported group for gay students. I agree that programs are the way to go. We talk about student acheivement so much that we let social skill issues fall by the side. We do need to provide programs where students can improve their social skills which will help them deal with conflict when it comes up in their lives.
ReplyDeleteSchools have to tackle social issues especially if they can detract from learning. School is the most logical place to handle these issues but I don't think that educators necessarily are the ones to do it, at least not totally. Let the experts in the classrooms and let them educate the students.
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