Thursday, September 29, 2011

Bullying

Bullying is not a normal rite of passage. It can have serious
consequences. You can help your children learn how to prevent
bullying.

™™ Help your children understand that bullying is more than
physical. It can happen in person or over the phone or computer.

™™ Keep open lines of communication with your children. Listen to
any concerns about friends and other students.

™™ Encourage your children to pursue their interests. Doing what
they love may help your children be more confident among their
peers and make friends with others with similar interests.

™™ Teach your children to take a stand against bullying. Tell them
how to stand up to those who bully if it is safe to do so.

™™ Talk to your children about seeking help from a trusted adult
when feeling threatened by a bully. Talk about whom they
should go to for help and role-play what they should say. Assure
your children that they should not be afraid to tell an adult when
someone they know is being bullied.

™™ Know what is going on in your children’s schools. Visit the
school websites, read the student paper if there is one, and join
the parent organization listserv or mailing list. Get to know other
parents, school counselors, and staff. Contact the school by
phone or e-mail if you have suggestions for making the school a
safer and better learning place.

If you suspect your children are being bullied, consider these
steps:

™™ Express your concern and make it clear that you want to help.

™™ Tell your children that bullying is wrong, that it is not their fault,
and that you are glad they had the courage to tell you about it.

™™ Work together to find solutions. Ask your children what they
think can be done to help. Reassure them that the situation can
be handled privately.

™™ Document ongoing bullying. Work with your children to keep a
record of all bullying incidents. If it involves cyberbullying, keep
a record of all messages or postings.

™™ Help your children develop strategies and skills for handling
bullying. Provide suggestions for ways to respond to bullying,
and help your children gain confidence by rehearsing their
responses.

™™ Be persistent. Bullying may not be resolved overnight.

™™ Stay vigilant to other possible problems that your children
may be having. Some of the warning signs for bullying may be
signs of other serious problems. Share your concerns with the
counselors at your children’s schools.


If you think that your children may be bullying others, work with your
children’s schools to address the issues. Remember that children who bully
are at high risk for engaging in risky or even criminal behaviors, and it is
very important in a bullying situation for the parents to act immediately.

™™ Talk with your children. Ask for their account of any situation for which
they have been accused of bullying. Be objective and listen carefully.

™™ Make it clear to your children that you take bullying seriously. Calmly let
them know that you will not tolerate this behavior. Help your children
learn that bullying hurts everyone involved.

™™ Develop clear and consistent rules for your children’s behavior. Praise
your children when they follow the rules. Decide on fair consequences
and follow through if your children break the rules.

™™ Spend more time with your children. Carefully supervise and monitor
their activities, including when they are online or texting.

™™ Be aware of who your children consider to be their friends. Find out how
they spend their free time.

™™ Build on your children’s talents and positive attributes. Encourage them
to get involved in well-supervised social activities.

™™ Work with your children’s schools to ensure the bullying does not happen
again. Ask your children’s teachers to keep you informed. Develop
strategies together to send clear messages to your children, and all
students, that bullying must stop.

™™ Talk with a school counselor or health professional. They may be able to
provide your children with additional help.

This information has been prepared and printed with permission of the National School Public Relations Association, Judy McDaniel and StopBullying.gov.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Tech Support in the Schools

Have you seen one of our tech support guys? We have two of them - Ron Usilton and Don Riser.

Something just whizzed by me in a blue blur. Perhaps that was Ron, or maybe it was Don. It’s hard to tell at that speed. Lately they seem to be needed everywhere. Yesterday. It’s little wonder, given the explosion of the use of technology in schools. I don’t know how they keep up.

A generation ago we were just beginning to get computer labs in the schools. After that we started distributing a few computers to each classroom. They weren’t all connected to the Internet in those days, most ran software installed in each one or on a local server.

And the staff? I remember it took a long time before we felt the staff was competent enough to issue computers to everyone. Now, we don’t hire a teacher without accepting that she will need a laptop computer. She needs it for communication. She needs it for the development of lessons and the research to go along with lesson prep. Teachers often teach lessons that call for projecting photos, videos, stories, charts and graphs found on the internet. Often, lessons are packaged in a colorful PowerPoint presentation.

As a matter of fact, the technology needed in the classroom as basic tools has exploded. Practically every classroom has an interactive white board, projector and printer. Half of those classrooms have what is called a document camera, which looks like a miniature overhead projector and can focus on any book, document or object and project that picture onto the white board. Back in the day they called that an opaque projector. It was as big as a Volkswagen and probably cost as much.

The other day I did a little search on the Internet to see what the business world considers an appropriate ratio of computers to tech support personnel. On the first site I quickly abandoned my search because the numbers I saw suggested we don’t have enough people to keep everything running. The first report I saw suggested one tech support person for every 50 computers.

Now Ron used to work in the private sector and he tells me that 1 tech person for every 200 computers was probably more likely.

Here in Lake Forest School District Ron and Don install and maintain computers at a ratio that exceeds 1000 to 1. In addition they take care of most of the installation and maintenance of hundreds of interactive white boards, projectors, document cameras, printers, servers and routers. They maintain and upgrade our wireless networks.

And, oh yes, Ron also serves as our web master for the district website as well as coach for those teachers maintaining the school websites. Obviously they’ve got their hands full. But, amazingly, they get the job done and they do it well. I wish we could afford a few more Rons and Dons.