Bullying Takes Center Stage at Willow Creek Seminar

Nearly 50 parents attended an anti-bullying seminar at Tuesday. The seminar was sponsored by the Willow Creek PTO and led by Celeste Sorensen, LCSW, and Margaret Duffy, LCPC.

“I was so glad to see that our parents are concerned and want to be educated in order to protect their children,” said , principal of Willow Creek. “With the popularity of social network sites and increased use by elementary students and the ability to text at almost any time, bullying has become even more insidious.  Students used to leave a bully behind when they went home.  Now this person can invade their e-mail or cell phone resulting in more damage to self-esteem.”

During the hour-long presentation, Sorensen and Duffy talked about various topics, including the anatomy of a bully, the anatomy of a victim, consequences, tips for responding to bullying and what parents can do to help their children if they are the victims of bullying or cyberbullying.

"There is a difference between teasing and bullying," Sorensen said. "With teasing, no one is offended or hurt, people can laugh at themselves and sometimes it can be a form of affection. However, if it crosses the line and becomes emotionally abusive, it is bullying."

Over the past couple years, Willow Creek has been implementing special programs geared toward improving motivation, reducing violence and preventing bullying. The first is Caring School Community, a nationally recognized and research-based program aimed at building the classroom and school wide community.  

“The goal of Caring School Community is to focus and improve students’ connectedness to school, improve motivation and academic achievement, and reduce violence,” Sanfilipp said.  “We have been holding class meetings, which help to teach problem solving skills, at all grade levels for two and one-half years now and feel that it has helped us to develop our WC family.”

This year the school implemented Second Step, a program focused on preventing bullying, child abuse and violence.  

“Second Step teaches children social/emotional skills such as getting along, managing emotions, working together, empathy and respect and being assertive to mention only a  few,” Sanfilipp said. “It teaches these skills through a wide variety of modalities, including role playing, videos, puppets, and classroom activities.”

What parents can do to help their child

1. Constantly affirm your child to increase self-esteem
2. Provide your child with ideas on how they can handle the situation.
3. Be a good listener. Let your child know that you are there if they ever need to talk.
4. Teach your child about empathy.
5. Be a good role model.

How to respond to bullying:

1. Watch for signs of bullying.
2. Coach the child in appropriate responses using role play.
3. Contact the school and suggest a bullying prevention program.
4. Address your child’s skill deficits.
5. Keep records of dates and times of all the events that happened to your child.

Facts About bullying:

• Students who bully in middle school are 6 times more likely to be convicted of a crime by the age 0f 24 and 5 times more likely to end up with a serious criminal record by the age of 30.
• Bullies are more likely to abuse their own children and/or spouse, be divorced multiple times, more likely to suffer from drug abuse problems.
• It is estimated that 160,000 children miss school daily due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students.
• Students who are chronically bullied are more likely to suffer from low self esteem , increased anxiety, depression and suicide.