- Steck Elementary
- Bully Prevention
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Bully Prevention
What is bullying?
"Bullying among students is aggressive behavior that is intentional and that involves an imbalance of power or strength. A child who is being bullied has a harder time defending him or herself. Usually, bullying is repeated over time. Bullying can take many forms, such as hitting or punching (physical); teasing or name-calling (verbal); intimidation using gestures or social exclusion (nonverbal or emotional); and sending insulting messages by phone, computer or email (cyberbullying)." -- US Dept. of Health & Human Services
At Steck, reports of bullying are taken seriously and investigated. Using that information, age-appropriate interventions and consequences are given to help teach and reinforce the school wide expectations: be respectful, be responsible, be safe, and be ready.in each area of the school.
Steck also has an evidence and research based bully prevention program titled: Stop-Walk-Talk. Students and staff are taught how to respond and use to the signals and language in Stop-Walk-Talk. More information is available on the "Parents" tab.
The most current research available tells us that bystanders play the most crucial role in reducing and eliminating bullying from all schools. When student and adult bystanders use stop-walk-talk, report bullying behaviors, learn resiliency, and recognize the different types of bullying (i.e. verbal, excluding others, physical, etc), it shifts the empowerment and attention a bully thrives on, and returns it to the students of a safe and peaceful school.
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For Parents
“Stop-Walk-Talk.”
Parents, if you hear your students using these words, they are following the bullying prevention program at Steck School! Stop-Walk-Talk teaches students how to respond if other students are bullying other Steck students. Our staff has also been taught how to respond if students engage in bullying behavior, that is, behavior that is disrespectful and can even be unsafe.
Indian Prairie District 204 TipLine The purpose of this anonymous tip form is to enhance the overall safety and security of the Indian Prairie school community. Anyone who has a legitimate and genuine concern may contact a building principal by phone or email or use this form to submit the concern anonymously. We realize that sometimes it may be difficult for an individual to personally address a concern; we feel this online form may simplify the process.
Kids Against Bullying
Kids against bullying is a Web site created for elementary school children. It is a creative and informative resource to educate students about bullying prevention and provide methods to respond to bullying situations. The site features an animated cast of characters, information, celebrity videos, Webisodes, games, animation, contest and other activities. Parents and professionals will find helpful tips, intervention strategies, and resources for use at home or school.
Helpful Webisodes and Video Clips
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For Staff
Behavior Philosophy at Steck:
- Steck staff will establish and teach the behavioral expectations.
- Students are responsible for their own behavior.
- Student behavior is the shared concern of staff, students, and parents.
We believe and expect that all students will behave appropriately at school. Our goal is to provide an organized and positive learning climate for all students and staff. The Steck staff helps students develop intrinsic, responsible behavior through approaches that are built on clear expectations, choices, natural and logical consequences with an emphasis on student growth and learning. A learning community is respectful of each others’ learning and responsible for their own behavior. We expect students at Steck to participate fully in the learning community and not disrupt the learning of others.
Steck Elementary School utilizes PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports). The school-wide expectations are: respect, responsibility and safety. Teachers are expected to incorporate these expectations into their classroom management plans. PBIS focuses on teaching the expectations (several times per year) using cool tools, setting up the learning environment for maximum participation, reinforcing appropriate behaviors and consequating inappropriate behaviors. The more consistent the expectations are across settings, the more effective our strategies will be.
Poor Problem Solving is a Predictor of Bullying According to a Recent Meta-Study
A review of 153 studies about bullying found that difficulty with social problem solving is a significant marker of bullies, victims, and those who are both bullies and victims. Throw in academic problems and such students tend to be more likely to bully. For victims, negative attitudes about self compound the risk of being bullied.
The authors acknowledge that the most promising programs for the prevention of bullying address the development of individual skills and improving the peer context simultaneously.
These findings were reported in Predictors of Bullying and Victimization in Childhood and Adolescence: A Meta-analytic Investigation. Clayton R. Cook and co-authors identified 13 predictors of which 8 were individual and 5 were contextual. Bringing together individual-level predictors with contextual characteristics expands understanding of factors (such as social competence, peer influence, and family context) that contribute to effective interventions.
