The This is My Home e-Newsletter is designed
specifically for teachers, administrators, and other school partners,
working to integrate Human Rights Education into their curriculum
and schools. This forum will showcase Human Rights Education news
from across the state of Minnesota as well as the emerging human rights
practices conducted in our classrooms, schools, and larger communities.
Please encourage your friends and colleagues to register online -
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This is My Home has reached educators and activists throughout Minnesota, the United States, and even the world; As of June 12, 2008, our registration total is 2,850!
In this issue:
Minnesota Schools Take Steps to Address Bullying
Training Opportunities and Events Update
Training Opportunities and Events Update
Freedom House
Change.org
Free Rice:
Minnesota Schools Take Steps to Address Bullying
By Monica Brazelton, Human Rights Center intern
Bullying is seen as an unfortunate but normal part of the “growing up” experience, so it is no wonder that educators and legislators alike have been slow to take action against it. Depending on which study you read, anywhere from 50 to 90 percent of schoolchildren, ranging from ages 6 to 13, have experienced some form of bullying at the hands of their peers, and between 33 and 60 percent of students admit to bullying one of their classmates.
University of Minnesota Associate Professor of Child Development Nicki Crick explains one of the common problems teachers experience when dealing with modern classroom bullies. The common bully stereotype of a large, physically abusive young male no longer applies to a large portion of students who bully. Modern bullies, for starters, are more likely to be female. They use verbal, not physical, force against their victims. Crick calls this less-blatant form of bullying “relational aggression” and says that students who engage in this behavior are “using relationships as a vehicle of harm.” This relational aggression may take many forms, including rumor-spreading, leveraging friendships for status in the classroom, and the “silent treatment”.
In the age of widespread internet usage by younger children, text messaging and social networking websites, bullying is often much more difficult for educators to detect, let alone prevent or punish. The use of electronic technology to bully, referred to as “cyber bullying,” further complicates school bullying policies because it mostly takes place outside of school hours and off of school property.
Minnesota is one of just a handful of states to enact anti-bullying legislation that includes specific language regarding cyber bullying. The legislation originally said that “each school board shall adopt a written policy prohibiting intimidation and bullying of any student.” The Minnesota state legislature has added language to the statutes requiring schools to “address intimidation and bullying in all forms, including, but not limited to, electronic forms and forms involving Internet use.”
Since students’ mostly at-home internet and cell phone habits are difficult for educators to monitor, many schools have turned to other anti-bullying programs in an effort to improve classroom environments. The Minneapolis Public School District has three schools currently piloting the “Welcoming Schools” curriculum, which combats bullying by focusing on gender roles and stereotypes, diversity, and reducing name-calling inside the classroom. Superintendent Bill Green believes that using specific in-class programs to prevent bullying will help stop it before starts. This is a markedly different approach from the traditional method of addressing bullying in the classroom only after it has already occurred. “Bullying or harassment is not a right of passage,” Green says, “[bullying is] not something all kids do or have to experience.”
A number of Minneapolis Public Schools have also adopted the Olweus Bully Prevention system, a Norwegian anti-bullying program that has been remarkably successful in numerous studies, both in Norway and the United States. The first United States study of the Olweus program took place in the mid-1990’s and involved 18 middle schools in South Carolina. Every school involved reported “large, significant decreases” in students’ reports of bullying others, as well as “large, significant decreases” in boys’ feeling bullied or socially isolated themselves. The Olweus system owes its effectiveness to its holistic approach to bullying, which involves school-wide, classroom, and individual interventions when bullying behavior appears, as well as an increased level of parent and community involvement. Instead of relying on the bully and their victim to resolve the issue between themselves, the Olweus system engages the entire classroom in solving the bullying problem, or, if the need arises, the entire school. The Hazelden Publishing Company has donated 6,000 copies of the Olweus Bully Prevention Questionnaires to the Minneapolis Public School District so that the schools can tailor individual bullying intervention policies based on the data from the questionnaires.
Most Minneapolis public elementary and middle schools have adopted The Responsive Classroom program, which gives equal weight to social and academic growth, as well as development. The first of seven guiding principles in The Responsive Classroom posits that “the social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum.” Students are given daily practice in respectful communication skills such as empathy, assertion, and cooperation. This program has been shown to increase student learning and motivation while decreasing problem behaviors. The Minneapolis Public School District has also purchased the Second Step program for every classroom in the school district. Second Step uses techniques similar to The Responsive Classroom for emotional management and respectful communication, but focuses more on preventing school violence. Violence prevention in schools is especially important in Minnesota, as the 2005 Red Lake shooting that left ten people dead is still fresh in the minds of many.
In order to prevent bullying and violence in schools, educators must not accept bullying as “just a part of growing up.” It is paramount that schools develop specific anti-bullying programs that actively engage students and parents alike to make classrooms safer and more effective places of learning. The number of resources available to Minnesota public schools have proved effective in increasing social skills and academic achievement while decreasing bullying and its harmful effects on students. A coherent and comprehensive anti-bullying policy is a win-win situation for any school, classroom, or teacher who wishes to shape their students into more respectful, responsible young adults.
Training Opportunities and Events Update
1) 2008 Curriculum Writing Academy
Dates: July 28 - 31, 2008 8:30am – 4:30pm
Cost: FREE
Location: University of Minnesota-Law School, Minneapolis, MN
Who should attend: Pre K-12 classroom teachers, cultural liaisons, curriculum specialists, and administrators from Minneapolis and St. Paul Public Schools. This academy is made possible through the General Mills Communities of Color grant; therefore, we would like to encourage applicants representing and serving communities of color.
Registration Deadline: June 20, 2008. Hurry! We still have a few spots left! To register, email a completed application form to home@umn.edu. For questions and more information, call Natela Jordan at 612-625-2857. Download a registration form at www.thisismyhome.org.
ACADEMY GOALS:
- Introduce the concept of human rights and human rights education;
- Introduce and involve participants in using This is My Home online multi-media tools;
- Build a team of human rights educators;
- Develop or enhance human rights curriculum-building skills;
- Develop curriculum units/lesson plans.
2) Social Justice Conference with Youth hosted by The Center for Service-Learning and Social Change
Date: Tuesday, October 20, 8:30 am – 2:30 pm
Location: Atwood Memorial Center (on the campus of St. Cloud State University)
Who should attend: Students and the educators who work with them.
Registration Deadline: Registration materials will be sent to interested schools in mid-September. To receive registration materials, call Kevin LaNave, the center’s director, at (320) 259-5480.
3) Holocaust and Genocide Workshops hosted by The Center Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the Guthrie Theater
First Program: “Cambodia and the Holocaust: Searching for Justice” Play and Workshop
Date: Saturday, June 21, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Location: Guthrie Theater
Cost: Free. CEU credit is available for teachers and CLE credit is available for lawyers.
Who should attend: This event is open to the public.
Registration deadline: Spaces are limited, so interested parties should register as soon as possible at http://chgs.umn.edu/news/cambodia.html
Second Program: “Seeking Justice at Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Cambodia” Symposium on Genocide Trials
Date: Monday, June 23, 7:30 pm
Location: Guthrie Theater
Cost: $10. CEU credit is available for teachers and CLE credit is available for lawyers.
Who should attend: This event is open to the public.
Registration deadline: Interested parties should call the Guthrie Theater at (612) 377-2224 to register.
Third Program: Two Documentary Films: “Cambodia: Year Zero” and “Cambodia: Year One”
Date: Wednesday, June 25, 7:00 pm
Location: Room 25 Mondale Hall, University of Minnesota Law School
Cost: Free. CEU credit is available for teachers.
Who should attend: This event is open to the public.
Registration deadline: No registration is necessary.
Fourth Program: “Women as Collateral Damage in War and Genocide” Workshop
Date: Saturday, June 28, 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Location: Guthrie Theater
Cost: $20 for the workshop, which includes lunch; $26 for the afternoon performance of "After a Hundred Years" ($46 for the day). CEU credit is available for teachers and CLE credit is available for lawyers.
Who should attend: This event is open to the public.
Registration deadline: Interested parties should call the Guthrie Theater at (612) 377-2224 to register.
Freedom House
Freedom House has promoted the growth of freedom by encouraging U.S. policymakers, international institutions, and the governments of established democracies to adopt policies that advance human rights and democracy around the world. At the same time, Freedom House provides support to individuals working in the world's young democracies to overcome debilitating legacies of tyranny, dictatorship and political repression, as well as to activists working in repressive societies to bring about greater freedom and openness. Freedom House translates the intangible values of freedom into a strong tangible impact by combining analysis, advocacy and action.
Change.org
Change.org connects people with nonprofit organizations working on behalf of a wide variety of causes, including stopping the genocide in Darfur, improving public schools, and ending global hunger or dependence on oil. Change.org gives people the opportunity to donate to their organization or their choice, find a nonprofit near them and volunteer their time, or write to a member of congress who has been involved with a specific cause.
Free Rice:
Free Rice, a sister site of the world poverty site Poverty.com, is a free, English vocabulary game that donates 20 grains of rice to hungry people worldwide through the United Nations Food Program for each vocabulary question answered correctly. Teachers can use the program to build their student’s vocabularies, which can help them write more clearly, communicate more efficiently, and score better on standardized tests. Free Rice can be used as an interactive tool to teach students about world hunger and poverty, and teach them about what they can do to help.