Bullying Prevention

All students were taught the “Stop” signal. Our stop signal requires them to look directly at the other student, make the hand signal for stop and use a firm voice to say, “STOP.” Students are encouraged to use the “Stop” signal if they are being bullied or if they see someone else being bullied. Students were also taught how to respond if they are given the “Stop” signal. The student receiving the “Stop” signal should immediately stop what he or she is doing, take a deep breath, count to 3, and then go on with their day following our school rules. Students were reminded that they should stop what they are doing, regardless of whether they agree that they deserved the stop signal or not. By following these guidelines, students show respect for themselves toward one another.

What if a student gives another student the stop signal, but the problem behavior continues? Students were then taught to “Walk” away or ignore the behavior. When it is not possible to walk away, such as while riding the bus, students were taught to “ignore” the student by looking the other way and not responding to them further either verbally or nonverbally (through gestures).

Finally, if students have tried to solve the problem, by using the stop signal and walking away or ignoring it and the bullying continues, then they can “Talk” to an adult. All staff has been trained to respond to a student’s request to talk.

First, the staff member will ask the student about the problem. Then, they will ask the student if they used the “stop” signal and tried walking away. Students will be praised for trying these steps or reminded about using these steps first before talking to an adult.

Finally, the staff member will discuss the problem behavior with the student who is engaging in problem or disrespectful behavior. They will remind students what they are to do when they are given the stop signal by another student or students (i.e., immediately stop what they are doing, take a deep breath and count to 3, and continue with their day following our school rules).

In addition, staff will enforce the appropriate consequence for breaking one of our school rules. Parents will receive notification from the school if their student continues to engage in disrespectful or unsafe behaviors.

One important exception to the “Stop-Walk-Talk” sequence is when a student is in immediate danger such as fighting or for cyberbullying. In this case, students were told to immediately tell an adult.