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School Violence and Bully
Prevention Assemblies & Programs
In 1998, Delaware Attorney General instituted
a "bully-proofing" program that has since evolved into
a multi-tiered approach to school violence prevention and
bullying. Deputy Attorney General Rhonda Denny (who prosecutes
school related crimes) and the Attorney General's School Crime
Investigator/Ombudsman Joseph Flinn have developed customized
programs and messages aimed at essentially anyone with an
interest in the issue. Beginning with students and branching out
to teachers, administrators, parents and law enforcement, the
Delaware approach has been purposeful and has been
enthusiastically received. Inspired, in part, by research
conducted by Clinical Psychologist Dr. Stanton Samenow, several
of these initiatives seek to correct the flawed thought-patterns
of violent students while they can still be readily redirected.
Quite simply, many of these children can still be saved,
especially with modeling and encouragement from their peers and
from adults.
STUDENT ASSEMBLIES - In
the last four years, more than 40,000 students (approximately
one-third of all school-age children in the state) have attended
school violence assemblies hosted by the Delaware Department of
Justice. The Department has also encouraged and trained teachers
and school resource officers to conduct similar programs of
their own, thus reaching many more students. Messages are
age-appropriate but are dually intended to equip students with
coping skills and familiarize them with Delaware's school crime
reporting law. Students participate in role-playing skits based
on actual bullying/violence situations, and they are encouraged
to consider and discuss responsible ways to defuse the threats.
They are also reminded that they have a responsibility to keep
their school safe, and are asked to sign a pledge promising to
report rumors or threats of violence to adults or to the
Attorney General's toll-free school crime hotline.
SCHOOL CRIME HOTLINE - The toll-free line
was originally created by the Attorney General as a resource for
parents, teachers and students to call the School Crime
Ombudsman if they believed their school was not responding
properly to concerns or incidents of violence. Now students are
encouraged to use the number anytime they know information that
might cause them alarm or worry. The number is included in the
"Keep My School Safe" pledges and in brochures given
to the students.
FACULTY GUIDANCE AND TRAINING - The
Department of Justice regularly conducts workshops for teachers
and administrators to familiarize them with the school crime
reporting law and with the thought-processes that lead to
bullying and violence. Teachers are also recruited to adopt the
bully-proofing program described above for their classes.
Schools have been encouraged to modify student scheduling to
minimize freetime in hallways and common areas that could be a
source of trouble. Block scheduling has cut incidents by about
half in some schools.
SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER TRAINING - The
Department of Justice is in regular contact with police officers
assigned to work within Delaware's public schools. The officers
are given guidance and training in both the law and developing
bully-proofing programs.
WORKSHOPS FOR OTHER PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COMMUNITY
EDUCATION GROUPS -
The Department has effectively reached out to the state
Department of Education, Parent Teacher Associations,
school-based Wellness Centers and parochial and private schools
to generate awareness of the issues, familiarize them with the
law, and encourage implementation of bully-proofing techniques.
Training is also provided to aspiring educators who are majoring
in Education at the state University.
DIVERSION FOR YOUTHFUL OFFENDERS - With the
consent of the victims of minor crimes committed by juveniles,
the Department of Justice can ask to remove cases from Family
Court and direct the offender to a school diversion program. In
New Castle County, the YES, Inc. program requires up to 25 hours
of community service and the offender typically must write a
report on what they did wrong and how they could have handled
the situation differently. Counselors discuss the report with
the student to reinforce an understanding of the thinking
errors. Occasionally, the offender may have committed a crime,
out of fear of repeated bullying. These offender/victims are
given skills to better handle bullying. Upon successful
completion of the program, the criminal case is dismissed. To
date, the YES program has handled more than 150 cases; only four
students have been charged with new infractions. A second
diversion option in New Castle County is Community Court, which
conducts a similar program. Another alternative is Teen Court
(in Kent and Sussex Counties), where the actions of the offender
are held up to peer scrutiny from prosecutors and jurors who are
also recent youthful offenders. The experience reinforces for
the jurors their comprehension of the flawed thinking that led
to their own offenses. The defendants may be subsequently
sentenced to serve as future jurors.
ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS - The Delaware
Department of Education has a statewide alternative school
program for students with disciplinary problems. The Attorney
General's office has provided school resource officers (who are
assigned to these schools) with information to obtain curricula
for teaching classes on responsible thinking as described by Dr.
Stanton Samenow.
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