Feedback on How to Be Angry from Elementary School Students

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5 days
by in anger, angry smile, assertiveness, bullying

Six students from the Freetown Elementary School in Maryland recently completed the How to Be Angry curriculum.  They were kind enough to share with me their feedback on the activities, lessons, and games and gave me permission, in turn, to share it with you!  Special thanks to Aimee Meyer, their teacher who led the lessons, and all of the kids who are such gracious and enthusiastic learners!

 

Most important thing I’ve learned so far …

  •   ”Bullies are not cool.”
  •   ”I learned how to use I messages instead of you messages all the time.” 
  •   ”I learned about passive-aggressive behavior.  That’s what I do.” 
    • When prompted for more information, the student said “You know, like when I mope around, shuffle real slow down the hall, soft-talk and work real slow or not at all.  Now I know how to calm down better.”
  •   ”I learned that you don’t have to take things out on someone else all the time.  I only knew how to do that.”

 

What I have enjoyed the most about these lessons …

  • “I liked when we did the activity with putting magnets underneath the types of anger. The magnets told us what the types of anger looked like and what we could do when we feel these.” 
  • “I’m moving to different parts of the room when we gained our opinions to something. We learned how to respect others’ opinions and that it’s okay to have different opinions.”
  • “I really liked the game where we lined up by our birthday but we couldn’t talk. It was hard and we had to use our hands, fingers and faces to do it.  We learned about nonverbal communication. It’s important.”
  • “I liked how there were a lot of games. There was one at the beginning of each lesson and they were pretty fun.”

 

If I could improve on this book in one way I would …

  • “Add more games. They are a lot of fun and active.”
  • “Give the kids a workbook so they each have their own.”
  • “Add pictures and colors to the worksheets or a Kid’s Workbook.”

 

Note for Educators:  Handouts for kids in How to Be Angry are reproducible!  You may feel free to make kids their own workbook to use as you are conducting each session.  The kids recommend it and so do I!

 

Thanks again, kids!

 

All the best–                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Signe

Do You Know the Cyberlingo?

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26 days
by in cyberbullying

Thanks again to all those who attended my “Friendship & Other Weapons” webinar training, via Reclaiming Youth International.  Here are the answers to the Cyberlingo Quiz:

 

•LOL: Laugh out loud
•BFF: Best friend forever
•JK: Just kidding
•TTYL: Talk to you later
•OMG: Oh my gosh
•BRB: Be right back
•ROTFLMAO: Rolling on the floor, laughing my ass off
•ATM: At the mall
•RA: Really annoying
•LMIRL: Let’s meet in real life
•AITR: Adult(s) in the room
•MOS: Mother over shoulder
•Code 9: Parents are around
•TAW: Teachers are watching
 
Keep in mind: these acronyms change all of the time.  The challenge for adults is to stay current. 
 
TheWaywetalktoourchildren

The Way We Talk to Our Children Becomes their Inner Voice

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95 days
by in Uncategorized

LSCI and Crisis Intervention in Schools

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130 days
by in Life Space Crisis Intervention

Dear Colleagues,

It goes without saying that all of our hearts are heavy after the devastating school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December.  As helpers, many of us thought right away about what we could do to make a difference for young people—whether in Newtown or in our own communities, organizations, and schools. 

There are no easy answers to problems as big as the ones made horrifically clear at Sandy Hook Elementary but the nation is in agreement on the importance of effective mental health treatment and crisis intervention for young people.  Life Space Crisis Intervention has something of real value to add to this national conversation. 

To that end, we have created this brief video to let you know more about what we do and how LSCI training for educators and mental health professionals can contribute to the national effort to find positive solutions for kids.  I am writing to invite you view the video and also to share it with your colleagues in the fields of Education, Mental Health, and Juvenile Justice so that we can all work together on behalf of young people.   The direct link for you to share is: http://www.lsci.org/make-difference

Our goal is to find ways to be part of the discussion and solution when it comes to mental health and crisis intervention. Wherever primary prevention and early intervention programs are on the table, LSCI has a lot to add to the conversation and we hope we can be a constructive part of a nationwide voice.  Thank you for sharing your time and efforts.   

All the best—

Signe

Words Matter: Check out this terrific anti-bullying campaign and poster!

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166 days
by in Uncategorized

No Bullying! News Clip from the Allentown Morning Call

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188 days
by in bullying

Well, imagine my surprise when I came across this video clip!  Yes, I do recall talking on camera to a reporter, just prior to beginning a recent Bullying Awareness StoryTime event, but No, I had no clue that it had been produced and published online.  After initial feelings of stage fright-induced nausea…it’s actually a pleasant surprise. 

 

So, friends, introducing ME, introducing my Shredders and Builders Activity (featured in Friendship & Other Weapons) to teach young kids about the power of words and the importance of kindness in friendship.

 

No Bullying!

Every Child in Your Class is Someone’s Whole World

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188 days
by in Uncategorized

Check out these National Anti-Bullying Awareness Month Posters by Kids

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217 days
by in Uncategorized

On Saturday, I did a book signing at a Barnes & Noble in eastern PA.  Lots of bright, creative kids made my day by creating artwork representing “How to be a friend to someone who is being bullied.” I couldn’t keep them all to myself!  Below, please join me in enjoying a few of my favorite masterpieces. Thanks to ALL of the kids who participated!

By Nina F.


By Aubrey M.


By Elle W.


By Kaylee R.

E-mail Contracts for Kids

0
228 days
by in Being a Mom, bullying, cyberbullying, e-mail, Parenting

A friend of mine from graduate school and I were just lamenting over the fact that our daughters are asking to have e-mail accounts.  Well, actually, we were marveling at how time has flown and that our kids are at this age already.  Ok, truthfully, we were feeling sorry for ourselves about how old we must be to have tween-age kids, but I digress…

She and I are both concerned about setting guidelines for our girls as they take big steps into the world of technology social media.  Here are the sets of guidelines she and I each pieced together from our own wisdom and bits of advice on the web.  I like hers better…she liked mine…together, perhaps we have a whole parent’s brain.  You can feel free to pick and choose from either.  Hopefully, you can find the suggestions helpful:

E-MAIL CONTRACT:

1. Always be kind, and do not ever use email to say ugly, nasty, or mean things about ANYONE. Not only is that not behavior not acceptable, but email can always be forwarded to someone & hurt their feelings.

2. If you don’t recognize an address in your inbox, or someone sends you a weird email, don’t touch the email & come get me or Daddy.

3. No opening attachments or clicking on links without approval.

4. Daddy and I can and will access your emails at any time. You must give us your password(s) if you change them.

5. The only computers you are allowed to access your email from is mine or Daddy’s (and Grandma’s). If you access Gmail from school, you would have to be responsible enough to “SIGN OUT” so that the next person can’t access your email. Many grown-ups can’t even remember to do this, so I’m not going to ask you to. So, no accessing emails from school until I believe you’re responsible enough to do this.

6. NEVER click the “remember me” or “remember this password?” if you do access your email from another computer (against my rules). This will allow that computer to ALWAYS remember your password without the person sitting there to even think about it.

7. Never send to anyone in an email the following: your real address, phone number, any passwords, our cell phone numbers, your birthday/date, social security number or any other identifying information–not even to someone you know. This will cause you BIG, BIG problems or put you in DANGER from people who want to harm children.

8. Don’t use “Reply all.” Many grown-ups don’t even understand how to use this properly.

9. If someone emails you telling you you won something: you didn’t. Come get one of us.

10. Don’t go into the “Spam” folder – that’s not a place for children, and I’m trusting you enough to follow this rule (and the others). If you think an email you want may have mistakenly found its way in there, ask one of us to look in there for you.

11. You are not allowed to use Google+ without our permission. That is something you can earn with good behavior and when you’re a little older.

YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT IS A PRIVILEGE. WE CAN REVOKE THIS PRIVILEGE AT ANY TIME. WE CAN RESTRICT THE PRIVILEGE IN ANY WAY AT ANY TIME. WE EXPECT YOU TO FOLLOW THESE RULES IF YOU WANT TO KEEP THIS PRIVILEGE.

 

 

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTRACT:

We believe our family values include kindness, honesty, and compassion for others.  Our use of technology must reflect these values.  Therefore, we recognize that having an email address, texting, using a YouTube account, and any other uses of technology must follow these rules:

 

  1.  Communication (sending e-mails, commenting on videos, sending texts, etc) is for the purpose of friendship and exchange of ideas or information.  It is never for spreading gossip, making rude comments, using bad language, or giving out personal information to people we don’t know.

 

  1. Technology can never be used for the purposes of humiliating, embarrassing, getting revenge upon, or hurting others in any way.

 

  1. Sending or uploading photos and videos with any personally identifying images or information are not permitted unless specially approved by Mommy or Daddy.

 

  1. Mommy and Daddy must always have access to the passwords and content for all of your technology accounts.

 

  1. Mommy and Daddy reserve the right to insist that particular sites and friends who behave in violation of our values be banned or blocked.

 

  1. No emails, texts, YouTube comments, etc after 9:00pm (school year) and 9:30pm (summer).

 

If these rules are not followed, the following will occur:

First violation:  All technology privileges ended for 7 days.

Second violation:  All technology privileges ended for 14 days.

Third violation:  All technology privileges ended indefinitely.

 

While we understand that anyone can make a mistake, we believe that living according to our values is critically important.

 

Signed:

_________________________________        _________________________________

Child                                                                                      Parent

 

 

 

For more information and suggestions for teaching kids about ethical uses of technology and social media, please check out my post on Psychology Today, Teaching Netiquette to Kids.

“Battle of the Bullied,” from The Bully Project

0
233 days
by in bullying

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