Parenting

Words to Live By

538
13 years
by in Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, bullying, Parenting

“Do not forget small kindnesses and do not remember small faults.”–Chinese Proverb.

Girl Scouts Know How to Be Friends Indeed!

919
13 years
by in anger, assertiveness, Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, bullying, cyberbullying, friends, kids, Parenting

This morning, I had the GREAT honor and pleasure of doing a workshop for about 120 Girl Scouts and their moms (ages 5-11), based on some of the lessons and activities in Friendship & Other Weapons.  We focused on specific ways that the girls can become allies to someone who is being bullied both before, during, and after bullying situations.  In less than 10 minutes, the amazing girls came up with over 60 ways to be a friend to someone who is being bullied!  They also learned that:

It is never OK to do nothing about bullying!

Here are a few of the “How to Be a Friend” and “Stop Bullying” posters they left with me to share with you.  Please check the Bullying in Elementary School link to see more and to find out how to schedule a Friendship & Other Weapons workshop for your group of girls.

 



How Friendship & Other Weapons Came to Life

159
13 years
by in anger, assertiveness, Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, bullying, cyberbullying, friends, kids, media messages, online, Parenting, parents, passive aggression by children

This morning, an interviewer asked me how the idea for Friendship & Other Weapons came to be.  Thought it was worth sharing with you as well…

 

My previous book, How to Be Angry, started with the fundamental premise that anger is OK; its 15-session curriculum is all about giving children, tweens and teens specific assertive skills to express their anger in constructive, relationship-building ways.  After writing the book, it became obvious to me that there is a large group of young people who are shut out from this basic presupposition that anger is a normal, natural human experience.   Millions of young girls in the United States grow up immersed in a social universe in which “being angry” is equated with “being bad” or, at best, not “being nice.”  (more…)

Loving the Challenging Child

443
13 years
by in Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, Parenting

Sometimes, you read just the right article at just the right time.  Tonight was my night for that.

I adore Maggie Lamond Simone’s writing.  She seems to always take exactly what I am thinking and say it in a way that is hilarious and poignant and touching all at once.  For any Mom or Dad who loves a child whose strengths  are also exactly what makes him a challenge, please check out her post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maggie-lamond-simone/loving-the-problem-child_b_1001376.html

From “Happy to Be Me” to Insecurity

0
13 years
by in Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, bullying, cyberbullying, media messages, online, Parenting

I was a big fan of Sesame Street as a kid and am a bigger fan now, as a Mom.  Check out how the show is approaching the problem of bullying with young children–focusing on prevention (where we have a prayer) rather than relying on intervention (where we constantly swim upstream).    LOVE it!

 

http://www.shapingyouth.org/?p=17182

Classic Passive Aggressive Behavior on Modern Family

902
13 years
by in Being a Mom, Modern Family, Parenting, passive aggression, passive aggression by children, passive aggression in families, passive aggressive behavior in families

Next week, I am doing a training based on The Angry Smile for a group of professionals and parents in Newfoundland, CA. As I am going through my material, I couldn’t help but to dig back in the Modern Family archives and pick out this most classic example of passive aggressive behavior between Claire and her daughter. This is the show that keeps on giving.

http://www.hulu.com/embed/ZhvUZ-fm9aKLB3mabFr_IA/0/70

Sesame Street Takes on Bullying Among Young Kids

770
13 years
by in anger, assertiveness, Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, bullying, cyberbullying, media messages, Parenting

I love that more and more of us are addressing bullying during early childhood, where these behaviors have their roots. Check out this great clip–the first in a series of five produced by Sesame Workshop:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bycyRO0Vdfw]

Miss Representation: How Girls are Influenced by the Media

1234
13 years
by in Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, media messages, movies, MTV, online, Parenting

Wow. Some things you know intuitively, but you don’t take the time to consider how astounding they are until someone puts all of the pieces together like this filmmaker did.   In Friendship & Other Weapons, parents and professionals have three chapters devoted to helping kids examine media influences and pressures, knowing that awareness can build resistance.

Please check out this amazing short film–with your daughter!

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2349117563337

Stopping Bullying: Turning Passive Bystanders Into Powerful Allies

650
13 years
by in anger, angry smile, assertiveness, Being a Mom, building self-esteem in girls, bullying, Parenting

I am loving AC360’s special series this week on stopping bullying–especially the exploration of sociologist Robert Faris’ study that focuses on bystanders as change agents.  We can teach kids specific skills for becoming allies before, during, and after incidents of bullying!   This is one of the focus areas in the Friendship & Other Weapons curriculum and the main emphasis in the Mother-Daughter workshop I will be doing for the Girl Scouts of Eastern PA on 10/22.

Check out last night’s AC360 segment: <object width=”416″ height=”374″ classid=”clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000″ id=”ep”><param name=”allowfullscreen” value=”true” /><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always” /><param name=”wmode” value=”transparent” /><param name=”movie” value=”http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=us/2011/10/10/ac-bullying-faris-simmons.cnn” /><param name=”bgcolor” value=”#000000″ />[cnnvideo url=’http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2011/10/10/ac-bullying-faris-simmons.cnn’ inline=’true’]</object>

Social Combat in Schools: Bullying on Anderson Cooper 360

722
13 years
by in anger, bullying, cyberbullying, Parenting

As part of his ongoing series this week on the subject of bullying, Anderson Cooper talks to sociologist Robert Faris and author Rachel Simmons about the concept of “social combat,” and the culture of victimization in schools. This is a really interesting clip, revealing which kids tend to be most involved in bullying and which ones tend to stay above the fray. Revealing.

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=us/2011/10/10/ac-bullying-faris-simmons.cnn

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Signe Whitson is an author and educator on bullying, crisis intervention, and child and adolescent emotional and behavioral health. In her articles, books, and training workshops, Signe provides down-to-earth, practical advice for professionals and parents on navigating the daily challenges of living and working with children, tweens and teens.

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