1) Insist on powerful, respectful adult leadership. The
people caring for kids are doing the most important job in the world. Every adult in a child’s life is responsible
for ensuring that each child is safe and acts safely towards others.
2) Make SURE Kids know you CARE. Don’t assume that a child knows. No matter how busy you are,
tell young people often, ”Your safety and well being are the most important
things in the world to me. If anything bothers you, I want to know, and I will
do my best to help you.”
3) Keep your radar on. Stay aware of what kids are saying
and doing. The best anti-bullying
programs in the world won’t work if the adults in charge don’t know what their
kids are doing and saying. Any of us can become so focused on a conversation or
an activity that we don’t see what is happening around us. No matter how busy
or distracted you are, check out what is happening with the young people in
your care. What’s going on with that cluster of kids in the corner or by the
slide? How’s the girl with the quick temper doing? What about the boy who often
seems lost and unhappy? Develop
the skill of Splitting Your Attention to avoid tunnel vision. When you have
kids in your care, interrupt what you are doing to observe what the kids are
doing as well as what else is happening around you. Keeping Your Radar On will prepare you to step in to stop or
redirect unsafe behavior.
4) Don’t let kids throw stones. Intervene immediately in a
powerful, respectful way so that you stop a child being unkind to another with
the same determination that you would stop that child from throwing a rock
through a window. Teach kids that
“making fun” of anyone in hurtful ways is cruel. Remember that disrespectful or threatening gestures, sounds,
and facial expressions are also ways to throw emotional stones.
5) Teach kids skills for taking charge of their safety. People are more prepared to do in
real life what they have practiced. Allow children and teens opportunities to be successful in
rehearsing how to take charge of their emotional and physical safety in
situations that are relevant to their lives.
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