Don't Be a Bully!

Time has really flown this summer! With school already peaking its head around the corner teachers, parents and students are getting ready to head back to school. Some are excited to go back while others are dreading the first day.

Some of these children who are dreading the first day could be the victim of a bully.  Bullying has become a major problem in the schools! 77% of students admit to being the victim of a bully! More than 3/4 students!

Through some research I have found 9 different types of bullying here are the ones that I have seen the most:

• Cyber Bullying –

With technology becoming more and more popular this form of bullying has become more popular as well. Cyber bullying includes sending emails or tests that are mean or that threaten a person, spreading hurtful rumors, using social media(Facebook, Twitter, Etc) to post or send mean or threatening messages, and breaking into someone’s account.

• Verbal Bullying –

When someone says something mean to you or threatens you.

• School Bullying—

This type of bullying is any form of bullying that takes place on school property. In a school setting bullies will gang up on a victim and harass them throughout the day.

Around 1/3 of students 12-18 years old have reported being bullied according to National Center for Education.

That is an alarming number! This however does not include the students who did not report what was going on.

• Text Bullying –

This type of bullying is bullying that is done by sending threatening, mean and hurtful, messages on a cell phone.

Workplace Bullying –

This is when people are bullied in the work place. Workplace bullying can happen at any time in your life.

• Physical bullying –

Which includes: stealing from an individual, fighting, sexual harassment, and practical jokes.

There are lots of signs that a child has been physically bullied they include and are not limited to:

•  Having bruises and cuts frequently
•  Frequently saying they do not feel well before school
•  Becoming extra sad or depressed
•  Losing their personal belongings at school with no explanation

           

Let’s Get Personal

I personally was a victim of bullies. My 9^th grade was a living nightmare. Although I hated going to school I still went almost every day. I was called ugly in every way imaginable. As a 14 year old girl you can imagine how that would hurt my self-esteem. From that year until after high school I went on thinking that these bullies were right. Even thought I was only bullied for one year of school what they said stuck with me until I graduated. 4 years that is a long time for it to stick with a person.

Honestly most of my family will find out about my bullying from reading this blog. Why you might ask. Back then I didn't want to bother them with my little problem. I feared that if I told them they would contact the school or do something which would cause the bullying to become more frequent.

When I talk to some friends about it they have asked how I got through that year and it is honestly a mystery. I had a small group of friends that I mainly saw in school but unlike now I was very shy and intimidated by making new friends.

How can we help?   We can tell children to:

• Ignore the bully! This may be very hard to do (I know it sure was for me) but if they don’t make you angry by saying something they are less likely to continue. They only want to upset you and get you to react to them.

• Tell an adult or some type of authority figure! If you let someone know they can keep an eye out for the bullying behavior to try and correct it.

• Don’t lash back at the bully! If you start calling them names they will just feed into it more and continue to bully you.

• Remember you are not alone! When you are being bullied it starts to feel like you are alone and that everyone is picking on you. Not true! There is always someone that you can turn to. You might not see it right away but don’t give up! Find that person! It will make dealing with the bullies a lot easier!

Hmmm when does this all start?

I took a poll of 105 friends, coworkers and family (ages ranging from 18 - 72) asking when they believe bullying starts. More than half believes it begins in elementary school. Where do you stand is it in preschool, elementary or do you believe it starts at another time??

Bullying is a major problem! Children are taking their lives so they don't have to deal with the bullying anymore. We as teachers, professionals, parents, grandparents, friends, and families have to find ways to help these children! 

If you want to look up more statistics you can check out http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/

Communities

In the past couple of days I have talked about comments made by early childhood teachers and also from the families of the children in these early childhood classrooms. Let’s take a step back and look at the communities where these early childhood classrooms are located. The people living in the communities pay taxes that go to these schools and classrooms. With their money going into the school they sometimes get concerned with what their money is doing. Here are four comments that community members have made:

   1.       “I don’t want my tax money going to suppose preschool programs in the schools. Parents should take care of their own children.”

                                Me: Preschool is very beneficial for children. Schools are now teachings at a faster pace and children who have not attended a preschool can sometimes be behind the rest of their class. In Kindergarten they are now being taught to read. This means that children coming into Kindergarten need to know and recognize all the letters in the alphabet.

      2.        “Good parents don’t put their kids in child care. I will never do that to my children.”

                                Me: Most families have to work during the day and they do not have someone to take care of their children. Working in a child care center I see how much the children really learn there. I have watched children who could barely write letters able to write their name and other simple words easily.  The children also learn how to work in groups and at the center they make friends.

   3.       “Families don’t care about children like they used to. They want the community to build parks and to provide recreation so they can send their kids out of the house and ignore them.”

                                Me: Community parks are not for parents to ignore their children.  They are a fun place where children go and play. By giving children fun things to do they are less likely to go around and cause trouble in their communities. These parks are also a great way to help reduce obesity in children.

     4.       “I stayed home with my children when they were young. It’s a mother’s responsibility to care for their young ones.

                                Me: A mother does care for her child even if she does not stay home with the child. If a child goes to a child care center the mother has been responsible and found caring people to care for her child while she has to go and work.

The communities where children live and go to school have a huge impact on the early childhood education that these children receive. If the communities support these early childhood classrooms they will prosper and become stronger. 

The Grizzly, Grumpy, Grouchy Grog

The Grizzly, Grumpy, Grouchy Grog is one of the Itty Bitty Phonics Readers by Creative Teaching Press. The story itself is only eight pages long. 

What  I really like about these books is just how they are set up. Each book has a purpose vowels (short and long) , consonants, and blends. Inside the book the pictures are blank so that each child who has the book can personalize and make the book special for them. 

The book says it is for grades K-1 but this would be a nice beginning book for parents/teachers/guardians to read with their younger children. This will get them more familiar with the story and they would be able to learn the words quicker and be able to put the pictures with the words. 

The book also has a page to have the children use their imagination and create their own book. It also comes with a list of vocabulary words that are in the story! 

I believe that reading is key! Any chance you get, read and talk to children!! No matter what age they are. Children need all the vocabulary you can give them!

Daycare Ratio VS Kindergarten Ratio

In the state of Pennsylvania the ratio in a daycare for Kindergarten students is one teacher for every twelve students. However in Pennsylvania's schools, the class room sizes can go over twenty students at a time.  I wonder why is it different? These are the same kids that would be at a daycare for before/after school care.

They all have different abilities coming into the school. With this many students the teacher can not always teach to everyone if a majority is behind a select few.

I feel that we should test students before entering school then we would have a better understanding of their ability and would be able to teach them better. Then once we know where each child stands have a class separate with two teachers in order to reach each child and make sure they have the foundation for the rest of their schooling.