Dear Parents,
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. This week we wore orange to school to show that we are united against bullying. Students also attended a “Choose Kindness” assembly where we made sure students understood the definition of bullying and how to be an “upstander” instead of a bystander. All students at Ogden receive Social –Emotional Instruc-tion at some point in the year with our school counselor, Mrs. Huntington.
The following curriculums are used:
- Kindergarten: Incredible Flexible You
- 1st grade: Stop & Think
- 2nd—4th grade: Second Steps
- 5th grade: Steps to Respect
What is bullying? According to district policy:
- Bullying is social aggression.
- It is a pattern of interactions in which a student or students are being exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative action on the part of one or more stu-dents.
- Bullying exists where there is intentional harm doing, where a negative action is repeated over time, and there is an imbalance of power.
Students learned the following steps during our assemble:
- Stop—Tell the individual you don’t like what he/she is doing and that he/she needs to stop.
- Walk—Walk away from the situation.
- Talk—Tell an adult if the issue continues.
We have a zero tolerance policy on bullying and work to investigate any incidents reported. Thank you for encouraging your students to report incidents to school staff and making sure all of our students “Choose Kindness”.
Sincerely,
April Whipple