RIP Bullying Program
Hello and welcome. If you are looking for information about bullying and victimization, you are in the right spot. My name is Kent Blakeney. I’ve been a teacher since 2000. In 2012, I earned my Ph.D. in Educational Leadership where I focused my research on Bullying and Victimization in International Middle Schools. Since then, my family and I have moved around the world, nine countries in total. I’ve finally hit a point professionally and personally where I can dedicate more time to helping schools eradicate bullying and victimization.
Regardless of you role at a school; parent, teacher, administrator, a combination of all these, or someone else, you are here for a reason. Please use the resources below to guide you and/or your school down a path to reduce bullying. If you are interested in a much more comprehensive program, please reach out to me at kentblakeney@gmail.com. I can provide a comprehensive program for students, faculty & staff, and parents including individualized presentations, school surveys, and much more.
Faculty & Staff
Overview
This section is designed for faculty and staff. In about an hour, we can provide a pretty good overview of bullying and victimization by working through a series of scenarios. If you are ready to get started, start by watching the video Intro to the left!
Here’s a quick overview:
Survey: The day of the PD, provide the the survey.
Scenarios: Groups of teachers will create bullying scenarios based on short prompts. These will be used later. (7 Minutes)
Intro: Kent will introduce himself, his research, and rationale for bullying research (3 Minutes)
Definition: Quick definition of bullying, victimization, bystander, PVR, direction, indirect, cyber.
Scenarios: Go through selected scenarios. Decide, as a group, if they meet the definition of bullying. Use data to reinforce.
5 W’s: Who? What? Where? When? Why? We will cover any information that has not been provided in the scenarios section.
Actions today: What can we start today to reduce potential bullying?
Next Steps. Collect and analyze data, surveys for students and parents, action plan, implement, survey again in May.
Administration and Counselors
You are the biggest piece in the puzzle.
Make a difference today by signing up for 30 minute call with Kent .
All programs start with a one-hour PD session for you faculty and staff. This can be done via Zoom, in-person, or with videos created by the R.I.P Bullying Program.
From there we can create a comprehensive program to fit your school’s needs. This might be a one-year program to reduce bullying and victimization in your middle school to a schoolwide multi-year program with individual programs for students, faculty & staff, and parents.
We suggest focusing on Middle School first, then High School and Upper Elementary.
Why? Most bullying happens in MS and Grade 9
See our suggestion for a comprehensive plan focused for your entire school.
Elementary Program
Focus on Upper Elementary
One-hour training for all Faculty & Staff
Optional advisory lessons differentiated for lower and upper elementary
Lots of optional programs depending on your school’s needs.
Middle School Program
Most comprehensive program for teachers, students, and parents (in that order, on purpose)
Surveys in the fall and spring with data analysis and reporting to stakeholders.
Advisory sessions for all students.
Parent communication and options for children to opt-out.
Planning and schoolwide implementation led by middle school admin and counseling staff (with Kent).
High School Program
Focus on Grade Nine, especially girls.
Option to implement full range of middle school options (everything in yellow).
Potential to provide more emphasis on gender and online bullying and victimization.
Led by middle school admin team. Let them take the lead on this one.
Parents
What to do right now?*
Make sure your knows they are in a safe space.
Let your child know they are not at fault or in trouble.
See if the school has a policy on bullying and/or harassment.
Collect and write down as much information as possible.
Who? Bully, Victims, Bystanders (people who saw it)
What? Ask questions to get more details.
Where? Bullying often happens in places where there are not adults
When? and How often? We generally use more than twice in the last two months in the definition
Why? This may not be clear.
How? Again, ask questions to get more details.
Report this information to your school’s counselor and administrator.
Email so there is a written record. Follow up via phone call as needed.
If you do not get a timely response, go up the chain of command until you do.
Make sure your child feels safe with you and remember, the school counselors and administration should have policies and plans to deal with this.
Get professional medical help as needed.
*This is advice from a researcher in the field of bullying and victimization data collection, not a counselor, psychologist, or any other medical professional.
