OLWEUS BULLYING PREVENTION PROGRAM What is the OLWEUS Bullying Prevention Program at Falcon Ridge? Since the inception of organized education, bullying in schools has presented a problem for students. In recent years, bullying has been at the forefront of national news. Historically, ISD #196 administrators, counselors, social workers, and teachers have addressed bullying through various classroom presentations and guidance lessons. Typically, these presentations occur only once during the school year. When left un-­‐
checked, bullying renders great harm. It can lower self-­‐esteem, create depression, anxiety, increased absenteeism, and can lower school achievement. At Falcon Ridge, we believe in the importance of consistently addressing bullying throughout the school year. Our staff has investigated a bullying prevention program called OLWEUS. The OLWEUS Bullying Prevention Program (OBPP) claims to be the most researched and most well-­‐known anti-­‐bullying program on the market today. It is used in schools across the United States and Internationally. The OBPP is designed for all students. It is preventive and responsive, focusing on changing norms and restructuring the school setting to create a learning community safe from bullying. OBPP involves systematic efforts over time rather than through a limited time frame. The objective of the OBPP is to reduce existing bullying problems among students, to prevent the development of new bullying problems, and to achieve better peer relations at school. There are four components to the Falcon Ridge OLWEUS program: •
Addressing bullying as a school wide initiative •
Educating all students with anti-­‐bullying and relationship building lessons in classrooms once a week during Flex Time •
Effectively and systematically dealing with individual bullying situations •
Partnering with community members to support the OLWEUS program How are bullying situations handled at Falcon Ridge? Depending upon the severity of the bullying situation, Falcon Ridge administrators have a number of options when dealing with bullying. These options range from conferencing with the student, conferencing with the student/ parent, conferencing with the student/parent and suspension from school. Bullying can even move toward an expulsion from school. It is also possible, depending on the severity of the bullying, that the Apple Valley police would become involved and charges filed. We do not accept bullying of any degree. What are the Falcon Ridge anti-­‐bullying expectations? At Falcon Ridge, bullying is defined as: “When someone repeatedly and on purpose says or does mean or hurtful things to another person.” The FRMS Behavior Expectations are: We will treat everyone with respect We will not bully others We will include students who are left out If you see bullying, do something and tell an adult ASAP Keep your hands and feet to yourself How can I coach my child in dealing with a bully? Often students can effectively handle bullying situations (name calling for example) on their own. Ignoring the bullying student sometimes works, but telling the student to stop with an assertive tone is often more effective. It is important that a bullied student not retaliate against the bully verbally or physically. Who should I contact if my child is being bullied? If bullying does not stop after the targeted student has tried to handle it on his/her own, the Falcon Ridge administrators or counselors should be contacted. noel.mehus@district196.org – Building Principal carol.devich@district196.org – Assistant Principal callie.urban@district196.org – Counselor (6th M-­‐Z, 7th grade) kirk.rotvold@district196.org -­‐-­‐ Counselor (6th A-­‐L, 8th grade)