Students at risk
Definitions
Characteristics
Statistics
Implications for Education
COMMUNITY RESOURCE DIRECTORY
WHY?
ALL KIDS ARE OUR
RESPONSIBILITY
ALL OF US ARE AT RISK
AT SOME TIME IN OUR
LIVES
IT CAN AFFECT
LEARNING
Definition(s) of At Risk


Several official
definitions, often all
different
A problem – as this
group’s number is
expanding

HISTORICALLY
The term was coined in the early
1900s when students earned
Carnegie units to graduate and
in their junior year some were
found
“...at-risk of dropping out of
school prior to completion of
the official number of
Carnegie Units.”
Definition (cont)

The National At-Risk
Education Network defines
"at-risk" youth as:

At-risk of dropping out of
school;

At-risk of not succeeding
in life due to being raised
in unfavorable
circumstances.

According to figures
from the Children's
Defense Fund, 1 of every
8 school children will
not graduate

This means that the
population currently atrisk of dropping out
could be as many as
6,680,625 children. The
financial future of high
school dropouts is grim.
Is there really a condition
or is it…
 Students
are placed at-risk when they
experience a significant mismatch
between their circumstances and needs,
and the capacity or willingness of the
school to accept, accommodate, and
respond to them in a manner that
supports and enables their maximum
social, emotional and intellectual growth
and development.
Is this a student at risk?

Wears clothes that are inappropriate for the
weather

Cries excessively

Engages in vandalism

Falls asleep in school

Arrives early and leaves late from school

Is wary of physical contact
Possible abuse or
neglect
Is this a student at risk?

Poor, erratic attendance

Frequent complaints and visit to the nurse

Regression (thumb sucking…)

Emotional outbursts

Equating any drinking with being drunk or
alcohol

Friendlessness, isolation
Live with
Substance Abuse
With a partner
brainstorm some
characteristics or
conditions that
cause students to
be identified as at
risk (not EL,
SPED, GATE)
Characteristics/Conditions
FAMILY CONDITIONS

RISK OF HEALTH AND SAFETY

Poverty

Drugs

Instability

Alcohol
(divorce, migrant,
homelessness)

Lead

Infection

Birth issues

Uninsured

Violence
Characteristics/Conditions


AT-RISK SCHOOLS
Low standards &
expectations

Truancy

Lack of intervention

Violence

DROP OUTS

SUICIDE

DRUG & ALCOHOL

TEEN PREGNANCY &
SEXUALLLY TRANSMITTED
DISEASES

CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT

EATING DISORDERS

DELINQUENCY

GENDER IDENTIFICATION
What do we do as
educators?
What can we do?
If schools are to achieve the desired goal of success for all
students, they must:

hold high expectations for all, especially this growing segment
of learners

view these students as having strengths, not "deficits,”

create environments of trust and respect in our classrooms

adopt programs and practices that help all students to achieve
their true potential. (Mediator Mentors utilizing peers)

collaborate with your peers regarding resources and strategies
All Children Can Learn
All children can learn, at some
level, and most children, as
Ronald Edmonds stated, can
learn the basic curriculum if
sufficient resources are
provided.
The fallacy, however, is the
belief that all children can
learn the same curriculum, in the
same amount of time, and at the
same level.
Thomas & Brainbridge, 2001
What can we do?

Teachers believe all students can succeed. They
communicate this belief to their students.

Schools, teachers, and instruction foster resiliency in
children by building on students' strengths. (Resiliency
is the ability to adapt and succeed despite risk and
adversity.)

Administrators provide leadership in managing change
to improve learning for all students.

Administrators and teachers are committed to
continued professional development to improve
teaching and learning for all students.
Resiliency

Resilience is important because it is the human
capacity to face, overcome and be strengthened by
or even transformed by the adversities of life.
Everyone faces adversities; no one is exempt.

With resilience, children can triumph over trauma;
without it, trauma (adversity) triumphs. The crises
children face both within their families and in their
communities can overwhelm them.
Three Sources of
Resiliency:
I HAVE
I AM
I CAN
Resiliency
In your own life think of your:
I HAVE
I AM
I CAN
Three Sources of Resiliency
I HAVE


People around me I trust and who
love me, no matter what
People who set limits for me so I
know when to stop before there is
danger or trouble
I AM

A person people can like and
love

Glad to do nice things for
others and show my concern

Respectful of myself and
others

People who show me how to do
things right by the way they do
things

People who want me to learn to do
things on my own

Willing to be responsible for
what I do

People who help me when I am sick,
in danger or need to learn

Sure things will be all right
Three Sources of Resiliency
I CAN

Talk to others about things that
frighten me or bother me

Find ways to solve problems that I
face

Control myself when I feel like
doing something not right or
dangerous

Figure out when it is a good time to
talk to someone or to take action

Find someone to help me when I
need it

ADULTS NEED TO
PROMOTE
RESILIENCE IN
CHILDREN
BULLYING
Both the Bully and the Victim are at risk
http://takeastand.stopbullying.gov/kids
/webisodes/default.aspx
What is bullying?

"A person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to
negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has
difficulty defending himself or herself."

This definition includes three important
components:
1. Bullying is aggressive behavior that involves
unwanted, negative actions.
2. Bullying involves a pattern of behavior repeated
over time.
3. Bullying involves an imbalance of power or
strength.
Bullying
“Being bullied is not just an unpleasant rite of
passage through childhood,” said Duane
Alexander, M.D., director of the NICHD. “It’s a
public health problem that merits attention.
People who were bullied as children are more
likely to suffer from depression and low self
esteem, well into adulthood, and the bullies
themselves are more likely to engage in criminal
behavior later in life.”
Types of Bullying

1. Verbal bullying including derogatory comments and bad
names
2. Bullying through social exclusion or isolation
3. Physical bullying such as hitting, kicking, shoving, and
spitting
4. Bullying through lies and false rumors
5. Having money or other things taken or damaged by
students who bully
6. Being threatened or being forced to do things by students
who bully
7. Racial bullying
8. Sexual bullying
9. Cyber bullying (via cell phone or Internet)
Cyberbullying
Being cruel to others by sending
or posting harmful material using
technological means;
an individual or group that uses
information and communication
involving electronic technologies
to facilitate deliberate and
repeated harassment or threat to
an individual or group.
Cyberbulllying

E-mail
“Categories”

Cell phones

Inadvertent

Pager text messages

Vengeful Angel

Instant messaging

Mean Girls

Defamatory personal web sites

Power-Hungry

Defamatory online personal
polling web sites

Revenge of the Nerds

Chat rooms
Parry Aftab. Esq., Executive Director,
WiredSafety.org
Differences
Bullying
Cyberbullying

DIRECT

Occurs on

ANONYMOUS
school property

Occurs off

Poor relationships
with teachers

Fear retribution
Physical: Hitting, Punching &
Shoving
Verbal: Teasing, Name calling &
Gossip
Nonverbal: Use of gestures &
Exclusion
www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov
school property

Good relationships with teachers

Fear loss of technology privileges

Further under the radar than
bullying

Emotional reactions cannot be
determined

Information about bullying suggests that there are
three interrelated reasons why students bully.
1.
Students who bully have strong needs for power
and (negative) dominance.
2.
Students who bully find satisfaction in causing
injury and suffering to other students.
3.
Students who bully are often rewarded in some
way for their behavior with material or
psychological rewards.
Bullying Statistics
2007 stats 
77% of students say
they were bullied

23% of elementary
students

California one of the
worst 5 states

Bullying statistics shows that
those who bully and are
bullied appear to be at
greatest risk of experiencing
the following:
loneliness; trouble making
friends; lack of success in
school; and involvement in
problem behaviors such as
smoking and drinking.
When Bullying Has
Happened
For the Student Who Bullied Others
For the Student Who Was Bullied

Check in regularly with the student
who was bullied

Determine whether the bullying still
continues

Identify the behavior

Review the school rules and policies with
the student

Ask for positive change in future behavior

Consider referring them for professional or
other services as appropriate

Consider appropriate graduated
consequences

Provide a supportive environment

Review the school rules and policies
with the student to ensure they are
aware of their rights and protection

Encourage the student to channel their
influence and behavior into positive
leadership roles
Consider referring them for
professional or other service

Monitor and check in frequently

When Bullying Has
Happened
For Bystanders




Encourage them to talk with you
Review the school rules and
policies with the students
Discuss with bystanders how
they might intervene and/ or get
help next time
Acknowledge students who took
action to stop the bullying
For the Parents of the Students
Involved

Describe the incident

Review the school rules and
policies with the parents

Describe the intervention
measures taken as appropriate

Develop a plan to follow up
Bullying Prevention

Website http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/kids/

Website http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html

bullyBooklet www.jimwrightonline.com/pdfdocs/bully/bullyBooklet

Agree as a school site how your school defines bully

Confront the student about his/her behavior

Compile a menu of appropriate consequences (teasing to harm) or
positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior

Establish a policy for contacting parents

Teach skills to prevent “bully-targets”; assertiveness

Train by-standers to be anti-bully agents
Case Studies:
Take student and
look through your
Directory. Use form
provided to
document.
Case Studies: Share Back
Reminder:
CONFIDENTIALITY
REMINDER!!!
All students are protected:
At risk
Poor
Homeless
Bullies
Bully Victims
Abuse Victims
Confer with your
principal, peers, and
principal.
Refer when required.
Students are involved as to
be supported but not to
confer regarding another
student
Thanks
Colleen Torgerson
colleent@csufresno.edu
(559) 278-0328