Bullying Prevention With Guest Dr. Claire Thomas-Duckwitz

Episode 67: Bullying Prevention With Guest Dr. Claire Thomas-Duckwitz In this episode, we discuss eliminating bullying against students with special needs. Guest Dr. Claire Thomas-Duckwitz defines bullying as being mean on purpose, imbalance of power, being one-sided, and happening over and over again. An enormous percentage of children with special needs reported being bullied in school, so it is even more important to have a bullying prevention program in schools. Bullying prevention programs should include weekly instruction around concepts, embedding those concepts into the classroom discussions, skill building, good/effective playground supervision, noticing good behaviors, communication between paraprofessionals and teachers, parent training and meetings, the school spending time on positive values, and  having positive relationships with the students.   Parent education should include educating parents on what bullying is, sending home letters to parents of topics to think about, and training parents on how to be advocates for your kids. It is important that teachers get training on how to respond to bullying. Training kids how to be specific about their words, choosing the right moment to report it, training kids how to be upstanders, explaining to kids what the special needs are/mean and why certain behaviors occur, ensuring that there is no opportunity for retaliation, and adequate supervision of children in the halls are all key. Parents should use authoritative parenting and provide their children with warmth. Schools should have a clear written bullying policy, have an evidence based bullying curriculum, talk about what it means to be an upstander, have advocacy goals should be included in the IEP, teach what bullying is and isn’t and use precise language, teach children how to report mean behaviors, and teach them who to report bullying to. After the child has been bullied, validate their feelings, teach the kids to report the bullying, report the bullying yourself, and/or role play with your child what to do. Links: Links : A Little Cerebral Podcast Facebook Twitter Website  Bully Prevention in PBIS Olweus Program Second Step Facing History and Ourselves       Email us if you have any questions or ideas! We are now on instagram! Check out updates on our website. Follow Thriving on Twitter. Check us out on Facebook! We are also on Pinterest!     Please subscribe to our podcast in the iTunes store, or wherever you find your podcasts, Leave us a 5-star review, to help us know what you like and what you don't like, and to make sure other like-minded people find support through this podcast. Show Music: Intro Outro: Intro Outro 2 by Mattias Lahoud under CC-BY 3.0 License (www.freesound.org) Theme Song: 90s rock style by monkeyman535 under CC-BY 3.0 License (www.freesound.org) Self Care Song: Green and Orange No Water by Duncan Alex under CC-BY 3.0 License (www.freesound.org)   Hosted by: Jessica Temple and Lewis Temple Disclaimer: Our show is not designed to provide listeners with specific or personal legal, medical, or professional services or advice. Parents of children with health issues should always consult their health care provider for medical advice, medication, or treatment. Copyright 2020 Jessica and Lewis Temple