BULLY BUSTERS TRAINING
Get your program off to a strong start with professional training
What is Bully Busters?
Training manuals
How your school will
benefit
Why training makes sense
Who should be trained
How to organize a
support team
What your
staff will learn
Proven results
Continuing education
credit
Costs and scheduling
The Bully Busters training is an intensive school-based
program designed to reduce bullying in your elementary, junior high or middle
school. It can supplement and enhance any conflict mediation programs your
school already has in place.
Many school districts around the world are
attempting to address the school violence problem. The most common approaches
can be classified under one of three headings: School management (discipline),
environmental modification (metal detectors, etc.) and curriculum (peer
mediation and conflict resolution). All of these have made a contribution but
have failed in one or more ways—too simplistic or piecemeal, too punitive,
centering on students only rather than the whole school system, and focusing
interventions on the offenders only rather than including the targets and
bystanders as well. Schools can and must
be safe environments for students to learn. Bully Busters is effective
because it is an intensive, comprehensive program that addresses all the major
components of the bullying problem. Bully
Busters effectively changes the entire school climate.
BULLY BUSTERS is a research-driven bullying prevention curriculum for elementary, middle and junior high schools. Upon completion of the training, teachers, administrators, and staff will be able to put the program in place immediately to begin reducing bullying and positively affect school climate.
BULLY BUSTERS is a cost-effective, systematic program combining a number of
strategies, all of which have proven successful:
◦ Helping not only the child who bullies, but the
target and bystander
◦ Offering both control techniques and prevention
techniques
◦ Utilizing both psychoeducational and
intervention-based approaches
◦
Increasing teacher self-confidence
◦ Utilizing ongoing teacher support
BULLY BUSTERS Teacher Training Manuals
The BULLY BUSTERS program includes teacher training manuals (either K-5 or 6-8) which are divided into modules. These modules help your staff learn:
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Characteristics of students who bully and their targets
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How to use appropriate interventions in a bullying situation
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How to develop prevention policies that work
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How to help all students involved in bullying--those who are bullied, those who bully others, and bystanders
Each module
contains reproducible worksheets and complete descriptions of activities
for use in the classroom. Following the training, teachers will find the manual
to be self-directing and easy to use.
Click here for a table of
contents
How the BULLY BUSTERS Program can benefit your school
BULLY BUSTERS can help reduce bullying and improve your school climate by:
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Teaching students practical skills to deal with students who bully
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Teaching bystanders why and how to support students who are bullied
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Teaching staff how to set up an effective school policy
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Teaching staff how to handle bullying episodes effectively
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Teaching staff how to deal with parents of targets and students who bully
In addition, training addresses one of the leading problems facing schools today-cyber bullying
Reason #1: Training helps you deal with your bullying problem at the school-wide, systemic level. The primary reason bullying prevention programs often fail is that bullying is a systemic problem that is too often dealt with individually—maybe one or a few teachers. Unless the entire school is involved in generating change, little if any change will occur. Our training helps this happen.
Reason #2:
Training helps generate staff buy-in. We know that teachers’ plates are
already full. How can they possibly find time for another program???
Our training helps your staff understand the value of bullying prevention. In
the long run, effective bullying prevention makes their job easier because
they’re not spending so much time on discipline problems. Teachers can spend
their time doing what they were trained to do and what they love to do—teaching.
Reason #3: A well-trained support team will enable your program to function and thrive for years to come. For the program to work most effectively, a support team should be trained. The support team is comprised of staff that coordinates the program and helps the program grow within the school. Our follow-up consultation also helps your program not only get off to a strong start, but to maintain momentum.
BULLY BUSTERS can be presented in several formats:
1. Whole school training. This option includes as many professional, paraprofessional and support personnel as possible to attend. Attendance of a support team, designated in advance, is required.
2. Support team training. This option requires the attendance of a 6-12 member support team from a school. After the training, the support team trains the remainder of the adult staff in BULLY BUSTERS. (A ready-to-go "Staff Training" Powerpoint presentation on disc is provided).
3. Multiple support team training. If a school district would decide to have several schools attend a support team training, enrollment is limited to 20 participants. Multiple support team training can involve any combination of elementary, middle or junior high schools. This can be a cost-efficient option, as the cost is shared by several schools.
Development of a BULLY BUSTERS support team is required for
this training. The support team will coordinate the Bully Busters program at
your school.
A support team is comprised of a teacher from each grade, a mental health
professional such as a counselor, social worker or psychologist (if school
has one), an administrator, a member of the support staff such as a bus
driver or cafeteria staff and a parent representative who meet on a regular
basis with the goals of mastering program content, keeping teachers actively
involved in the ongoing process of preventing bullying, and providing a
forum for mutual sharing and support. A support team typically has 6-12
members.
What is included in a training?
BULLY BUSTERS is
presented in several formats.
One day overview
This is a full day training that provides your school or support team a
good overview of the Bully Busters program.
Two
day training
This is a more intensive training that allows additional
time for program planning, policy development, role playing, and
group discussion. The two day training is highly recommended
to enable adequate time for assimilating program content.
District wide training
Peaceworks
provides a unique, highly cost-effective model for Bully
Busters training at the district-wide and state-wide levels. Please call us
or write
admin@stopbullyingnow.net for details
Included in trainings:
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Peaceworks Web-based Bullying Prevention Survey (BPS). This survey enables your staff to understand what your students perceive as the most important concerns in your school when it comes to bullying prevention. The Web-based Staff Version BPS is also available at an additional cost.
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Support Team Workbook
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"What Parents Need to Know About Bullying" One hour Powerpoint Presentation for Parents on CD.
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10 Bully Busters manuals per school
Bully Busters is evidence-based
“The results of this study indicate that
the Bully Busters training program effectively increased teachers’ knowledge
and use of bullying intervention skills, and increased their feelings of
personal self-efficacy and their perceived effectiveness in working with
specific types of students.
(2004) Journal of Counseling & Development, (82), 259-268
“In order to change the current
trend of school violence, it is imperative that researchers identify
effective tools to equip counselors and educators for the important task of
bully prevention at school. The present research suggest that Bully
Busters: A Teacher’s Manual for Helping Bullies, Victims, and
Bystanders,Grades K-5 (Horne et al., 2003), is an effective means to
that end.”
(2005) Vistas Online produced by the American
Counseling Association, Article 50
Hear what schools are saying...
“We continue to be upbeat about our on-going Bully Busters program. The training program was a great example of professional development that was relevant and immediately applicable. The program builds communication between teachers and students. Students see that adults really do care that they feel safer. Student “bystanders” learn what they can do to be helpful in bullying situations….and bullies and “targets” (of bullies) are taught alternative behaviors. We continue to support our Bully Busters!
Sincerely,
Ken Ostermeyer
Counselor
Portage Middle School
Fort Wayne, IN
Jeff King
Principal
Portage Middle School
Fort Wayne, IN
“The training and the accompanying
resources have proven to be especially useful in working with the parents of
students who are bullies and/or victims of bullying.
…In summary, my professional skills in school counseling have been
significantly enhanced through participation in Bully Busters training and
in efficiently utilizing Bully Busters activities.”
Philip A. Wyss
Counselor
Kekionga Middle School
Fort Wayne, IN
Your staff will learn how to work as a team, led by your school’s bullying prevention support team. Though it is highly recommended that the entire school staff be present for the training, it is not required. However, it is required that your school’s support team be present for the training. These are the staff members who will become the leaders of your school’s Bully Busters program, and who will be responsible to generate and maintain energy for your school’s program.
Here are some of the things you can expect your staff to learn:
· 5 best things teachers can do to prevent bullying
· 5 best things administrators can do to prevent bullying
· How to motivate students to help their peers
· How to teach bystanders to safely intervene
· How to help students who are victimized
· How to help students who are bullied
· How to effectively intervene when you see or hear bullying
· How to work with parents
· How to develop an effective bullying prevention policy that really works
Educators and other professions: This training may
qualify toward your professional development requirement. The program
consists of 14 clock hours. Use this information and your board rules and
regulations to calculate professional development/continuing education
credit.