Stop school violence with better supervision
Stop school violence with better supervision
Provide staff with behavior management skills
About 90% of injuries and aggressive incidences at schools occur in the lunchroom, playground, and hallways. Researchers show that fights on the playground break out every seven minutes on average, yet that's an area where adult supervisors receive little training and are asked to supervise as many as 200 children, says Stephen Leff, PhD, child clinical psychologist for The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. That's why the Playground Lunchroom and Youth Success (PLAYS) program is designed to empower and train people who work in the critical unstructured areas of the school.
Usually, troublesome children are singled out for small group instruction like social skills development, yet the problem doesn't usually lie with an individual child. "We designed the program after working with some kids who had behavior problems. We realized that some of the aggressive behavior problems being referred were more systematic," says Leff. To get a better understanding of the cause of the child's aggressive behavior, Leff and his colleagues observed the lunchroom and playground at schools and found there was very little structure, and therefore kids were often bullied and victimized. Also, there were no activities for kids to participate in, and as a result they exhibited a lot of fighting behaviors.
Training school staff in supervision, setting down rules for the playground and lunchroom, and providing appropriate activities reduces bullying and victimization that occur in the elementary and middle school levels, says Leff. This behavior often leads to more serious outbreaks of violence as kids get older.
Before a PLAYS program is created for a school, a six- to eight-week needs assessment is conducted. Leff gives a questionnaire to the principal, teachers, and lunchroom and playground assistants. He wants to determine if there are enough adults to supervise the kids appropriately and if the adults work together as a team. The questionnaire is designed to determine the workers' communication styles and also how they relate to and communicate with the teachers and the professional staff. After the assessment is complete, Leff and his staff help the school outline a plan to bullyproof the lunchroom and playground, and try to recruit parents and neighbors in the community to help fill in some of the gaps in supervision. The lunchroom and playground assistants learn about behavior management, and how to set up rules in the lunchroom and provide proactive supervision with structured activities on the playground.
Three to four concrete rules are posted over each lunchroom table along with an incentive system. Staff are taught how to recognize positive behavior. The playground is divided into sections with different activities taking place in each area. Students are given playground rules and the consequences for not following them. "As the program progresses, we teach them how to implement a system for recognizing positive behavior," says Leff.
Children are consulted to determine what they want as incentives. Some schools have student councils where a few kids from each grade meet to provide their perspective. Typically, Leff and his staff meet with the lunchroom and playground staff once a week after the program is implemented. The assistance at the schools lasts for about two years and is funded by each school, along with supplements from grants and foundations.
For more information about immunization education, contact:
• Paul Offit, MD, Chief of Infectious Diseases, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th St. and Civic Center Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104. Telephone: (215) 590-2020. E-mail: [email protected].
• Dena Sossaman, MSW, Coordinator, Immunization and Parenting Support, Community Health Development, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, 1680 Tully Circle, Atlanta, GA 30329. Telephone: (404) 929-8684. Fax: (404) 929-8481. E-mail: dena.sossaman @choa.org.
For more information on immunizations and providing answers to difficult questions:
• What Every Parent Should Know About Vaccines, by Paul A. Offit, MD, and Louis M. Bell, MD. Published by Macmillan Inc. Available via www.amazon.com for $12.95.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics, 141 N.W. Point Blvd., Elk Grove Village, IL 60007-1098. Tele-phone: (847) 434-4000. Fax: (847) 434-8000. Web
site: www.aap.org.
• Plain Talk About Childhood Immunizations,
Facts About Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, Public
Health Department for Seattle & King County.
Web site: www.metrokc.gov/health/immunization/ childimmunity.htm.
• Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site: www.cdc.gov/nip/. Information on diseases vaccines can prevent, the importance of immunization, vaccine safety, and education resources.
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