Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Bully Prevention in El Dorado Hills

El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will be offering a curriculum based on bully prevention. Our program will focus on different area of bullying during the months of August and September to help students transition back to school. One of the most important thing to us is students feeling safe at school. Bullying can prevent that from happening.

Most importantly, we need to have a no tolerance policy with bullying.

WE WILL NOT TOLERATE BULLYING

What if every teacher had this written on the board on the first day of the school. Maybe some of the students would get the message?!?

This is a great article that is simple for us all to understand how we can confront bullying. Let's take a look at how we can incorporate some of the strategies into our anti bullying practices. 

An important element to consider in this is allowing for supervised bully prevention. Allowing for students to problem solve on their own before intervention takes place can allow students to better communicate and exercise strategies for the future when there is no supervision. 

916.595.4064



Bullying prevention 101: Speak up!


 

Social media has given the mean kids a powerful new tool but more aware students, schools and parents can prevent abuse.

 
300 dpi Chris Ware illustration of school bully confronting boy outside lockers. Lexington Herald-Leader 2012<p>

krtnational national; krtworld world; krt; krtcampus campus; mctillustration; 05005001; 05005002; 05005003; EDU; elementary school; high school; junior high school; krteducation education; krtschool school; middle school; krtdiversity diversity; youth; locker; lx contributed ware; school bully; 2012; krt2012
300 dpi Chris Ware illustration of school bully confronting boy outside lockers. Lexington Herald-Leader 2012
krtnational national; krtworld world; krt; krtcampus campus; mctillustration; 05005001; 05005002; 05005003; EDU; elementary school; high school; junior high school; krteducation education; krtschool school; middle school; krtdiversity diversity; youth; locker; lx contributed ware; school bully; 2012; krt2012
CHRIS WARE / MCT

KKALLERGIS@GMAIL.COM


The old school playground bullies are still out there, pushing around kids in the sand box, but they are way out-numbered in the digital age.
“The cyber stuff — texting, social media — it’s a different animal, but it has similar characteristics,” said Connie Ernsberger, director of college and guidance counseling at Gulliver Schools in Pinecrest. “It’s so fast and so anonymous.”
But Ernsberger and other South Florida experts say the key to stopping bullying of any sort remains the same: Victims and witnesses have to be taught to speak up. School administrators, much more knowledgeable about the array of negative effects of bullying, long ago stopped shrugging off the behavior when they hear about it.
“The one key piece is that bullying will not be tolerated,” said Deborah Montilla, district director of student services for Miami-Dade schools.
Miami-Dade has developed extensive programs and training to deal with bullying, broadly defined to include teasing, social exclusion, stalking, destruction of property, cyberbullying and other forms of harassment.
The school district’s policy, available on its website, addressees the consequences of bullying, how to report it, as well as intervention and counseling procedures. Guidance and TRUST (To Reach Ultimate Success Together) counselors make classroom visits, morning announcements offer bullying prevention tips and specialized posters for elementary, middle and high schools hang on the walls.
“If we can help students understand the importance of healthy relationships, they’ll be more successful in school,” Montilla said.
One big lesson: If students know bullying is happening, they have to be brave enough to tell a trusted adult.
“We don’t want anything to escalate,” she said. “We can’t help if we don’t know. We want students to feel comfortable.”
Nationally, about 70 percent of young people report they’ve seen bullying occur in their schools. But when bystanders step in, physical bullying stops within 10 seconds nealry 60 percent of the time, according to StopBullying.gov.
Some tell-tale signs of bullying include increased nightmares, a change in grades, coming home hungry and asking for additional lunch money. Montilla says it’s important not to blame children for that kind of behavior or to tell them to respond in kind.
“Don’t tell them to toughen up,” she said.
Instead, get the school involved.
“Intervention works,” said Ernsberger of Gulliver, which like Miami-Dade public schools, has a zero-tolerance policy. “If we hear about it, we’ll act on it.”
Gulliver disciplines the bully, with punishment depending on the behavior, and provides ongoing counseling support.
Bullying tends to peak in middle school and students moving up grades in the same school or with the same friends are less likely to have problems in high school, she said.
“If they’ve been a part of Gulliver, they’ll feel like leaders on campus,” she said. “By the time they get to high school, they’ve had experience with peer pressure and positive social interactions.”
To prevent bullying, school counselors meet with incoming ninth graders, she said. At Gulliver, students are assigned to a counselor who they regularly meet with one-on-one.
Gulliver guidance counselor Adriana Muñoz said communication and trust are key to preventing bullying.
“When hormones start kicking in, it’s harder to pick up signs,” said Muñoz, who is a psychologist. Children become more private during middle school, especially with increased access to technology.
“It starts with a mean text or a mean comment on social media,” she said, “and it begins to escalate.”
Her advice to parents and children? “A lot of dialogue. You would be amazed at how many teachable moments there are — a subtle joke on TV, making fun of someone. Don’t wait until something happens to talk about it.”
Muñoz said the transition from elementary school to middle school is also hard on parents.
“You go from when they’re younger and they see you as a hero to when they think you don’t know them. Behavior changes,” she said. “Middle school is a tough age. It’s a time where they’re leaving their childhood and entering adolescence.”
Still, setting boundaries for kids is important, Muñoz said.
“We are a yes generation. You can find a balance. You have to have the self control to say that you’re looking for things that would be harmful to them,” she said.
With time, kids mature out of bullying situations.
Josefina Estrella, school counselor at Key Biscayne K-8 Center, said she works a lot with improving self confidence and self esteem to manage bullying situations.
“We do see a lot of name-calling. We have children from many different countries. We have to work a lot with understanding and approaching differences.”
Teachers and counselors begin teaching “proper communication” in kindergarten.
“We try to stay away from stigmatizing children as bullies because that doesn’t help,” she said.
Key Biscayne K-8 Center is a “No Place For Hate” school, as are others in the district. The school has worked with the Anti-Defamation League to sign anti-bullying pledges, put on activities and train students as “peace ambassadors.”
“Most of the time, teasing and other situations that make it to bullying happen outside of adult supervision,” Estrella said.
When they do happen, though, counselors and staff emphasize the importance of conflict resolution.
“It teaches them to solve problems, which builds self confidence,” she said. “I always give them the chance to approach the situation themselves.
“If the child or parent is concerned about a bullying situation, it’s important to talk to the school or an adult as soon as possible. The earlier we see the problem, the less serious it could be.”

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/08/03/4269990/bullying-prevention-101-speak.html#storylink=cpy


Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/08/03/4269990/bullying-prevention-101-speak.html

Another Resource: Anti Bullying Book for Students in Folsom, El Dorado Hills and the Greater Sacramento Area

Great to see the problem of cyber bullying being thought through in this article review of the book by Jessica Golden. Although there are many different ways to be proactive about bullying, this review seems to explain that the book focuses on the different blocks and tracking devices available to put a halt on the cyber bullying that can take place.

The best medicine is prevention.

These tools would allow us to prevent instances of bullying that take place online. That is great. However, it doesn't seem to come to the source of the problem, and doesn't seem to show a concrete understanding behind the psychology of the bully. What is the purpose of the bully? Why are they trying to hurt the people around them? What can we do to help the bully understand that their behavior is unacceptable?

These are a few questions I hope the book addresses in their analysis.

Needless to say, this is another great resource to reference when talking to parents and community members about anti-bullying. A tool for us to use to better understand the varying dynamics of cyber bullying.

El Dorado Hills Brazilian Jiu Jitsu wishes every new student a great start to the new school year! If anyone is in need for anything, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We want to serve the community!

916.595.4064


New Anti Bullying Book, Written by a Survivor, Shows Victims of Bullying How to Use Modern Technology & Computer Forensics to End Bullying & CyberBullying Permanently

Bullying: Celebrities like Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato, Ellen Degeneres, Katy Perry & Justin Bieber are outspoken about it. Author Jessica Golden explains how, when it comes to Bullying & CyberBullying, that the best defense is a good offense.

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If you take away all the avenues that bullies have to torment, then the bullies will leave you alone” Jessica explains. “This I have learned from personal experience.
(PRWEB) August 05, 2014
In an era where new technology is the pinnacle of society, people--both young and old, still face an age old problem: Bullying. No longer limited to the playground at recess or the school yard, bullying has taken on many different forms over the years, and occurs in many different places. Currently there are five types: Verbal, Physical, Psychological, Covert, and CyberBullying. With the vast amount of innocent lives lost to suicide, (or more appropriately, bullycide), something has to be done about it.
That Being Said, We Have Just Found Our Saving Grace:
Jessica Golden, author of Stop Being Bullied: A How To Guide For Victims And Their Families, approaches the bullying problem from a different angle. “As a Survivor of bullying, I know how it feels firsthand to feel vulnerable and helpless.” says Jessica. “Looking back, I realized that things would have been a lot different for me if I had the resources available to me that I list in my book. That is why I approach bullying from a totally different angle.”
And what angle is that, one may ask? This book is not like other books which tell how to cope with bullying. Stop Being Bullied: A How To Guide For Victims And Their Families goes into extreme detail on how to take away the control that bullies have over you. “If you take away all the avenues that bullies have to torment, then the bullies will leave you alone” Jessica explains. “This I have learned from personal experience”.
What is included in this book includes, but is not limited to tracking IP addresses of cyberbullies so they can be prosecuted, Apps for your phone to block text messages and phone calls from cyberbullies, how to protect your email account from cyberbullies, instructions on how to cyberbully-proof your facebook and myspace accounts, as well as a myriad of other technologies for various popular instant messaging programs. Also included are some assertiveness training techniques, as well as an extensive list of tuition free online public schools as well as online private schools, should the bullying get out of hand.
Stop Being Bullied: A How To Guide For Victims And Their Families is available exclusively in the Amazon Kindle Store. Priced at only $9.99, and 201 pages in length, this book is made for any person on any budget. “I wanted to make it affordable to everyone.” Jessica says, on a final note. “You don’t have to have a Kindle in order to read my book, as there are Kindle Apps available for your phone, PC, Ipad, Iphone and other devices.”
Jessica is also in the process of writing another book specifically addressing CyberBullying and going into more detail of how to use the same legal tools that Law Enforcement uses to document CyberBullying Crimes in order to prosecute Cyber Bullies to the fullest extent of the law.
Don’t forget to join her Facebook group “Stop Being Bullied” by clicking Here:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-Being-Bullied/144923805676153?ref=hl.
By doing so you will be notified when there are updates to the book and when her new book will be released.
Jessica hopes that her book becomes viral. “If you or someone you know would benefit from reading this book, please use the sharing tools provided here to share it through social media (such as Facebook, Twitter and Myspace, etc.), Email, and any other ways you can think of. If I can save just one life, then this book has done its job!”
Jessica is available for Interview and can be reached by phone at 770-865-9225

Friday, August 1, 2014

Gun ownership for Self Defense is on the rise

Self defense is a hot topic these days and it will always be an important topic of discussion as long as people are being harmed. This article reveals the rise in gun purchases by women for the sake of self defense.

Let's not get into talking about gun control or civil liberties, and stick to the discussion of self defense.

There are always contrasting thoughts on what self defense means. If we are being practical we would realize there are many other hidden dangers in our life that we need to defend ourselves from. Diabetes, Obesity, Pollution, Mental health, are all examples of attackers in our society that harm us on a drastically higher frequency than a physical attack.

However, this situation we are talking about here is the idea of physical self defense. The rational would be that carrying a gun would give us the opportunity to diffuse a potentially harmful situation or at worst use violent force to stop a relentless attacker.

Having a gun is only effective if we are able to show it and keep the person away.
Having the gun is only effective if we can hit what we are aiming to hit.

If these two unknown factors can be fulfilled when using a gun, then it makes sense to carry the weapon. However, there are plenty of situations where this won't happen. Learning Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu will reinforce your physical self defense abilities when you are unable to satisfy the two prerequisites of using a gun.

Our self defense curriculum will give you the physical tools necessary to escape dangerous situations and train you on how to function in a high stress situation, how to use your words to hopefully diffuse a situation, and how to survive an attack. Join us on the mats. We want to give you the necessary skills to do this.

916.595.4064

Aug 1, 2014, 9:42am EDT

Report: More women, suburbanites carrying guns

Bloomberg
A student practices shooting a Smith & Wesson Holdings Corp. M&P 40 Airsoft pistol.
Staff Writer-Triangle Business Journal
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The sports aspect of shooting guns may not be restricted to country boy stereotype anymore, as new statistics show the emerging face of today’s shooter is vastly different.
Almost half of today’s first time gun buyers in the country are female (48 percent of gun owners), usually purchasing a gun for self-defense and self-sufficiency. Also, most people buying guns today for the first time include people ages 22-30 living in suburban areas, according to a survey by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which keeps a tally on all things related on firearms retail trends.
“The gun retailers themselves don’t keep track of the data,” says Bill Brassard, senior director of communications for the NSSF. “We tally them by what we see in background checks.”
An online survey of U.S. consumers was also conducted by the NSSF.
The organization, based in Newtown, Connecticut, releases annual reports, which in recent years show that first time gun buyers today are “active, using their gun on average once per month or more and are already participating in one or more shooting activities.”
Of these first time gun purchases, 87 percent are for home defense, 76 percent are for self defense and 63 percent of this demographic say they always wanted to own a gun. First time buyers are spending an average of $500 on their first gun.
Semiautomatic pistols are the most popular, followed by shotguns, and revolvers, according to the data.