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Great Experience in Waterbury
In recent years, we began to see increases in aggressive behaviors -- both physical and verbal. Complaints were streaming in daily from students, parents and teachers. Looking into these complaints was taking our teachers' time away from teaching and infringing on the basic right of all of our students -- the right to learn.
As I was searching for a way to curb the violence and the disrespect students were showing each other, I came across information about the “Don't Laugh At Me” program. I described the program at a staff meeting and asked for volunteers to put together a team to go for training. Our first team went for training in December 2000. We came back excited and energized, and we set up a school-wide positive climate zone. We used a common language, which included words such as respect, courtesy, caring and responsibility. We used the lessons in classrooms, we held assemblies, we showed the films, we began a dialogue with our students, and we explained the program to parents in our school newsletter. We used the “Don’t Laugh At Me” song as our official anthem, and sang it at the beginning of all music classes and concerts.
By the end of the first school year, we sent two more teams to the training and included para-professionals, parents and our cafeteria and playground supervisors. The program really took off! The focus moved from bullies being thought of as “cool guys” and “the leader of the gang” and from students being fearful of being teased, excluded, or called bad names, to this silent majority realizing that strong character, respect for others, and self-respect are really what is important.
It was great to see the students standing up for each other on the playground, identifying bullying behavior in others and seeking adult help. All of a sudden it wasn't cool anymore to push someone around or call someone a name. We organized games and activities outside and saw a definite decrease in the fighting -- and the number of suspensions also decreased. Now time was being spent after recess or lunch discussing the positive experiences the kids were having!! No more was all the attention being given to the negative behavior. And during the next few years, every staff member was trained!
I think one of the most heart-warming experiences I had working with the “Don’t Laugh At Me” program came when a young single mother of four children came into my office and asked to talk to me. She told me that she never graduated from high school -- she already had two children by then -- but she had left school because she was taunted and teased every day on the playground. She had very little self-respect, so when the first boy came her way, she gave in. She said that her daughter had come home from school crying because she had been made fun of by the other kids. This young mother told me that she thought that history was repeating itself. But she had read about the “Don’t Laugh At Me” program in our school newsletter, so she told her daughter to talk to her teacher about the bullying. After she did that, the bully was identified, ad we were able to counsel both students. The mother told me that she felt her pain had finally gone away because unlike in her own school experience, this bullying behavior would not be tolerated and her daughter would not have to go through what she did. I am happy to report that, this young mother went back to Adult Education classes, and today has a high school diploma.
So you can see why I wholeheartedly endorse the “Don’t Laugh At Me” program and Operation Respect CT.
