May Watts Elementary’s Bully Prevention Program
“Stop-Walk-Talk.” Parents, if you hear your students using these words, they are following the bullying prevention program at May Watts School
We would like to explain the program to you and steps you can take to see that your students are not bullied and do not engage in bullying behaviors. You are key to the success of this program! Anonymous surveys we conducted with students revealed that they are far more likely to tell parents if they are being bullied than they are to tell an adult at school.
Through “Stop-Walk-Talk” students are taught what bullying is and what it is not. For example, teasing, calling someone names, gossiping, excluding students from an activity, continuous pushing or constant poking are examples of bullying while accidentally bumping into someone or politely declining an invitation to play is not.
1) “Stop” signal. All students were taught the May Watts “Stop” signal. Our stop signal requires them to look directly at the other student, make the May Watts hand signal for stop, and use a firm voice to say, “Stop.” (Students in 4th and 5th grade were taught to use the hand signal and say “enough”). Students are encouraged to use the “Stop” signal if they are being bullied or if they see someone else being bullied. Students were also taught how to respond if they are given the “Stop” signal. The student receiving the “Stop” signal should immediately stop what he or she is doing, take a deep breath, count to 3, and then go on with their day following our school rules. Students were reminded that they should stop what they are doing, regardless of whether they agree that they deserved the stop signal or not. By following these guidelines, students show respect for themselves and one another.
2) “Walk away or ignore.” What if a student gives another student the stop signal, but the problem behavior continues? Students were then taught to “Walk” away or ignore the behavior. When it is not possible to walk away, such as while riding the bus, students were taught to “ignore” the student by looking the other way and not responding to them further either verbally or nonverbally (through gestures).
3) “Talk.” Finally, if students have tried to solve the problem themselves by using the stop signal and walking away or ignoring it, then they can “Talk” to an adult. All staff has been trained to respond to a student’s request to talk. First, the staff member will ask the student about the problem. Then, they will ask the student if they used the “stop” signal and tried walking away. Students will be praised for trying these steps or reminded about using these steps first before talking to an adult. Finally, the staff member will discuss the problem behavior with the student who is engaging in problem or disrespectful behavior. They will remind students what they are to do when they are given the stop signal by another student or students (i.e., immediately stop what they are doing, take a deep breath and count to 3, and continue with their day following our school rules). In addition, staff will enforce the appropriate consequence for breaking one of our school rules. Parents will receive notification from the school if their student continues to engage in disrespectful or unsafe behaviors.
One important exception to the “Stop-Walk-Talk” sequence is when a student is in danger such as falling on the playground or fighting. In this case, students were told to immediately tell an adult.
By encouraging students to use Stop-Walk-Talk, we hope that students will feel like they have tools to deal with problem behaviors, will help one another out, will get in trouble less often, feel safer at school, and will be better able to keep their focus on learning during their school day.
Love this! Really great work May Watts Staff!
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