Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools - Admission/Application Essay Example

Anti-Bullying Procedures for Primary and Post-Primary Schools 1. Revised policy statement For the prevention of bullying, Pulaski County Schools have been instructed to form teams of parents and teachers to identify the bullying activities often taking place within the school premises and report it to the school authorities as per the policy brief. Accordingly, the Pulaski County also possesses their Code of Conduct wherein the punishments for the bullying activities are mentioned. The Code of Conduct comprises of few of the codes such as Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) 20-02-0751.4, wherein the written complain of bullying actions will be taken into records through the use of a particular website. The other code, i.e. OCGA 20-02-0751.5 refers to the provisions for punishments required to be given to the person involved in bullying. In the similar context, OCGA 20-02-0145 comprises of the education that is to be imparted to the students regarding the negative impacts of bullying. However, these policies must be added with few of the other strategy measures, such as frequent counseling of the students along with their parents (Pulaski County Schools, 2014). Suggestively, counseling for parents will be equally important as it is for the students, as they can make their children aware of the negativity of bullying activities and also prevent them from being involved into it. These changes can be made possible through the formation of a panel of members, which will comprise of parents, teachers, senior students and officials from Pulaski County, special school districts council (Houlston & Smith, 2009). 2. Review of purposes of school system program goals The major goal of the aforementioned policy statement is to reduce the instances of bullying activities in the schools and mould the society into a better place to live in. In accordance to this notion, the short term goal of the policy is to make the students aware of their social responsibilities and develop a positive attitude within them towards the society, from the very young age. This understanding of the social responsibility by the students would give a positive shape to the society. The young generation people can make effective strategies for the development of the society and work for the betterment of it. Accordingly, the long term goal that can be associated with the policy statement is to bring a change in the psychological aspects of the young minds. The minds of the children in the society must be molded in such manner that they can understand their role towards the society and develop their attitude in a positive way with due significance to their social responsibilities and independent citizens in their latter life (Pulaski County Schools, 2014). 3. Statement of objectives using 4-component example from ‘School and Community Relation’ Short term Goal: To make the students aware of their social responsibilities and avoid the bullying activities in the schools within the Pulaski County Reason. If the youth are able to understand their roles and responsibilities towards the society, it will make them to improve the community to its utmost level, building better coordination as well as eradicating discriminatory practices to a great extent. The understanding of social responsibilities will prevent them from getting involved in all kinds of activities of bullying (Pulaski County Schools, 2014; An Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna, 2013). Decision to take action. In the course of short term goal accomplishment of this policy statement, the decision making power is deemed to lie in the hands of the parents and educators. The decisions refer to the amendments to be made in the policy and of the punishment to be given to the one involved in bullying others (Pulaski County Schools, 2014; An Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna, 2013). Means to be employed. For the successful accomplishment of the short term goal, the parents must be trained and educated on the basic teaching of the social responsibilities to their children. The parents must also be able to provide the child with preliminary education on the prevention of bullying and realizing their contribution towards the society (Pulaski County Schools, 2014; An Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna, 2013). Authority. In the entire course of short term goal, the authority lies in the hands of the parents along with the educators (Pulaski County Schools, 2014; An Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna, 2013). Long term goal: To develop a positive attitude among the young people in the society and improve their psychological thoughts about the bullying activities Reasons. This goal is important as it will prevent the young minds from getting involved in any kind of nuisances and ultimately, become a responsible citizen in the society. The goal is also oriented towards preventing the children from discriminating any of the people or being discriminated and creating a positive attitude towards the society (Pulaski County Schools, 2014; An Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna, 2013). Decision to take action. The decisions to be taken in the course of long term goal refers to the training or learning given to the students in such manner that they can develop positive attitudes and aid for the well-being of the society and its people in the future. There must be frequent counseling among the students so that the sense of responsibility can be assessed (Pulaski County Schools, 2014; An Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna, 2013). Authority. The authority lies in the hands of the governments, local authorities assigned to perform the tasks and also the school authorities along with Pulaski County Council when focusing on the long-term goals (Pulaski County Schools, 2014; An Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna, 2013). 4. Strategy to be used for the objectives In Murrell Taylor Elementary, for the accomplishment of the short term goal, as decided through the mentioned policy statement, i.e. creation of sense of social responsibility among the students, it is highly required that the students are facilitated with preliminary education on the negativity of bullying towards the society by both the parents and teachers at school. In the similar manner, the successful accomplishment of long term goal, which focuses on the development of positive attitude among the children in the elementary schools require integrated training to the teachers and arrangement of counseling sessions to determine whether they are adhering to their social responsibility (Pulaski County School, 2014). Additionally, for the accomplishment of short term and long term goals of the policy statement, it is suggestible that the Pulaski County Schools must arrange for public meetings comprising of the parents, teachers and students as well as workshops to forecast the negative impacts of bullying on the mankind and society (Thompson & Smith, n.d.). 5. Tactics used to carry out each strategy Pulaski County Board of Education has formed a team of teachers and parents in Murrell Taylor Elementary along with other schools, for the fulfillment of the aforesaid strategies. This team is entitled to identify the various occurrences of bullying in and around the school premises within the stipulated time and report it to the school administrators. As per the report, the school administrator would investigate whether the bullying has actually taken place and make an investigation to seclude the wrongdoer and the victim. In accordance to the result of the investigation, the school administrator or designee of Georgia Code of Conduct would decide on the punishment or penalties to be levied on the wrongdoer. The person accused of the punishment and penalty would be intimated by the school administrator through telephone call or written notice. Pulaski County School also intimates this kind of violation and punishment to the other schools in the state so that they can take similar steps for the prevention of bullying. Apart from this, in abidance with the policy statement, Murrell Taylor Elementary can also arrange for few counseling sessions for both the students and their parents. The parents must also be able to differentiate whether their child is being involved in bullying activities within the school or becoming the victim. The use of this tactic would ultimately help the school administrator to reduce the bullying incidents in the school and other places (Pulaski County Schools, 2014). 6. Significances of steps followed by Pulaski County Schools It has been analyzed in the above sections that Pulaski County Schools have formed groups of teachers and parents to deal with the incidents of bullying with an aim of controlling the rising numbers of such incidences. The involvement of parents is done so that they can learn the psychology of their child along with manage different ways to deal with the problem of bullying. If this strategy is being discarded by the schools, it is likely that the parents would be unable to identify the problems of their children and also help them to come out of the problem. Similarly, investigation of the bullying incidences by the school administrator as per the report of the team of students, teachers and parents formed by Pulaski County Schools, which analyses whether the incident has actually taken place and decide of the punishment or penalties to be given to the responsible wrongdoers. If investigation is not done effectively, it might also lead the school administrators to make wrong decisions. The counseling session is therefore, quite likely to make the children mentally aware of the negative impacts caused to the society through the bullying activities. This argument is further justifiable with reference to the case of Bluewater District School Board, which states that counseling shapes and develops the child’s attitude and keeps track whether they are being involved in such activities (Bluewater District School Board, 2014). References An Roinn Oideachais agus Scileanna. (2013). Anti-bullying procedures for primary and post-primary schools. Retrieved from http://www.education.ie/en/Publications/Policy-Reports/Anti-Bullying-Procedures-for-Primary-and-Post-Primary-Schools.pdf Bluewater District School Board. (2014). Bullying prevention plan. What is bullying- a definition, 1-8. Houlston, C., & Smith, P. K. (2009). The impact of a peer counseling scheme to address bullying in an all-girl London secondary school: A short-term longitudinal study. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 79, 69-86. Pulaski County Schools. (2014). Board policy. Bullying, 1-2. Thompson, F., & Smith, P. K. (n.d.). Anti-bullying strategies in schools – What is done and what works. Retrieved from http://www.bullyingandcyber.net/media/cms_page_media/55/Thompson-Smith2.pdf Appendix Table 1: From Policy Statement to Action Policy/ Overall purpose The overall purpose of the policy statement, followed in Pulaski County schools, is to ensure the proper identification of bullying act conducted by and/or on children within a limited time period. Subsequently, the policy statement aspires to discourage bullying activities through the application of effective strategies in shaping the understanding of the students about their social responsibilities and developing a positive attitude amid them to contribute a health society in future. Goal /Expected results With the application of the policy statement, the Pulaski County schools aspires all the teachers, students including the parents of Murrell Taylor Elementary to know about the bullying activities conducted by the students and take necessary steps accordingly. The governing body principally has framed the policy statement with the goal that the public be made aware of the bullying activities within the county public schools in order to reduce the number of bullying activities and give a proper shape to the society. Objective /Assessable outcome The objectives or the outcomes expected to be attained through the policy statement is to punish the bullying act following specific disciplines as mentioned in the Georgia Code of Conduct. The Georgia Code of Conduct refers to the various policies preventing the act of bullying. The other objective is to intimate the parents and students about the punishments and penalties of bullying through handbooks. Strategy For the accomplishment of the aforesaid goal, teachers must be provided with adequate training so that they can identify the bullying activities within the time. Accordingly, the students and the parents must be assisted with proper and regular counseling so as to develop their understanding of such issues. Tactic The policy is applied in two steps currently, i.e. building teams comprising teachers and parents in identifying and discouraging bullying activities amid students following specific principles to perform penalties on the wrongdoers. Additionally, counseling can also be provided to the students and their parents in order to make them aware of their social responsibilities in mitigating such trends. (Source: Pulaski County Schools, 2014) Read More