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Behavior Management: BOO to Bullying

6/21/2012

Bullying Definitions*

Bullying is defined as the repeated use by one or more students of a written, verbal, or electronic expression or a physical act or gesture or any combination thereof, directed at a victim that:

Causes physical or emotional harm to the victim or damage to the victim’s property
Places the victim in reasonable fear of harm to himself/herself or damage to his/her property
Creates a hostile environment at a VCO program for the victim
Infringes on the rights of the victim at a VCO program
Substantially disrupts the orderly operation at a VCO program

Aggressor- Aggressor is a student who engages in bullying or retaliation

Victim -Victim is a student against whom bullying or retaliation has been perpetrated.

Retaliation - Retaliation is any form of intimidation or harassment directed against a student who reports bullying, provides information during an investigation of bullying, or witnesses or has reliable information about bullying.

Major Bullying Offenses

Examples of major instances of bullying could include:

Aggressive and unnecessary physical contact, including any blood drawn or punches thrown.
Aggressive and unnecessary verbal threats or comments, includes profanity, racial or gender slurs, and physical threats directed toward another student.

Specific Follow-Up Steps for Bullying & Physical Fighting

Specific follow-up steps for bullying and physical fighting
Ultimately, it will be up to the discretion of the volunteer and staff to determine the severity of bullying. If a volunteer or staff is unsure, they should consult other staff and volunteers present.

In the incident of bullying, the aggressor and victim should be separated and pulled to the side.
In the incident of bullying, volunteer and staff should speak to both the aggressor and victim, as well as any other witnesses, to get the full story.
When participant(s) returns to the program, a zero-tolerance policy will be enacted. If another major bullying instance occurs, the aggressor will be asked to leave the program permanently for that year. Re-entry into other VCO programs will be decided upon on in a case-by-case basis
Volunteers and staff should check-in with victim to ensure they feel safe in VCO programs.

Please note

Volunteer and staff can decide if they want to refer the aggressor and/or victim to further mediation or counseling based on the incident.
In the incident that it is ambiguous which child is the aggressor and which is the victim, both aggressor and victim may be sent home.

[*] Cambridge Public Schools Anti-Bullying Policy document

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Behavior Management: 4 Strikes Rule

6/21/2012

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Consequences for Not Meeting Expectations

Step 1 (1st offense) ·

Remind child of expectation and assign consequence accordingly – this can be at coach’s discretion (e.g. 5 pushups,10 jumping jacks – should be something active, reasonable. We want to shy away from handing out time outs)

Step 2 (2nd offense) ·

Increase number or severity of consequences (e.g. 5 pushups becomes 10, 10 jumping jacks becomes 20)
Remind child that this is his/her last warning and what will happen if he/she decides not to follow the expectations.

Step 3 (3rd offense)

At this point, the child has proven he/she is unwilling to meet expectations, despite 2 warnings. You should feel empowered to shift to a more serious tone.
Example: “You've done pushups twice, I've reminded you twice, and since you’ve shown me that you can’t meet the expectations of being on this team, you can’t participate in what the team is doing”
Child must miss 1st half of scrimmage, standing/sitting with a team assistant (either assistant coach or field/curriculum support)

Step 4 (4th offense)

Child must sit out rest of night and cannot come following day.
When this happens, volunteer must use the Follow-Up Steps to 4th Offense behaviors. See section below. .

Automatic 4th Offenses

1. Physical violence
2. Any type of major bullying

**For these situations it is not a guarantee that child will be permitted back into the program

Follow-Up Steps to 4th Offense Behaviors

Procedures when a 4th offense behavior occurs

Volunteer or staff [every program must be staffed with more than one adult] takes measures to stop situation immediately.
a. Pull participant to the side of the program. If possible, the rest of the program should proceed as normal.
Volunteer verbally reports incident to program staff in charge.
Volunteer and staff speak to participant.
a. Notes from this conversation should be put into Incident Report.
b. Volunteer and staff quickly make sure they have consensus and delegate the following steps, calling on help if needed.
Parents of all parties are contacted. The incident, next steps, and/or consequences should be explained to parents and involved parties.
Participant(s) are immediately sent home, still following check-out protocol
a. Participant(s) should have a clear understanding to why they are being asked to leave.
b. If participant(s) may only be dismissed with parent pick-up, parent should be called to pick up their child.
c. If parent is not available for pick-up, participant(s) must remain in the program under staff supervision, but not participating.
d. If participant(s) is able to go home without parent pick-up, he is allowed to go home on his own after his parent has been called.
Participants receive a one-day suspension from the program.
a. If volunteer or staff feels that the participant(s should receive a longer suspension from the program, this should be discussed with all program staff and a decision for a more severe consequence can be made.
Volunteer completes an Incident Report Form and submits to VCO staff.

What happens the next day?
Except in cases of physical violence or bullying (please see Bullying Definitions below), a new day means a clean slate! We encourage you to follow up with the child at the start of the evening. Encourage him/her to display positive behavior on this new evening

Example: “Hey! I know you had a rough day yesterday. How are you doing today?”

behavior-management-boo-to-bullying.html

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Behavior Management: Setting Expectations & Tips

6/21/2012

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Vineyard Community Offerings aims to provide programs and events that are safe and fun for people of all backgrounds and cultures. To foster this environment, we have adopted the following policies and procedures regarding behavior expectations.

Program wide expectations to which all participants are held:

1. Respect your coach

2. Respect your teammates

3. Try your hardest

General Tips for Managing your Team

Set expectations early and clearly --go over them at the beginning of each night to set the tone of the evening. You might need to flesh out what the expectation means (Respect your coach means…). Ask kids if they have any additional expectations to add. This is way of contracting with the kids and getting them to own the expectations for themselves. As the week progresses, have the kids recall/share what the expectations are to each other.
Call and response* – easy way to gain attention of large group – you can be creative with your method, but some examples include:
-Clapping a sequence for the kids to repeat
-Clap clap, motion/voice (go around circle, everyone mimics what each person does)
-Come up with a consistent call and response for their team:
e.g. : You: “Hey gang!” Team: “Hey coach!” You: “How you doin?” Team: “Grreeeeat!” You: “Take a knee!” Them: “Okay!”
-Use call and response to teach drills
e.g. have them turn to the kid next to them and teach the drill “follow through till I see the bottom of your shoe”
Be confident and following through is key. If you say there will be consequences and then there aren’t, the kids will walk all over you (and we don’t want that!)
Have fun! – if you are engaged and outwardly enjoying yourself, this energy will transfer to the kids! Be positive, even in your disciplining.

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Behavior Management: BOO to Bullying

Bullying Definitions*

Major Bullying Offenses

Specific Follow-Up Steps for Bullying & Physical Fighting

Behavior Management: 4 Strikes Rule

Consequences for Not Meeting Expectations

Automatic 4th Offenses

Follow-Up Steps to 4th Offense Behaviors

Behavior Management: Setting Expectations & Tips

Program wide expectations to which all participants are held:

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