Students at risk
DefinitionsCharacteristics
StatisticsImplications for Education
COMMUNITY RESOURCE DIRECTORY
WHY?
ALL KIDS ARE OUR RESPONSIBILITY
ALL OF US ARE AT RISK AT SOME TIME IN OUR LIVES
IT CAN AFFECT LEARNING
Definition(s) of At Risk Several official
definitions, often all different
A problem – as this group’s number is expanding
HISTORICALLY
The term was coined in the early 1900s when students earned Carnegie units to graduate and in their junior year some were found
“...at‑risk of dropping out of school prior to completion of the official number of Carnegie Units.”
Definition (cont) The National At-Risk
Education Network defines "at-risk" youth as:
At-risk of dropping out of school;
At-risk of not succeeding in life due to being raised in unfavorable circumstances.
According to figures from the Children's Defense Fund, 1 of every 8 school children will not graduate
This means that the population currently at-risk of dropping out could be as many as 6,680,625 children. The financial future of high school dropouts is grim.
Is there really a condition or is it…
Students are placed at-risk when they experience a significant mismatch between their circumstances and needs, and the capacity or willingness of the school to accept, accommodate, and respond to them in a manner that supports and enables their maximum social, emotional and intellectual growth and development.
Is this a student at risk?
Wears clothes that are inappropriate for the weather
Cries excessively
Engages in vandalism
Falls asleep in school
Arrives early and leaves late from school
Is wary of physical contact
Possible abuse
or neglect
Is this a student at risk?
Poor, erratic attendance
Frequent complaints and visit to the nurse
Regression (thumb sucking…)
Emotional outbursts
Equating any drinking with being drunk or alcohol
Friendlessness, isolation
Live with
Substance
Abuse
With a partner
brainstorm
some
characteristics
or conditions
that cause
students to be
identified as at
risk (not EL,
SPED, GATE)
Characteristics/Conditions
FAMILY CONDITIONS
Poverty
Instability
(divorce, migrant, homelessness)
RISK OF HEALTH AND SAFETY
Drugs
Alcohol
Lead
Infection
Birth issues
Uninsured
Violence
Characteristics/Conditions
AT-RISK SCHOOLS
Low standards & expectations
Truancy
Lack of intervention
Violence
DROP OUTS
SUICIDE
DRUG & ALCOHOL
TEEN PREGNANCY & SEXUALLLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES
CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT
EATING DISORDERS
DELINQUENCY
GENDER IDENTIFICATION
What do we do as educators?
What can we do?If schools are to achieve the desired goal of success for all
students, they must:
hold high expectations for all, especially this growing segment of learners
view these students as having strengths, not "deficits,”
create environments of trust and respect in our classrooms
adopt programs and practices that help all students to achieve their true potential. (Mediator Mentors utilizing peers)
collaborate with your peers regarding resources and strategies
All Children Can
LearnAll children can learn, at some level, and most children, as Ronald Edmonds stated, can learn the basic curriculum if sufficient resources are provided.
The fallacy, however, is the belief that all children can learn the same curriculum, in the same amount of time, and at the same level.
Thomas & Brainbridge, 2001
What can we do? Teachers believe all students can succeed. They
communicate this belief to their students.
Schools, teachers, and instruction foster resiliency in children by building on students' strengths. (Resiliency is the ability to adapt and succeed despite risk and adversity.)
Administrators provide leadership in managing change to improve learning for all students.
Administrators and teachers are committed to continued professional development to improve teaching and learning for all students.
Resiliency Resilience is important because it is the human
capacity to face, overcome and be strengthened by or even transformed by the adversities of life. Everyone faces adversities; no one is exempt.
With resilience, children can triumph over trauma; without it, trauma (adversity) triumphs. The crises children face both within their families and in their communities can overwhelm them.
Three Sources
of Resiliency:
I HAVE
I AM
I CAN
ResiliencyIn your own life think of your:
I HAVE
I AM
I CAN
Three Sources of Resiliency
I HAVE People around me I trust and
who love me, no matter what
People who set limits for me so I know when to stop before there is danger or trouble
People who show me how to do things right by the way they do things
People who want me to learn to do things on my own
People who help me when I am sick, in danger or need to learn
I AM
A person people can like and love
Glad to do nice things for others and show my concern
Respectful of myself and others
Willing to be responsible for what I do
Sure things will be all right
Three Sources of Resiliency
I CAN Talk to others about things that
frighten me or bother me
Find ways to solve problems that I face
Control myself when I feel like doing something not right or dangerous
Figure out when it is a good time to talk to someone or to take action
Find someone to help me when I need it
ADULTS NEED TO PROMOTE RESILIENCE IN CHILDREN
BULLYINGBoth the Bully and the Victim are
at riskhttp://takeastand.stopbullying.gov/kids/webisodes/default.aspx
What is bullying? "A person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly
and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself."
This definition includes three important components:
1. Bullying is aggressive behavior that involves unwanted, negative actions.2. Bullying involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time.3. Bullying involves an imbalance of power or strength.
Bullying“Being bullied is not just an unpleasant rite
of passage through childhood,” said Duane Alexander, M.D., director of the NICHD. “It’s a public health problem that merits attention. People who were bullied as children are more likely to suffer from depression and low self esteem, well into adulthood, and the bullies themselves are more likely to engage in criminal behavior later in life.”
Types of Bullying 1. Verbal bullying including derogatory comments
and bad names2. Bullying through social exclusion or isolation3. Physical bullying such as hitting, kicking, shoving, and spitting4. Bullying through lies and false rumors5. Having money or other things taken or damaged by students who bully6. Being threatened or being forced to do things by students who bully7. Racial bullying8. Sexual bullying9. Cyber bullying (via cell phone or Internet)
Cyberbullying
Being cruel to others by sending or posting harmful material using technological means; an individual or group that usesinformation and communication involving electronic technologies to facilitate deliberate and repeated harassment or threat to an individual or group.
Cyberbulllying E-mail
Cell phones
Pager text messages
Instant messaging
Defamatory personal web sites
Defamatory online personal polling web sites
Chat rooms
“Categories”
Inadvertent
Vengeful Angel
Mean Girls
Power-Hungry
Revenge of the Nerds
Parry Aftab. Esq., Executive Director, WiredSafety.org
DifferencesBullying
DIRECT Occurs on
school property Poor relationships with teachers Fear retribution
Physical: Hitting, Punching & ShovingVerbal: Teasing, Name calling & GossipNonverbal: Use of gestures & Exclusion
www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov
Cyberbullying ANONYMOUS
Occurs off
school property
Good relationships with teachers
Fear loss of technology privileges
Further under the radar than bullying
Emotional reactions cannot be determined
Information about bullying suggests that there are three interrelated reasons why students bully.
1. Students who bully have strong needs for power and (negative) dominance.
2. Students who bully find satisfaction in causing injury and suffering to other students.
3. Students who bully are often rewarded in some way for their behavior with material or psychological rewards.
Bullying Statistics
2007 stats -
77% of students say they were bullied
23% of elementary students
California one of the worst 5 states
Bullying statistics shows that those who bully and are bullied appear to be at greatest risk of experiencing the following:
loneliness; trouble making friends; lack of success in school; and involvement in problem behaviors such as smoking and drinking.
When Bullying Has Happened
For the Student Who Was Bullied
Check in regularly with the student who was bullied
Determine whether the bullying still continues
Provide a supportive environment
Review the school rules and policies with the student to ensure they are aware of their rights and protection
Consider referring them for professional or other service
For the Student Who Bullied Others
Identify the behavior
Review the school rules and policies with the student
Ask for positive change in future behavior
Consider referring them for professional or other services as appropriate
Consider appropriate graduated consequences
Encourage the student to channel their influence and behavior into positive leadership roles
Monitor and check in frequently
When Bullying Has Happened
For Bystanders
Encourage them to talk with you
Review the school rules and policies with the students
Discuss with bystanders how they might intervene and/ or get help next time
Acknowledge students who took action to stop the bullying
For the Parents of the Students Involved
Describe the incident
Review the school rules and policies with the parents
Describe the intervention measures taken as appropriate
Develop a plan to follow up
Bullying Prevention Website http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/kids/
Website http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html
bullyBooklet www.jimwrightonline.com/pdfdocs/bully/bullyBooklet
Agree as a school site how your school defines bully
Confront the student about his/her behavior
Compile a menu of appropriate consequences (teasing to harm) or positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior
Establish a policy for contacting parents
Teach skills to prevent “bully-targets”; assertiveness
Train by-standers to be anti-bully agents
Case Studies:Take student and
look through your Directory. Use
form provided to document.
Case Studies: Share Back
Reminder: CONFIDENTIALITY
REMINDER!!!
All students are protected:
At risk
Poor
Homeless
Bullies
Bully Victims
Abuse Victims
Confer with your principal, peers, and principal.
Refer when required.
Students are involved as to be supported but not to confer regarding another student
ThanksColleen Torgerson
(559) 278-0328