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

colleent@csufresno.edu

(559) 278-0328