Malletts Bay is a safe and welcoming place for learning. These years of child development are important ones for peer relationships and other aspects of social development. A large part of our responsibility as educators is to partner with you to help children understand how to develop and support healthy relationships. This sometimes means solving relationship problems and building strong character through our discipline process.
Each year I interact with a parent who calls to tell me about some difficulty their child is experiencing at MBS. Inevitably, the parent starts by saying, “I don’t want to bother you with this,” or “I didn’t want to be that parent who always calls the school.”
I am encouraging you from the start of the school year, to “be that parent.” Ms. Burke and I work with all the MBS adults to monitor the social and emotional growth of our students very closely. Still, students have opportunities to interact at lunch, in the hallways, on the bus, or on the playground. Further, they interact outside of school during sports, clubs or other community activities. Increasingly, we find unkind behaviors happening through social media. The “online” relationship issues find their way into school, affecting how students feel about their learning environment.
We do not have a significant problem with bullying or harassment in the legal sense. All our staff members receive annual training regarding prevention of bullying and harassment, and we are on the lookout for potential problems. This month, Ms. Burke and I are visiting all MBS classes to talk with our students about our school rules and expectations around behavior, particularly toward one another. We are explaining the legal definitions of bullying and harassment, and letting the students know that these behaviors cross a “red line.” We have strong policies in place to prevent bullying and harassment. If you would like to read those policies, you can find them at http://csdvt.org. The policies are F2 and F23.
One way you can support us is by being “that parent.” If your child is unhappy or uncomfortable with some kind of peer relationship problem, please give us a call. We’ll check into the problem and work to solve it. If the problem meets the definition of bullying or harassment, we’ll implement the procedures outlined in the policy.
In regard to social media, we are hosting Prevent Child Abuse Vermont’s training for students and adults known as TECHNICOOL. All fourth and fifth graders will participate on October 16th in small assemblies. All parents, regardless of the age of your children, are invited to come at 6:30 that evening for a parent presentation.
I hope to see you there!