Bully Safe Schools Launches New Program for U.S. Schools

Every school counselor, social worker, guidance counselor, psychologist, school nurse, teacher, coach, or resource officer faces the challenge of making and keeping schools safe from bullying. Bully Safe Schools, a national leader in research-based bullying prevention services, has announced its 2008 schedule of one day Bully Busters support team leader workshops for school personnel. The workshops will be held across the United States in 31 major cities this summer and fall.

Bully Busters is a research-based bullying prevention program for elementary and middle schools. It was developed by Arthur Horne, Dawn Newman-Carlson and Christi Bartolomucci, with support from the College of Education of the University of Georgia.

Bully Busters can help schools to stop bullying because it is a solution-focused program that focuses on building healthy relationships and helping build a school climate that supports standing up for others. It has been proven to improve teacher skills and confidence in preventing and dealing with all forms of bullying-from teasing and name calling to social exclusion. The most rapidly growing form of bullying-cyber bullying-is also addressed in the workshops.

The support team leader workshops are an effective and cost efficient way to begin Bully Busters implementation for the upcoming 2008-2009 school year. Attendees will learn how to organize and lead a Bully Busters support team in their school. Co-leaders are also encouraged to attend. A support team is comprised of key personnel and a parent representative. “The best way to reduce bullying in any school is for the entire school to participate in the initiative through a whole school approach, and this is what we teach in our workshops,” according to William Voors, licensed clinical social worker and director of Bully Safe Schools.

With its emphasis on reinforcing positive behaviors, it is compatible with school-wide PBS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support), and can be readily implemented with the assistance of a school’s PBS leadership team.

Source: Bully Safe Schools, LLC

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