New Punishment for Bullying: Shunning

PHOTO: teenink.com

I never did understand how bullying a bully helps to stop him/her from bullying, but an elementary school in Colorado Springs has decided to initiate an "experiment" on purposeful shunning.

It’s all part of a new anti-bullying campaign meant to build empathy? however it’s stirring up a bit of controversy.

Fourth through sixth grade students (ages 9 - 12) have been taking turns wearing special stickers (a la "The Scarlet Letter") on their collars to indicate that they are to be shunned by classmates. 

According to the rules of the exercise, students are not allowed to tease or be mean to those wearing the stickers. 

Based on my personal experience, I have doubts about these "behavior modification" type practices when imposed on typically developing children, and I think this raises some serious ethical questions.  ( Just my observation. )

But how about you, as an educator or parent, what do you think? 

If you are a mental health expert, we welcome your comments as well. Please add them in the comments area below. 

You can read the full article here:

Kids Told to Shun Classmates to Show How Bullying Feels




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Why Teachers Quit

PHOTO: Washington Post

It is estimated that approximately 15.7 percent of teachers leave their posts every year, and 40 percent of teachers who pursue undergraduate degrees in teaching never even enter the classroom at all. 

With teacher effectiveness a top priority of the education reform movement, the question remains: Why are all these teachers leaving—or not even entering the classroom in the first place?

“One of the big reasons I quit was sort of intangible,” says Richard Ingersoll, a former high-school social studies and algebra teacher, “But it’s very real: It’s just a lack of respect,” he says. 

“Teachers in schools do not call the shots. They have very little say. They’re told what to do; it’s a very dis-empowering line of work.”

Read entire article at the link.

Why Do Teachers Quit?



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Pre K Learning: Positive Classroom Interaction Goes a Long Way

PHOTO: psychologymatters.asia

“Pre-K classrooms ought to be a place where people enjoy learning together.”

For the first time, research has proved what many educators have believed to be true: 

Children acquire better cognitive learning skills in a classroom infused with “positive interactions.”

Dale Farran, senior associate director of the Peabody Research Institute at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College for education and human development, says that positive interactions in a pre-kindergarten classroom may be equally or more important to the future academic development of 4-year-olds than learning letters and numbers. 

It was also noted that children in classrooms infused with more positive behaviors made gains not just academically, but in behavioral regulation as well.

Read more on the study at the link.


Positive Interactions Vital to Learning