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Students will help Fair Street stop bullies -- 'Safe School Ambassadors' to be picked

Gainesville Times
August 28, 2006

A young student approaches another on the playground during recess and places his arm across the other child's shoulders. A teacher notices the pair but thinks nothing of the gesture, thinking the two are buddies.

But this no warm moment between two school-age boys.

What comes next is a verbal taunt or threat, another bullying act that the victim has endured.

It happens every day at schools across America. Fair Street Elementary School is no exception, but it is about to start up a program, using students as intervening agents, to try to curtail the problem.

The school has scheduled training sessions Sept. 6-7 to turn 25 to 30 fourth- and fifth-graders into "Safe School Ambassadors."

"We're not looking for angels or straight-A students; sometimes, they are the bullies," assistant principal Will Campbell said. "We're looking for leaders, students who can use their leadership skills in positive and preventive ways."

Specifically, the school is looking for students who are "socially influential," know wrong from right and speak their minds even if their ideas aren't popular.

Initially, the school thought it had a ready supply of ambassadors, hall monitors easily identifiable by their neon garb.

Campbell even mentioned that to Safe School officials in California. The reply was a firm no.

The ambassadors need to blend in with the school setting, wherever it is. The program particularly focuses on times when students have little or no adult supervision, such as going to the restroom, waiting for the bus, recess and after-school activities.

"Kids hear and see a lot that we don't," said Campbell, who wrote a research paper on school climate, including bullying, in earning his specialist degree in educational leadership.

In the case of the playground bully, the ambassador might step unseen from a swing set and attempt to defuse the situation in a peaceful way.

Ambassadors are not called to break up fights or risk physical harm to themselves. In that case, they need to find an adult.

During the training, "we will have kids role-play," Campbell said. "They'll be going through scenarios on how to intervene. We already have students who stand up for kids, but they don't do it in the best ways."

One key thing the students will learn is that bullying doesn't just mean physical harm.

It also encompasses teasing, exclusion of a student from activities and encouraging bullying.

According to Safe School Ambassadors' Web site, 160,000 students stay home from school each day because they are afraid of how they might be treated by their peers.

Bullied students often become bullies themselves.

"You have to do something with the pain," Campbell said. "It could be revenge; it could be withdrawal."

Counselor Kim Hall agreed.

"If they don't tell (an adult) or get help, they don't know what to do," she said. "The way of acting out frustration is to bully somebody."

Bullying also could affect a student's concentration in class.

"They can't learn. ... You have to feel safe at school," Campbell said.

The school is using a Safe and Drug-Free Schools grant of $3,300 to pay most of Safe School Ambassadors' expenses for the training, said principal Merrianne Dyer.