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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2017)
10A COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL NOVEMBER 15, 2017 LMS tries to stem increase in bullying New program looks to open conversations By Caitlyn May cmay@cgsentinel.com There’s a stack of papers in Emily Wren’s desk. She hasn’t fi nished going through them yet. They’ve been fi lled out by students at Lincoln Middle School and each one offers a new bit of heartbreak. “When you call me dumb, it makes me feel like I am noth- ing.” It’s an answer to a prompt printed on each piece of paper: When you call me _____, it makes me feel _____. There are 520 students enrolled in Lincoln and the stack on Wren’s desk is easily compromised of 500 sheets. “Only two kids so far, hav- en’t taken it seriously,” Wren, who's vice principal at Lincoln said, fl ipping through the stack of papers she’s begun sorting into three separate piles; used, not used and still to be gone through. It’s all part of the “Choose a Different Word” campaign at Lincoln, a program meant to stem bullying within the school and give students an outlet. The prompts will be scrubbed of identifying language and placed around the school while leader- ship students have utilized the information to create posters to hang in hallways. The deco- rations though, are a baby step in a road littered with outside, complicating factors. “Verbal referrals accounted for 22 percent of the referrals,” Wren said. “Now, three months in, they’re at 44 percent.” Something has changed in the last year. Students who are caught ver- bally harassing their classmates are given a referral and sent to the Tiger Pride Room—a space dedicated to restorative con- versations. Essentially, bullies are placed in a room with their victims and walked through a conversation with a mediator to come to a better understanding of their actions, consequences and forge a line of communica- tion between the two parties. Of the fi ve leadership stu- dents sitting on Wren’s couch, excused from class to partake in a discussion about the cam- paign, three say the Tiger Pride room works. Two, disagree. “Of course it doesn’t work,” Nancy Willard has spent the last fi ve years studying bullying and possible approaches schools can take to better address the issue. She’s worked in the Sa- lem-Keizer district and is work- ing on material that can utilized around the state. “The restorative process doesn’t work for this situation,” she said. “This school is leaps and bounds ahead because they are trying. But it won’t work. It will get worse.” The current process, accord- ing to Willard, allows the stu- dent with an advanced social standing to maintain that stand- ing. “They know exactly what to say during the conversation,” she said. According to Wren, students who harass other students know when to act as well. “We can correct it when we catch it,” she said. “But the last prompt says ‘I wish my teachers knew ‘blank’ and they say that they wished we knew bullies are sneaky,” she said. Insults being fl ung around Lincoln, according to student prompts include unfortunate- ly standard pejoratives such as “prostitute” and “whore.” But newer insults have emerged in- cluding, “Go back to Mexico” and “Go home.” “They hear it on the news, LINCOLN HEADS TO HULT DENTAL Insurance Physicians Mutual Insurance Company A less expensive way to help get the dental care you deserve they hear it at home,” Wren said. So, while students’ parents are also contacted in addition to referrals, it’s not always a solu- tion. The next step, according to Wren, is to teach kids how to stand up to bullies. As a self-de- scribed former ‘mean girl,’ Wren said she can relate to the students who stand by and do nothing. “My friends would say hor- rible things and I would laugh because it was easier and saf- er than standing up,” she said. She also noted that students are being made aware of the re- al-world consequences of their actions. “We’re letting them know, if these things happened in their workplace, they would be fi red,” she said. “It sounds like they’re (Lin- coln Middle School) doing the best they can and they need to be recognized for that,” Willard said. “What schools nationwide are doing is not working. This is not the fault of educators. What they have been told about bul- lying is inaccurate and the way they have been told to try to handle these situations will nev- er be effective.” Cottage Grove Sentinel www.cgsentinel.com If you’re over 50, you can get coverage for about $1 a day* Keep your own dentist! 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Need legal help for: .HHSLQJ\RXULQFRPHƒJHWWLQJPHGLFDOFDUHƒPRYLQJLQWRRU RXWRIDFDUHIDFLOLW\ƒKRXVLQJSUREOHPVƒXWLOLW\VKXWRIIVƒ VWRSSLQJDEXVHƒFRQWHVWLQJDJXDUGLDQVKLS" For a free handbook, “Legal Issues for Older Adults,” published by the Oregon State Bar, call: 503-945-6237 (available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, or Chinese). For referral to an attorney, call toll-free: 1-855-673-2372. Cottage-Grove-Sentinel Nearly 1,000 students from South Lane School District were treated to a day at the theatre thanks to a snowball effect that started at Lincoln Middle School. A raffl e earned the attention of a student's father who reached out to Lincoln's vice principal, Emily Wren. "I think he'd like to stay anonymous," she said, but noted he offered the students a chance to see a ballet performance at the Hult Center on Halloween. Quickly, the offer moved from Lincoln to a district-wide invite. "We had kids in costumes because it was Halloween and it was great," Wren said. "Two ushers, after the performance said our kids were so well behaved." Announcing!! Birch Avenue Dental Humane Society of Cottage Grove’s 7th Annual Christmas Bazaar Park W. McClung, DDS • Tammy L. McClung, DDS Where dentistry is our profession but people are our focus WELCOMING NEW PATIENTS! Check out our exclusive Birch Avenue Dental Program that provides all the rewards of dental insurance without the headaches. For more information please call 541-942-2471 or visit us at www.birchavenuedental.com American Legion Hall • 826 Main Street, CG Come and t see wha we have for our raffl e! Friday, November 17th 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, November 18th 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Collectibles Decorations Christmas Cards Lights and Much More Thurston High School Choir’s Holiday Craft Faire Friday & & Saturday Saturday Friday 10am - - 6pm 6pm / / 10am-5pm 10am-5pm 10am THANKSGIVING WEEKEND Hand-Crafted Items! Movies for Kids! Food! FREE ADMISSION! All Proceeds Help Animals in Our Community. Thurston High School 333 N. 58th St Springfield, OR 97478 We are a local Oregon Law firm helping people with asbestos related cancer claims. Call us for a FREE INVESTIGATION into your eligibility for compensation. Cottage Grove Sentinel 1-877-928-9147 333ċ!(/+* !%(ċ+)
