Bullying Prevention & Red Ribbon Week

Fall is in the air (kind of) football is in full swing - my fantasy team is injury ridden so my fantasy fame is crushed - and playoff baseball adds one more exciting layer to the best time of the year! The Pavlisin’s are Cardinals fans (my husband is a STL native) but it’s always nice to see the boys in blue representing Kansas City alongside the Chiefs. October is always a busy month… My family and I started an organization a few years ago called Carey's Denim Dash, and we held our 3rd annual 5k event the first weekend in October. Our organization/cause is something very near and dear to my heart, but I am always relieved when it’s over so that the planning can pause for a bit. I love being able to set that aside and dive into the fall festivities at Oakhill, and with my family! With that being said, my segway into this Acorn article is that October is also an important month in the social-emotional/mental health world. This month, we recognize National Bullying Prevention month, and National Substance Abuse Prevention month. 

While we don’t really focus on substance abuse prevention the entire month, we do focus some on Red Ribbon Week, which falls on the last week in October every year. Red Ribbon Week is a week-long, national campaign in schools that raises awareness about living a drug free life. Typically, drug and alcohol prevention is addressed during middle school and high school years, however, the purpose behind Red Ribbon Week is to encourage a drug free life early on in a child’s educational career. Why wait until they are being exposed to substances to start teaching them to stay away? The topic of drug and alcohol abuse can be one that we avoid talking about with our kids…for obvious reasons. It’s scary to think that our kids have to navigate a world where drugs and alcohol are so readily accessible, and at such a young age. But knowledge is power, and the more that our kids know about the world and all that comes with it, the more power they have to make the right choices. So with that, during Red Ribbon Week this year, I will give teachers resources (activities, lessons, games, etc.) that students (K-8) can participate in that encourage a drug free life. This includes activities such as a coloring contest, signing a pledge to be drug free, or just having a conversation about the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle. For our older students, there is a free resource called “Natural High”. A website FULL of resources to encourage kids to find their passions in life that fulfills that “high” naturally. There are celebrities, professional athletes, singers, bands, etc. that have partnered with Natural High to make videos about their passions and why living a drug free life is the best way of life. It’s worth checking out! 

At Oakhill, we emphasize the importance of positive relationships and partnerships, because it allows us to fully support our students and their family. This includes addressing unkind behavior of any kind. Bullying prevention has gained a lot of traction over the last decade or so. This is great for our kids as they learn to navigate friendships, learn to set boundaries, and know what is kind, respectful, and expected behavior. However, too much attention to this can also make us hypersensitive to the concept of bullying…I don’t always like to talk about this side of bullying because bullying is a very real thing. It affects kids in more ways than one, but we have to make sure that we are teaching our kids what bullying really is. When we look at the definition of bullying, I like to use the acronym, STOMP. Several Times, Onesided, Mean, Purposeful. This is an easy way for our kids to identify bullying, and know that it needs to be reported. The terms, “several times” and “one sided” require the most emphasis, because in reality, kids do say mean things on purpose, but that doesn’t mean it’s bullying. At Oakhill, we encourage our students to report any unkind behavior, so that we can teach them when/how to report it to an adult, but also help them learn how to stand up for themselves when necessary. However, when a mean, purposeful behavior is happening repeatedly, the conversations shift to bullying and the steps that follow. I am confident that because we have positive relationships and true partnerships with our families, we are able to address and respond to reports of unkind behaviors and bullying in a way that other schools cannot. So while we focus on bullying prevention this month, it really is something that we work to prevent on a daily basis. Our goal is always to make sure that every child feels known and valued!

I encourage you to have conversations at home about what your children/your family can do to spread kindness and combat bullying. We will focus on kindness a bit next month, but think about what would you do (as an adult), if you saw someone being unkind to someone else? What would you expect your child to do in that situation? Being open about your expectations for kindness and respect will help your kids understand that this is a lifelong practice! 

Mrs. P