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I really appreciated the notes from last week’s Bullying Solution’s letter, “Make SURE Kids Know You Care!” Each week, we will be sending out a new Emergency Action that you can take and share with others.
The next Bullying Emergency Action to take is to: KEEP YOUR RADAR ON!
The best anti-bullying programs in the world won’t work if the adults in charge don’t know what their kids are doing and saying.
Any of us can become so focused on a conversation or an activity that we don’t see what is happening around us. The problem is that a lot of bullying happens under the noses of adults who are so involved in talking to each other or getting something finished that they lose track of what is happening with their kids.
Not noticing a bullying problem happening in front of you sends a contradictory message to kids about whether or not adults mean what they say about this behavior being wrong.
No matter how busy or distracted you are, stay aware of what is happening with the young people in your care. What’s going on with that cluster of kids in the corner or by the slide? How’s the girl with the quick temper doing? What about the boy who often seems lost and unhappy?
Develop the skill of Splitting Your Attention to avoid tunnel vision. When you have kids in your care, interrupt what you are doing to observe what the kids are doing as well as what else is happening around you.
You also want to Keep Your Radar On about what is happening in cyber-space. For example, a joke about “Kick a Ginger Day” on the satirical TV show South Park inspired a Facebook campaign that led to assaults on a number of redheaded kids, teens, and even adults.
Keeping Your Radar On will prepare you to step in to stop or redirect unsafe behavior.
Please e-mail us at safety@kidpower.org with your ideas, stories, and comments. We really appreciate hearing from you!
Published: December 8, 2011 | Last Updated: May 31, 2012
Irene van der Zande, Kidpower Founder and Executive Director
Kidpower Founder and Executive Irene van der Zande is a master at teaching safety through stories and practices and at inspiring others to do the same. Her child protection and personal safety expertise has been featured by USA Today, CNN, Today Moms, the LA Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Publications include: cartoon-illustrated Kidpower Safety Comics and Kidpower Teaching Books curriculum; Bullying: What Adults Need to Know and Do to Keep Kids Safe; the Relationship Safety Skills Handbook for Teens and Adults; Earliest Teachable Moment: Personal Safety for Babies, Toddlers, and Preschoolers; The Kidpower Book for Caring Adults: Personal Safety, Self-Protection, Confidence, and Advocacy for Young People, and the Amazon Best Seller Doing Right by Our Kids: Protecting Child Safety at All Levels.
