From
the Superintendent’s
Seat:
Getting Along
By Dr. Carole G. Hankin with
Randi T. Sachs
If your children are
doing well academically in school, it’s great.
Another part of school
is the social component. If your child has a conflict with
his or her classmates, it may be necessary for you to intervene.
Once you have a clear picture of what is happening, call
the teacher and ask if he or she has observed the situation
you are concerned about. Don’t wait too long to see if the situation resolves
itself on its own, particularly if you feel your child is being
mistreated or picked on by another child or group of children.
If your child’s teacher is unable to turn things around,
it may be necessary to take your concerns to another professional.
There is a universal need for character education
in our schools. We need to teach our children that they must
treat one another with respect and dignity and show no tolerance
for behavior that threatens or harms others. Your school should
have a proactive campaign to teach and model appropriate behavior
for all students.
In Syosset, we have
a strong character education program in all of our schools,
from elementary through the high school. We talk with our
students about how their behavior affects others. In our
Peer Educators program we train high school students to meet
with third grade classes and discuss conflicts that can arise
between students and how they should best be handled. They
use role playing and games to get the message across to the
younger children. A program that began in the high school
and has been adapted by the elementary and middle schools
is Syosset PRIDE. It stands for Patience,
Respect, Integrity, Dignity, and Empathy, and serves as a guide
for students to model their own behavior.
We also have a Peer Mediation program in our
schools, in which children are trained to mediate disputes
between classmates and help them come to a peaceful solution.
Our Peer Mediators learn how to listen to both sides of a disagreement
and validate the feelings of each individual. By empowering
our students in this way we are giving them the tools they
need to resolve conflicts, and helping them understand that
peaceful, thoughtful solutions to problems are beneficial to
everyone.
As parents, we need to listen carefully to what
our children say.
Assure your children that they will have your
help. When parents and administrators stand firm and give clear
instructions on acceptable conduct, we can help our children
to get along at school and in the world.#
