City Schools Strive to Combat Bullying

Editor's Note: This is the second story in a Patch series discussing character education in the Glen Cove School District. Missed the first one? Click here.

For this week's story, Patch spoke with administrators at Robert M. Finley Middle School and Glen Cove High School. 

The anti-bullying campaign is very different from the elementary schools at this level. The district, administrators said, progresses from stressing character trait words and focuses more on unifying the students. 

At Finley, anti-bullying activities stress student interaction. In the sixth grade, there is a movie night, which provides all sixth graders with the opportunity to socialize and get to know one another. 

"This unifies the students as a grade," said Courtney Chase, the school's psychologist. "When students are clustered as a group and feel more unified, they are less likely to bully."

There are also school dances where there is zero tolerance for bullying. These kinds of functions, school officials said, encourages bonding among students in all grades.

The school also has a meet the school psychologist and social worker session for the students to let them know the professionals are available if they need to speak with someone in confidence.

"This produces a lot of referrals from the kids themselves," Chase said. "They make referrals about issues such as kids bullying, suicidal ideation, cutting and anything that comes up."

There's also a lot of peer mediation at the middle school. The training, school officials said, comes from the guidance counselors and there are peer mediators in all grades.

And Finley's efforts do not stop there. 

Anael Alston, the school's principal, also meets with a group of male students where he works with them to help boost their self-esteem. In this group, administrators said, Alston provides the young males with one-on-one attention and teaches them why they should feel good about themselves.

These groups meet on a weekly basis and usually have about five students. Alston, school officials noted, may have multiple groups depending upon how many referrals he gets for students who should be in the group.

Finley also offers a wide variety of clubs including technology and graphic arts.

"If you're not fitting into clubs like cheerleading and soccer, you can find a club that fits your needs," Chase said. "It's very beneficial."

Character Education Off School Grounds

Last year, Alston, some teachers and the school psychologist also took about 20 students to the Golden Gloves boxing tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City as a way to combat bullying and fighting. 

"The trip was designed to show the children what's out there and what positive things we can do," Chase said. "This also served to unify them as a group and give them positive role models, both male and female."

Each grade, Chased explained, also has a field trip at the end of the year, which is solely based on character education. The sixth grade, goes to Frost Valley upstate for three to five days. While there, they participate in hiking trips and adventure walks as well as work in groups. The trip, school officials said, promotes good self-esteem and teamwork. 

Seventh graders are given the opportunity to visit Philadelphia for the day. The trip includes history lessons, but more importantly, the students are placed into groups where they learn responsibility. They also don't get to choose who they are grouped with, giving them the opportunity to socialize with different classmates.

The eighth graders go to Washington, D.C. for two days, where they visit museums and monuments and are also paired up and required to complete certain tasks. Teamwork is a key lesson with this outing as well. 

The High School     

At Glen Cove High, Keith Schenker, the school's principal said, character education plays a part in just about everything the school does.

In English courses, the students read literature and short stories that illustrate strong character traits such as trustworthiness, responsibility and respect as its themes. These values, administrators said, are also taught on the school's athletic teams as well.

One initiative that Schenker said reinforces character education is that the school mandates that each student complete 12 hours of community service as a graduation requirement. For the freshman this year, the hours were extended to 50. In the past, administrators explained, students have worked at the Ronald McDonald House and participated in breast cancer walks.

There are also activities such as beautification efforts, carnivals and tutoring that students participate in as a part of character education reinforcement.

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