Is your child being bullied at school? What about outside of school, via the Internet or their cell phone?
Are you sure?
Maybe your child is bullying others.
Do you know what to look for?
The Elmbrook Parent Network will hold two programs, one Thursday and one Feb. 4, to equip parents and students with the ability to recognize bullying and to defuse bullying without violence.
Bullying has many forms
At the first session, parents will hear from a panel of experts about types of bullying and conflict resolution.
As technology has evolved, so has bullying, said Sandra Schultz, Parent Network director of events.
"It's not just the shakedown out at recess for lunch money," she said.
Parents may not be familiar with some types of bullying, or might not realize that certain behaviors qualify as bullying. Schultz said these include "mean girls" bullying, cliques and cyber bullying.
"These are all forms of bullying that parents might show a blind eye to - you know, "kids will be kids" - but no, this is bullying."
Christopher Birr, Elmbrook schools psychologist and one of the panelists, said he'll present research on bullying and discuss what to do if your child is a bully, is being bullied or is a bullying witness.
Other participants in the panel, called "The Many Faces of Bullying," will include Marlene Melzer-Lange, professor of pediatrics at the Medical College of Wisconsin and Detective Ron LaGosh of the Brookfield Police Department.
Words can matter
The second session, "Verbal Abuse and Bullying," is an interactive program open to parents and students. Participants will be taught Verbal Judo, a five-step program for verbal conflict resolution used by law enforcement agencies across the state, said Parent Network President Heather Butkiewicz.
"People think of (Judo) and they think of self-defense and attacking each other," Butkiewicz said.
However, with Verbal Judo, students shouldn't ever have to throw a punch. The technique involves introspection - recognizing what angers you and learning how to react to it - and effective interpersonal responses to bullying situations. Participants will learn how to use their tone of voice, posture and speaking distance to de-escalate conflict.
At the session, parents and students will learn and then try out their Verbal Judo skills in a number of role-playing scenarios.
For more information about The Elmbrook Parent Network's upcoming bullying programs, e-mail parentnetwork@elmbrookschools.org.
FYI
Elmbrook Parent Network's program "The Many Faces of Bullying" will be aired several times next week on Time Warner Cable TV channels 13 and 96.
District cable programming is only available in Elm Grove and the city of Brookfield.
DVDs of the program will be available on request. For more information, e-mail parentnetwork@elmbrookschools.org.
The Feb. 4 event will not be broadcast because it will involve children.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: "The Many Faces of Bullying"
WHEN: 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday
WHERE: Pilgrim Park Middle School, 1500 Pilgrim Parkway, Elm Grove
ONLINE: elmbrookschools.org/display/683.nws
IF YOU GO
WHAT: "Verbal Abuse and Bullying"
WHEN: 7 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 4
WHERE: Pilgrim Park Middle School gym, 1500 Pilgrim Parkway, Elm Grove
ONLINE: elmbrookschools.org/display/683.nws
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