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LARWILL - Students often may know more about what's going on in the school than the teachers and other adults.
Sometimes, adults can't always catch a bully in the act. And students won't always go to teachers or counselors for help or guidance.
With the "Help Students Stop Bullying" and "Natural Helpers" programs, guidance counselors at Whitko Middle School are helping students help themselves and other students with problems in the school. And with the programs, guidance counselors Tara Hosier and Kris Cassady are seeing the benefits first-hand.
"I felt we had a big need for a bullying program in the school," said Hosier, "and we needed to do something because it's quite a problem."
Last May, 37 students were involved in the first year of the HSSB program. This year, a new group of seventh-graders were trained in the program and sixth- graders will be trained in the coming weeks. A group of eighth- graders are already trained.
The Natural Helpers program has been at the middle school for three years. Their first-year students involved in the program are currently juniors at the high school.
Grant money from the K21 Foundation will help cover the costs for both of the programs' training this year.
For the HSSB program, the K21 Foundation provided $1,000, which will be used to train students to develop a sense of connection with the school and other students, increase self-esteem, increase their awareness of the bullying problem and enjoy the school environment.
For the Natural Helpers program, K21 provided $2,500 in grant money for students to attend a retreat. The program will teach the students the importance of breaking down the invisible barriers that are used to label and divide peers into social groups.
For the HSSB program, Hosier meets with students once a month to talk about what's happening at the school and with students, and to review the students' skills.
Cassady said a lot of the program is about teaching kids what bullying is and teaching them the skills to intervene when they see bullying. "They become an advocate," she said.
In a bullying situation, the victim does not have the power to tell the bully what they're doing is wrong and should stop. However, a "middle of the road" student can intervene, Cassady said, and often can get the bully to stop.
The biggest impact the HSSB program has at its early stages, Cassady said, is that the issue is being addressed and being acknowledged.
Cassady and Hosier have discussed integrating HSSB and Natural Helpers, but they are different programs.
Natural Helpers was designed by Comprehensive Health Education Foundation and AGS/United Learning. Students are chosen to participate in the program based on a survey the student body fills out.
The students select who are already the natural helpers in the school. Members of the different school groups who are identified as natural helpers - the "jocks," the "preps" and the band members among others - are brought together at the retreat. The retreat then helps the different groups break down walls and students learn to be good listeners.
Natural Helpers meet every week.
Hosier stresses that students don't give advice and are not counselors. They simply listen and may suggest resources where students with problems may get the help they need.
"It's helped to make our school environment more positive," Hosier said.
Two years ago, a student at the middle school talked about killing other students on the last day of school. Through the Natural Helpers, the school became aware of the situation and was able to take safety precautions in case the student's threats were true. Hosier said they were able to be prepared for the situation where, without the communication among and from students, they might not have been able to be prepared.
Cassady said another problem that exists at the middle school is that some students engage in self-mutilation. Until the Natural Helpers program, she said, they didn't know it was a problem at the middle school.
"Because of Natural Helpers," said Cassady, "I think the kids can trust the adults here." Students involved in Natural Helpers, who learn they can confide in the adults in the school, then tell other students the adults can be trusted.
The programs won't just help the students while in school. "I feel like it changes their lives," said Cassady. As the students get older, she said, they will understand it more and will be better able to use the techniques they learned.
Hosier said some of the students who participated in the HSSB program were bullies when they first began the program, but now, through the program, the bullies have changed.
"I really don't see any negatives" with the program, said Cassady.
