Most States are taking legislative action to address bullying in schools. Our society has finally reached the bullying “crossroads” and has decided to address bullying with legislation. The legislation requires schools to take certain steps to mitigate bullying in schools. The legislation usually includes the following points: 1) Definition of bullying, 2) A point person or coordinator, 3) Reporting and the appropriate metrics, 4) Who at the school needs to be trained to recognize and deal with bullying, and 5) Training.

Such training may include, but not be limited to, (1) developmentally appropriate strategies to prevent bullying among students in school and outside of the school setting, (2) developmentally appropriate strategies for immediate and effective interventions to stop bullying, (3) information regarding the interaction and relationship between students committing acts of bullying, students against whom such acts of bullying are directed and witnesses of such acts of bullying, and (4) research findings on bullying, such as information about the types of students who have been shown to be at-risk for bullying in the school setting.

SAM is designed to address the TRAINING portion of the legislation (developed and passed) to take on the BULLYING disease. Here is a brief description of SAM and how the curriculum speaks to the points above.

(1) Developmentally appropriate strategies to prevent bullying among students in school and outside of the school setting.

SAM teaches students, teachers and administrators how to: (A) be proactive about personal safety and to minimize the risk of being a victim, (B) practice and master skills to use when threatened, (C) manage fear and anxiety during stressful situations, and (D) evaluate threats and possible options.

(2) Developmentally appropriate strategies for immediate and effective interventions to stop bullying.

SAM teaches students, teaches and administrators how to: (A) use non-verbal and verbal communication and paralanguage, (B) not show fear during the confrontation, (C) set appropriate limits and consequences that are applicable to school policies and procedures.

(3) Information regarding the interaction and relationship between students committing acts of bullying, students against whom such acts of bullying are directed and witnesses of such acts of bullying.

SAM teaches students, teachers and administrators how to: (A) step in and assist the student who is being bullied.

(4) Research findings on bullying, such as information about the types of students who have been shown to be at-risk for bullying in the school setting.

SAM teaches students, teachers and administrators on: (A) the difference between male and female bullies, (B) the difference between male and female victims, (C) the effects of being bullied, (D) how to manage physical bullying such as holds, physical assaults with personal weapons including knives and guns, and (E) what to do if there is an active shooter on campus or in a classroom.

SAM is a Training Program that addresses bullying in our schools. Please let us know if you think this type of Training Program would be beneficial in mitigating bullying in your educational environment.

SAM Programs

The escalation of aggressive behavior and outright violence in our schools is alarming. Everyone is subject to a certain amount of risk: students, teachers, security and administration. Nationally, teachers are subject to over 400,000 violent crimes a year and students, ages 12 through 18, are subject to over 250,000 crimes a year.

SAM Training was developed to address this disheartening trend. SAM’s comprehensive curriculum addresses preparedness and prevention, empowering individuals with practical safety skills. These skills will allow an individual to deal with aggressive behavior, bullying, violence and an active shooter.

On March 17, 2011, SAM is holding a one-day Instructor course. The course is being held at University of Hartford and will be taught by Roland Ouellette (Director of Training, SAM) and Mike Kaselouskas (University of Hartford). The course will provide the necessary skills and training to allow an Instructor to go back to their community and provide training to all those that may confront aggressive behavior. For more information and details see below.

“He/she didn’t fit the profile.” Don’t let this be your excuse — let SAM (www.samprograms.com) teach you how to be proactive against this alarming trend.

Thank you.

Roland Ouellette
Director of Training
SAM Training, LLC
P.O. Box 970067
Coconut Creek, FL 33097
954-255-6300
www.samprograms.com

Over 80% of Americans will become victims of attempted or completed violent crimes (ie, murder, robbery, rape, and/or aggravated assault) during their lifetimes.

About half of this sampling will be victims two or more times (National Crime Prevention Council).

1 in 153 Americans will be murdered (Dr. Henry Lee).

According to the American Association of University Women, 20 to 25 percent of college women are raped during their college studies and 65 percent of these attacks go unreported. I doubt that is the case and if it is, it won’t be long before they are exposed.

2.7 million crimes are committed at or near schools annually.

These statistics tell us that schools should be offering, in addition to Calculus and Earth Science, “Violence 101.”

In training tens of thousands of individuals on how to manage violence in the past 40 years, I have heard countless comments like, “I can’t wait to train my children in what I learned here.”; “My daughter is going to college and I’m petrified she’ll be assaulted.”; or, “Why don’t the schools offer a program like this for students?”.

During one of my training sessions, I had a school principal tell me that we shouldn’t put fear into the minds of students. I asked him, “What would you do if I pulled out a gun, pointed it at your head, and said I’m going to kill you?”. He gave me a blank look — and that blank look told me he was ill prepared to deal with a common occurance happening today in our educational system. His response is no different than most responses I receive to that same question.

We will always have aggressive behavior and violence. There was an extraordinary correspondence between Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud. Albert Einstein’s letter to Sigmund Freud, “man has in him the need to hate and destroy.” Freud agreed and added: “Human instinct could be divided into 2 categories, those which seek to destroy and kill and those which seek to preserve and unite.”

Students see violence in movies, on TV, in video games and on-line. I can’t believe that training them on how to manage aggressive and violent confrontations would scare them but rather, I believe they would be grateful. Three hours of training on how to manage violent crimes for students in middle school, high school or college could significantly change our national crime statistics.

Whether schools or parents should be responsible to train young people on how to deal with real life violent situations, is up for discussion. SAM is a program that allows the community to learn the proper techniques when confronted with aggressive or violent behavior. Each community can decide how far down the waterfall they want the training to take place. I strongly believe education for all is better than shielding certain individuals because they haven’t been exposed to the aggressiveness and violence in the world.

When we think about minimizing or stopping school violence we often focus on the potential perpetrators, as opposed to identifying the potential victims.  A recent article in Time magazine addresses this very topic: the flip side of the coin.

Ron Huberman is an ex-cop with an MBA and is currently the head of the Chicago public-school system.  He has developed a school-safety program based on numbers and statistics allowing him to calculate the probability of each student’s risk of bodily harm.  This victimization research is based on several factors including: the use and amount of alcohol, how many nights the student is out and away from home, the student’s proximity to a crime spot.

Given the responses to these questions, Mr. Huberman is able to predict (with quite a bit of accuracy) the chances of a student falling into one of the high-risk “buckets.”   ”His victim-prediction model pinpointed more than 40% of the Chicago high school students who ended up getting shot during the past academic year. And he thinks providing mentoring and jobs for high-risk kids kept at least some of them from meeting the same fate.”

One of the potential downsides to a program like this is that the student ends up with a label.  Our current politically correct environment would dissuade a teacher or school system from labeling.  I thought this quote from Mr. Moy was an excellent reality check around labeling when the potential alternative is the loss of life.  ”None of our kids were remotely surprised to learn that they’re potential victims,” says Jonathan Moy, 32, a program manager for the Chicago schools’ safety initiative. “They already know they’re vulnerable. They’re just glad someone else noticed.”

This study was published on the front page of USA Today, October 26, 2010, reported by Sharon Jayson.

Half of U.S. high schoolers say they have bullied or teased someone at least once in the past year, and nearly half say they have been bullied in that time, one of the largest studies ever on bullying finds.

A study surveyed 43,321 teens ages 15 to 18 from 78 public and 22 private schools. It finds 50% say they had “bullied, teased or taunted someone at least once” and 47% had been “bullied, teased or taunted in a way that seriously upset me at least once.” The survey is by the Los Angeles based Josephson institute of Ethics, which has surveyed teens on conduct and behavior every two years since 1992. This is the first time it has reported on bullying. The survey is much larger than others on bullying, says president Michael Josephson. It also found that in the past 12 months:

52% of students have hit someone in anger.

28% (37% boys, 19% of girls) say it’s OK to hit or threaten a person who angers them. “There’s a tremendous amount of anger,” Josephson says.

Bullying is finally receiving the proper attention from authorities in and around our schools.  Part of the training program provided by SAM addresses bullying and the steps that can and should be taken to mitigate bullying in our schools.