The song you are listening to is
"Peace for You and Me"
written by Dee DiGioia
music and lead vocals Grant Bentley. 
Additional vocals by Dee DiGioia, Cassidy Moyer, Kendall Lach,
and Adriana Arellano. Recorded by David Frankel.
More info on Seeds of Peace page!


Caring & Courageous Kids: Program for Peaceful Intervention to Bullying was created by Dee DiGioia ("di JOY uh") for the purpose of increasing a climate of caring & kindness at Mammoth Elementary School while empowering students with the courage to help reduce the problem of bullying. When children learn that the power of standing up to bullying takes away the power of those who bully, they also learn that they have the power to break the cycle of bullying and can help make a big problem much smaller.  That takes caring and courage.

Caring and Courageous Kids is a potpourri of the best ideas gathered from others who are successfully promoting positive and proactive ways to guide children to coexist peacefully. Caring and Courageous Kids is beginning to have an impact on others around the world, thanks to connections made on my Facebook page:  www.facebook.com/CaringandCourageousKids . The FB page was created to connect with other like-minded people whether they are in my town or around the world to share, to learn from, and to support one another in our dream for a more peaceful and respectful world for our children. 

                    No child should ever feel like there is no one that can help.  No child should ever feel afraid to come to school.

As the Speech-Language Therapist at Mammoth Elementary School (Mammoth Lakes, CA), I became aware that some of my students were experiencing bullying at school. I knew that I needed to do something to help them. In order to protect “my” students, I realized I needed to work with the entire student body to “fix” the problem. In the first year of my program, I learned that most of the students in our school were affected by bullying, not just those with disabilities or special needs, and all of the children were craving to learn what to do about it (as learned on a school-wide survey I gave to 2nd to 5th grade students)! I also realized there was no effective support system in place, no effective program to teach the children, and no consistent, effective plan in place when bullying does occur. I found my life's calling!

                        The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.” (Maya Angelou)

MY COMMITMENT:

“I will listen carefully to all students who seek my help and act on their behalf to put an immediate stop to the bullying. I will work with other caring adults to create a safe learning environment for all the students in my school” or any other school. (Bully Free, It Starts With Me, National Education Association)

I am committed to helping children find a voice when they feel they have none. No child should ever feel like there is no one that can help them. I tell children that some adults don’t know how to help so they should keep asking until they find someone who will respond.

I am committed to all the "Jonah's"... (click here)

I am committed to helping our children develop the tools they need to empower themselves when bullying occurs, and to prevent them from becoming lifelong victims of bullying! (See “Strategies” below.)

Bullying is everyone’s responsibility.  When we stand up to bullying, when we transform aggression into compassion, then there will be peaceful times ahead.

My door is always “open” for students seeking support: the bullied, the bystanders, those who bully. I encourage students, parents, and educators to contact me anytime: questions, comments, or to report bullying! Stop by, email, or call me anytime!

 BULLYING:

Bullying, also referred to as peer-to-peer abuse, is hateful and hurtful and intentional. It is choosing to say something or do something to others for the purpose of putting them down. The ones being bullied feel fear, humiliation, despair, and/or a myriad of other emotions, sometimes on a daily basis. Sometimes these feelings or memories can last a life-time.  Stan Davis, author of “Schools Where Everyone Belongs” compares relational bullying to abuse or harassment. He writes, “…the aggressor oscillates between harassment and apology, between hurting and nurturing, and between enmity and an imitation of friendship.”  Davis goes on to say that young children in these types of relationships with their friends come to accept abuse as a normal part of friendship, and later in dating relationships, and into adulthood. It’s normal for children to experiment with how to treat one another, but when they are not given correction for unkind behavior it will only fan the fire. Bullying, unchecked, can be like an insidious disease which no school is immune from yet people are afraid to talk about it.

“Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Recent research is finding that children with disabilities and special needs are at higher risk for being bullied by their peers. This may include (but is not limited to) those with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, speech deficits (ex, stuttering, apraxia), hearing impairment/deaf, and medical conditions that affect one’s appearance (ex, cerebral palsy). But it doesn’t stop there—anyone with or without a disability may be targeted.

Bullying involves an imbalance of power – either physical or emotional. The more prevalent kind of bullying is the social-emotional-relational kind: Insults; threats; hateful words; rumors; gossip; exclusions; ostracizing others; criticizing race/religion/gender/sexual preference; arguing into submission; threaten, and on and on. It can lead to cyber-bullying (bullying through texting, emails, social networking).

Research shows that bullying occurs every seven minutes, yet 83% of school bullying receives no interventions. The latest research shows one in four children are bullied. Over half of adolescents have been cyber bullied (texting, emails, social media). Those who are not being bullied are often witnessing it--they are called bystanders. Our own children may part of the cycle -- as the one being bullied, the one who is bullying, or as bystanders (witnessing the bullying and either joining in so as not to lose “status” in the group, or remaining silent which allows the bullying to continue). The bullied often become the one who bullies when they don’t receive effective support.

"Bullying fosters a climate of fear and disrespect that can seriously impair the physical and psychological health of its victims and create conditions that negatively affect learning, thereby undermining the ability of students to achieve their full potential." (US Dept of Education, Office of Civil Rights) 

What targeted children need to learn is that it is not their fault--they aren’t bullied because of their disabilities, or because of their shape of their body, or any other reason. Children are targeted and bullied because someone made the choice to bully them!

Suicides are growing at an alarming rate because of being bullied (bullycides). Children at ages as young as 9 are ending their lives to escape the pain of bullying which they faced daily and because they feel that the adults in their lives are doing nothing about it or they have lost their belief that adults will do anything about it. “Children can’t see their budding lives through the long lens of wisdom… For them, the weight of ridicule and ostracism can feel crushing and without the possibility of reprieve. And, in that dark and lonely place, desperate and confused, they can make horrible decisions that can’t be undone.” ( “The Bleakness of the Bullied”, Charles M. Blow )


“I always say how bullied I am…   
What do I have to do so people will listen to me?” 
RIP Jamey Rodemeyer (bullycide age 15)  

"Dear Family I'm so so sorry for what I'm about to do.
I have been bullied a lot recently and had a lot of shit made up about me that ain't true". 
RIP Dom Crouch (bullycide age 15)  
                                                                                                

Strategies for Peaceful Intervention to Bullying:

On my journey to increase a climate of caring & kindness in our school and to reduce the problem of bullying, I pledge to use the following strategies for peaceful intervention to bullying, as well as to help teach others the same. These strategies are based on the practical, research-based strategies of Stan Davis to reduce bullying in schools.

•I will continue to encourage my school district to adopt a policy of consequences which are effective and consistent when bullying occurs. In Spring 2011, at my urging, our Safe Schools Planning Committee approved of the use of Stan Davis’ Discipline Rubric . (However,I do not believe this is being used yet in our school.)

•I will continue to help build positive connections in our school which encourages a climate of caring and kindness, including programs such as “After School Peace Project” (we put on Caring and Courageous Kids assemblies throughout the school year) and classroom storytelling time (I offer to read to classrooms and do follow-up activities, using the books from my C & C Kids library).

•I will continue to encourage the school district to adopt a policy of effective and positive guidance for those who bully: guiding them through the process of reflection (Think About-It Form), taking full responsibility for their actions; helping develop empathy; and giving them tools for future success in social situations. It is important to educate all school personnel on the importance of non-hostile disciplinary action: Angry or aggressive disciplinarians lead to bitterness or even counter-aggression by youth.  In Spring 2011, at my urging, our Safe Schools Planning Committee approved to hire a part-time counselor.

•I will continue to empower and support targets of bullying, while also educating others (parents, school personnel) on such tools: learning positive, peaceful actions to take when it occurs, preventing future events, and ensuring their emotional & physical safety.

•I will continue to empower bystanders, while also educating others (parents, school personnel) on such tools: developing empathy so they will support targets of bullying; teaching them to stand up to bullying by saying or doing something to help stop the bullying, even if it is to report to adults (Adults and children need to know that this is not tattling, this is reporting or asking for help, help in stopping bullying). 


        “It is important that people know what you stand for. It’s equally important that they know what you won’t stand for.” (Mary Waldrop)       

DONATIONS ACCEPTED!
Caring & Courageous Kids expenses are all out-of-pocket for Dee DiGioia except for your donations. Your help is welcomed.

· Donations help purchase storybooks, training DVD's, instructional materials and so much more, promoting vital, lifelong, interpersonal skills for increasing a climate of caring & kindness while eliminating intolerance and bullying in our school;

· The materials obtained will benefit students, educators, and parents at Mammoth Elementary School;

· Donations of $5 or more will receive a sticker "Commit Random Acts of Kindness" which can be put on your car bumper or your bulletin board or child's notebook cover!!!  

· Cash or checks payable to Mono County Office of Education (write "SFSH" in memo) or to Dee DiGioia at Mammoth Elementary School, PO Box 3209, Mammoth Lakes, CA 93546

· Or view my WISHLIST --it's an easy way to support the program! Order a book online.