The Keys to Success Help Keep Pierce a Safe Community

From the Vice Principal

Beginning in late November 2005, Ms. Manasevit, Ms Van Hatten and I began a series of discussions with grade 2-6 classrooms about two related subjects, bullying and the Keys to Success program. These outreach discussions began with a snapshot of what’s happening at Pierce. According to student responses to a survey last spring, bullying is not a major problem at Pierce School. Even though bullying is not a major problem at Pierce, when it does happen it must be addressed immediately because a member of our community is not safe, and because bullying becomes a bigger problem when it is not addressed and bullying behavior is repeated.

We then talked about Keys to Success and what has to happen when bullying does occur at Pierce. One of our Keys to Success is “Being Safe. That means that if a student is bullied he or she must tell an adult. A guidance counselor and a teacher must support the student who is bullied and teach the student who has been a bully other ways to behave. Students talked about the fact that sometimes it’s hard to tell an adult, and sometimes someone who is bullying may say that they are “just kidding.” In the end students and adults agreed that if students don’t tell, the student who is bullying has too much power. We also agreed that students almost always know the difference between “kidding” and bullying.

Another Key to Success is “Being Responsible.” That means if a student sees another student being bullied, that student should let an adult know. Students talked about the difficulties of telling an adult about another student’s behavior. Students who bully will often tell other students not to tell. The adults and students then discussed strategies for letting an adult know, such as approaching an adult as a group.

The discussion then turned from last year’s survey and the Keys to Success program to important questions about this year, how are we doing with bullying at Pierce so far? How can we do better? Students at every grade level made it clear that they feel that bullying is still not a major problem here at Pierce. We talked about the many social dynamics of the playground, and the adults stressed the importance of communicating with us quickly when conflicts do happen.

Since these outreach discussions, many students in grades 2-6 have come to us about various small conflicts to seek our help in addressing these issues before they become big problems. In each case we have been able to respond quickly. Our students are clearly empowered to advocate for themselves and their classmates, just as they and the rest of us are committed to doing our part to keep Pierce a safe, open community.

Joshua Frank
Pierce Vice Principal