The ride to Roessleville Elementary School will be a little more peaceful now, thanks to a new program launched by a teacher that prevents bullying on the bus.
The Peaceful Bus Program originated in Guilderland, according to Marybeth Tedisco, a second-grade teacher and bully prevention coordinator at Roessleville. Tedisco said she thought it would be a good idea to bring the program to the South Colonie Central School District after several schools districtwide began implementing the Olweus Bully Prevention Program, a comprehensive anti-bullying program that uses team-building activities to encourage students to not bully others.
Tedisco said bullying on the bus is just as prevalent as bullying inside the school.
Students run into bullying issues, such as teasing, name-calling, leaving each other out of seats, and just not feeling comfortable on the bus, she said. `The goal of the program is to develop a safe and peaceful environment.`
Tedisco said the goals of the program are to cut down on inappropriate behaviors on the bus, and change the dynamics of the relationship on the bus between students and bus drivers.
`The hope is that if they feel connected and get to know each other more that problems will decrease,` she said.
This and the Olweus program are accomplished through a series of team-building activities that allow students to see the harm in bullying, specifically on the bus.
The school held its first Peaceful Bus Program activity day Wednesday, Nov. 5, in the gymnasium. During the workshop, students gathered in groups that corresponded with their bus routes and met at designated locations around the school.
They participated in ice-breaker activities within their groups, and then broke up into pairs for one-on-one ice-breaker activities. The kids eventually came together again, this time with a facilitator, to talk about what a peaceful bus would look and sound like.
`We talked about ways ` if your bus isn’t already a peaceful bus ` to make your bus a peaceful bus, and just different problem-solving activities,` said Tedisco.
In addition to being able to interact with other students, Tedisco said, an important element of the program for the students was being able to see the bus drivers interact with the teachers.
`The kids were really excited to see their bus drivers there,` she said. `It helps build the respect, too, for the bus drivers.`
Tedisco said one unique thing about the Peaceful Bus Program versus other anti-bullying programs is that it gives students the opportunity to step away from the element in which the bullying is occurring and really get a chance to examine what is going on.
`It brings them into a school, making the bus an extension of the school, and we got to work together to help make the bus the best place for the kids.`
According to Board of Education Vice President Brian Casey, implementing the Peaceful Bus Program, along with the Olweus program and other initiatives used by the district to prevent bullying, means the district has a better shot at bully prevention.
`If you take whatever your problem or concern is and you put that in the middle of a bull’s-eye and you shoot enough arrows at the bull’s-eye, sooner or later you’re going to hit it,` Casey said. `And if you shoot it enough times, your problem is going to diminish.`
Casey said the entire school board supports anything that would make the student’s ride a safer and more peaceful one.
The school is planning to have two or three more workshops this year for the Peaceful Bus Program, according to Tedisco. The next will most likely occur in January or February, she said.
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