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Is football worth the risk considering the potential of brain injury?

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Is artificial intelligence good for society?

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Writing Ninjas: How To Write A Strong Thesis Statement

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Writing the Counterargument and Rebuttal

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Using the correct verb mood can make your argument stonger!

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Learn to Write a Conclusion in Under Five Minutes!

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Step 1: Make sure you add a new page to the end of your essay.

Step 2: Go to Tools

Step 3: Click on Citations

Step 4: Keep MLA Format

Step 5: Click + sign Add a citation

Step 6: In drop down menu Source Type, choose website.

Step 7: Copy the URL from your article.

Step 8: Paste the URL into the box labeled "search with a URL".

Step 9: Click Search

Step 10: Scroll down and select Continue.**

Step 11: Click Add Citation

Step 12: Click the + add citation for your 2nd source

Step 13: Repeat Steps 6-12

Step 14: Click Insert Works Cited

Step 15: Be sure the Work Cited Page is it's OWN page, and not just under your conclusion.

(Add ALL sources BEFORE you click Insert Works Cited)

** If you are not given the option to continue,follow these next steps:

**Step 1: Select "Cite Manually"

**Step 2: Fill in all of the boxes that have a BLUE STAR next to them.

**Step 3: If your article does not have an author listed, then click the box that says Corporation/Organization and list the organization. (i.e. ProCon.org or Brittanica)

**Step 4: Fill in the name of the article

**Step 5: Fill in the website name. The website name and the organization name CAN be the same! (i.e. ProCon.org)

**Step 6: Paste the URL link into the box labeled "URL".

**Step 7: The Access date is TODAY's date.

**Step 8: Click Add citation source.

**Step 9: Once both sources have been cited, click Insert Works Cited.

**Step 10: Be sure the Work Cited Page is it's OWN page, and not just under your conclusion.

(Add ALL sources BEFORE you click Insert Works Cited)

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Participle phrases can help add sophisticastion to your writing!

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Should dress code be implemented in schools?

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Are schools doing enough about bullying?

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Bullying can exist in many forms: It can be physical (pushing, punching, or hitting), verbal (name-calling or threats), or psychological and emotional (spreading rumors or excluding someone from a conversation or activity).

And with the pervasive use of technology, bullying behavior can occur outside of school hours via emails, text messages, DMs, and even social media posts. These exchanges, known as cyberbullying, can be particularly hurtful and aggressive, and their harmful effects are often brought back into school the next day.

The first step to dealing with bullies is knowing how to recognize when your child is being bullied.

How to Recognize Bullying

"Typical bullying symptoms include physical complaints such as tummy aches, as well as worries and fears, and a child not wanting to go to school," says Steven Pastyrnak, Ph.D., the division chief of psychology at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "A normal defense is to avoid or withdraw from things that are making them stressed."

Of course, these symptoms are not exclusive to bullying, but they still warrant a deeper probe into what may be behind them. "You still need to find out what's going on," says Lauren Hyman Kaplan, a school counselor and a specialist in social-emotional education and bullying prevention.

It can be helpful to ask questions and get your kids talking about their social situation. For instance, find out which friends they're getting along with and which ones they're not. "Establishing good communication should start well before the kids are having bullying problems," says Dr. Pastyrnak. "Keep it very general for the younger kids, but if you suspect a problem or if your child has vocalized a problem, press for more details."

As kids get older, they have a significant awareness of peer relationships, so you can be more direct with your questions. When your kids talk, really listen to what they share and keep your own emotions in check.

"Often, parents will get angry or frustrated, but children don't need you to overreact. They need you to listen, reassure, and support them. They need to see you as stable and strong and able to help them in any situation," Kaplan says.

Once you've determined your child is being mistreated by their peers, here are the smartest ways to deal with bullies, according to experts.

How to Deal With Bullying

If your child is being bullied, it's important that you help them understand that bullying is never their fault. Bullying is always more about the person who is engaging in the behavior and not the person being targeted.

It's not up to a child to prevent their own bullying, but it can be helpful to have a plan in place for how to address it and potentially help stop it from escalating. Here are some suggestions to prepare a toolkit for kids to use in tough situations when it can be hard for them to think straight.

Create a list of responses

Practice phrases your child can use to tell someone to stop bullying behavior. These should be simple and direct but not antagonistic: "Leave me alone." "Back off." "That wasn't nice."

Your child could also try, "Yeah, whatever," and then walk away. "The key is that a comeback shouldn't be a put-down because that aggravates a bully," says Michele Borba, Ed.D., author of The Big Book of Parenting Solutions.

Role-play "what if" scenarios

Role-playing is a terrific way to build confidence and empower your child to deal with challenges. You can role-play the bully while your child practices different responses until they feel confident handling troublesome situations. As you role-play, teach your child to speak in a strong, firm voice.

Promote positive body language

By age 3, your child is ready to learn tricks that may help them feel more empowered in difficult situations, including when being faced with bullying behavior. "Tell your child to practice looking at the color of their friends' eyes and to do the same thing when they are talking to a child who's bothering them," says Dr. Borba. This will force them to hold their head up so they will appear more confident.

That's not to say that being confident will necessarily stop a bully or that not being confident enough will promote bullying, but confidence can help your child feel more empowered in a challenging situation. Also, practice making sad, brave, and happy faces and encouraging them to switch to "brave" if they are being bothered. "How you look when you encounter a bully is more important than what you say," says Dr. Borba.

Keep an open line of communication

Check in with your kids daily about how things are going at school. Use a calm, friendly tone and create a nurturing climate so they aren't afraid to tell you if something's wrong. Emphasize that their safety and well-being are important and that they should always talk to an adult about any problems, even problems that they think are "small" ones.

Build your child's confidence

The better your child feels about themselves, the less likely the bullying will affect their self-esteem. Encourage hobbies, extracurricular activities, and social situations that bring out the best in your child. Tell your child the unique qualities you love about them and reinforce positive behaviors that you'd like to see more.

"As parents, we have a tendency to focus on negative situations, but kids actually listen better when their good behaviors are reinforced," Dr. Pastyrnak says. Honoring kids' strengths and encouraging healthy connections with others can affect self-esteem, increase your kids' long-term confidence, and prevent any potential bullying situations.

Praise progress

When your child tells you how they defused a harasser, let them know that you're proud of them. If you witness another child standing up to a bully in the park, point it out to your child so they can copy that approach. Above all, emphasize the idea that your own parent may have told you when you were a kid: If your child shows that they can't be bothered, a bully will usually move on.

Teach Your Child the Right Way to React

Children must understand that bullies have a need for power and control over others and a desire to hurt people. They often lack self-control, empathy, and sensitivity. It can be helpful for children to use the following strategies when dealing with bullies:

Strategies to use when dealing with bullies

What Parents Can Do to Help Stop Bullying

Ultimately, it's up to parents to help young children deal with a bully. Help them learn how to make smart choices and take action when they feel hurt or see another child being bullied, and be ready to intervene if necessary. Here are a few actions you can take.

Report repeated, severe bullying

If your child is reluctant to report the bullying, go with them to talk to a teacher, guidance counselor, principal, or school administrator. Learn about the school's policy on bullying, document instances of bullying and keep records, and stay on top of the situation by following up with the school to see what actions are being taken.

When necessary, get help from others outside of school, like a family therapist or a police officer, and take advantage of community resources that can deal with and stop bullying.

Encourage your child to be an upstander

Being an upstander (and not a passive bystander) means a child takes positive action when they see a friend or another student being bullied. Ask your child how it feels to have someone stand up for them, and share how one person can make a difference.

"When it's the kids who speak up, it's 10 times more powerful than anything that we'll ever be able to do as an adult," says Walter Roberts, a professor of counselor education at Minnesota State University, Mankato and author of Working With Parents of Bullies and Victims.

Partner with your child's school

Communicate with your child's school and report bullying incidents. "You can't expect the school staff to know everything that's going on. Make them aware of any situations," Kaplan says. Though more schools are implementing bullying prevention programs, many still don't have enough support or resources.

"Parents and teachers need to be aware and get involved so that they can monitor it appropriately," Dr. Pastyrnak says. Learn how to start anti-bullying and anti-violence programs within the school curriculum.

Contact the offender's parents

Getting parents involved is the right approach only for persistent acts of intimidation and when you feel the parents will be receptive to working in a cooperative manner with you. Call or e-mail them in a non-confrontational way, making it clear that your goal is to resolve the matter together. You might say something like:

"I'm phoning because my daughter has come home from school feeling upset every day this week. She tells me that Suzy has called her names and excluded her from games at the playground. I don't know whether Suzy has mentioned any of this, but I'd like us to help them get along better. Do you have any suggestions?"

Teach coping skills

If your child is being bullied, remind them that it's not their fault, they are not alone, and you are there to help. It's important for kids to be able to identify their feelings and know that you want to hear about them so they can communicate what's going on. So practice and be a role model. Talk about your feelings and help them identify their feelings in everyday situations.

What parents shouldn't do-no matter the child's age-is assume that this is normal peer stuff that will work itself out. "It should never be accepted that a child is being picked on or teased," Kaplan advises. Helping your child deal with a bully will build confidence and prevent a difficult situation from escalating.

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A Parent's Guide for How to Deal With Bullies

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Bullying can exist in many forms: It can be physical (pushing, punching, or hitting), verbal (name-calling or threats), or psychological and emotional (spreading rumors or excluding someone from a conversation or activity). And with the pervasive use of technology, bullying behavior can occur outside of school hours via emails, text messages, DMs, and even social media posts.

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All 50 U.S. states require schools to have a bullying prevention policy.

But a policy, alone, is not enough. Despite the requirement, there's been a slight uptick in all forms of bullying during the last three years. Bullying can look like experienced basketball players systematically intimidating novice players off the court, kids repeatedly stigmatizing immigrant classmates for their cultural differences, or a middle-school girl suddenly being insulted and excluded by her group of friends.

Bullying occurs everywhere, even in the highest-performing schools, and it is hurtful to everyone involved, from the targets of bullying to the witnesses-and even to bullies themselves. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, so it's a good time to ask ourselves: What are the best practices for preventing bullying in schools? That's a question I explored with my colleague Marc Brackett from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, in a recent paper that reviewed dozens of studies of real-world bullying prevention efforts.

As we discovered, not all approaches to bullying prevention are equally effective. Most bullying prevention programs focus on raising awareness of the problem and administering consequences. But programs that rely on punishment and zero tolerance have not been shown to be effective in the U.S.; and they often disproportionately target students of color. Programs like peer mediation that place responsibility on the children to work out conflicts can increase bullying. (Adult victims of abuse are never asked to "work it out" with their tormentor, and children have an additional legal right to protections due to their developmental status.) Bystander intervention, even among adults, only works for some people-extroverts, empaths, and people with higher social status and moral engagement. Many approaches that educators adopt have not been evaluated through research; instead, educators tend to select programs based on what their colleagues use.

We found two research-tested approaches that show the most promise for reducing bullying (along with other forms of aggression and conflict). They are a positive school climate, and social and emotional learning.

Building a positive school climate

School climate can be difficult to define, though possible to measure. It is the "felt sense" of being in a school, which can arise from a greeting, the way a problem is resolved, or how people work together; it is a school's "heart and soul," its "quality and character." Schools with a positive climate foster healthy development, while a negative school climate is associated with higher rates of student bullying, aggression, victimization, and feeling unsafe.

The elements of a positive climate may vary, but may often include norms about feelings and relationships, power and how it is expressed, and media consumption. Social norm engineering is a conscious process that builds a positive culture among student peers and school adults that becomes self-reinforcing. Like a healthy immune system, a positive school climate promotes optimal health and reduces the chances of dysfunction or disease.

Leadership is key to a positive climate. Is bullying minimized as a "normal rite of childhood," or is it recognized as the harmful peer abuse that it is? Do leaders understand that uninterrupted, severe bullying can confer lifelong negative consequences on targets of bullies, bullies, and witnesses? Are school leaders committed to promoting all children's positive psychological health, or do they over-rely on punishing misbehavior? Can they discern between typical developmental processes that need guidance versus bullying that needs assertive intervention? Are educators empathic to their students, and do they value children's feelings?

Next, are teachers prepared to deal with bullying? Students consistently report that teachers miss most incidents of bullying and fail to help students when asked. A majority of teachers report that they feel unprepared to deal with classroom bullying. Some teachers bully students themselves, or show a lack of empathy toward children who are bullied. Teachers report that they receive little guidance in "classroom management," and sometimes default to the disciplinary strategies they learned in their own families growing up.

However, reforming school climate should involve all stakeholders-students and parents, as well as the administrators and teachers-so a school's specific issues can be addressed, and the flavor of local cultures retained. School climate assessments can be completed periodically to track the impact of improvements.

Advancing social and emotional learning

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is well known, and involves teaching skills of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsible decision making, and relationships management. (Full disclosure: Brackett and I are affiliated with the SEL program RULER.)

Evidence-based SEL approaches have been shown to deliver cost-effective, solid results. Numerous meta-analyses, research reviews, and individual studies of hundreds of thousands of K-12 students show that SEL improves emotional well-being, self-regulation, classroom relationships, and kind and helpful behavior among students. It reduces a range of problems like anxiety, emotional distress, and depression; reduces disruptive behaviors like conflicts, aggression, bullying, anger, and hostile attribution bias; and it improves academic achievement, creativity, and leadership.

A study of 36 first-grade teachers showed that when teachers were more emotionally supportive of students, children were less aggressive and had greater behavioral self-control, compared to the use of behavior management, which did not improve student self-control. One meta-analysis showed that developing emotional competence was protective against becoming a victim of bullying; social competence and academic performance were protective against becoming a bully; and positive peer interactions were protective against becoming a bully-victim (one who has been bullied and bullies others). A series of longitudinal studies showed positive effects into midlife (e.g., fewer divorces, less unemployment) and even cross-generational effects of early SEL. Compared to a matched control group, the children of the adults who participated in the Perry Preschool Project had less criminal involvement and higher educational and employment achievement. A cost-benefit analysis of six SEL programs found them to be good investments, with $11 saved for every $1 spent.

Teachers also benefit from SEL. Those with emotional and social skills training have higher job satisfaction and less burnout, show more positive emotions toward their students, manage their classrooms better, and use more strategies that cultivate creativity, choice, and autonomy in their students. Teachers report that they want more SEL support to cultivate their own emotional and social skills, and to better understand their students' feelings. But few teacher training programs focus on growing the teachers' emotion regulation skills.

Bullying at different age levels

SEL approaches should be developmentally wise, since what is salient and possible for children changes at different ages.

For example, preschoolers are expelled from school at the highest rates of all, but the neurological hardware for their self-control is only just developing. Only then are the connections between the emotion circuitry and the more thinking regions of the prefrontal cortex beginning to be myelinated (insulated for faster connectivity), something that will take until the mid 20s to complete. An SEL program like PATHS or RULER that teaches young children language for feelings, and strategies for thinking before acting, can develop better self-regulation.

Sometimes, adults confuse normal developmental processes with bullying. For example, children begin to reorganize their friendships midway through elementary school, something that can naturally create hurt feelings and interpersonal conflict. It should not be misconstrued as bullying, though, which involves intentional, repeated aggression within an imbalance of power. Normal development also includes experimenting with power, and these normal dynamics should be guided safely toward developing a healthy sense of agency, rather than a hurtful exertion of power over someone else.

Finally, the onset of puberty marks the beginning of heightened sensitivity to social relationships, an especially important time to cultivate skills for kinder, gentler relationships. Unfortunately, this is the period when bullying spikes the highest. And while some strategies work well for younger children (for example, advising them to "tell a trusted adult"), this option may fail with teens, and the breakpoint seems to be around the eighth grade. Older teens require approaches that are less didactic and leverage their need for autonomy, while affirming their values and search for meaning. Physiologically, the brain changes during puberty confer a second chance for recalibrating their stress regulation system. That opportunity should be constructively seized.

Approaches should also take into account individual differences between children. Even SEL programs can stumble here, over-relying on just one or two emotion regulation strategies, like breathing or mindfulness. But children vary in their temperaments, sensitivities, strengths, and vulnerabilities. The best SEL approaches guide students toward discovering strategies that work best for them-strategies that are emotion- and context-specific, personalized, and culturally responsive. This approach requires unconventional flexibility on the part of the educators.

And, finally, approaches work best if they are not standalone pedagogies or from kits that end up in the classroom closet at the end of the year. In order to be effective, skills should become fully embedded across the curricula and the entire day, in all settings, and implemented by all adults-in other words, infiltrating the ecosystem. Only approaches used and taught as intended are successful.

Schools can't do this alone

Families matter, too. Bullying in schools sometimes arises from harsh parenting practices or sibling bullying at home.

Even parents' workplaces matter. Adults experience bullying in their workplaces at about the same rate as children in schools, and it's even found among teachers and in senior living communities. In other words, bullying is not just a childhood problem; it is a pervasive human problem. And children are not buffered from the wider social world-bullying of children who belong to groups targeted in the national political discourse has spiked on playgrounds nationwide.

Ultimately, we need a substantial shift in our mindsets about the importance of children and their feelings. Children are more likely to thrive when we nurture their humanity, and offer them language and strategies and values to help them identify, express, and, thus, regulate their feelings. When parents, teachers, and administrators gain new awareness into the complex roots of bullying and adopt new strategies for addressing it, schools can lead the way. The kids are counting on us.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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What Are the Best Ways to Prevent Bullying in Schools?

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A new study identifies the most effective approaches to bullying prevention.

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The Truth About Bullying In Schools: Are They Doing Enough?

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In recent years, the issue of bullying has received a great deal of attention from the media, educators, parents, and lawmakers. As a result, schools have been under pressure to do more to prevent and address bullying. But what exactly should...

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by Becton Loveless

Bullying is an epidemic. It is rampant, widespread, pervasive and the effects can be catastrophic. It occurs in our communities, in our schools - and sadly - even in our homes. Bullying statistics are staggering, scary and merit serious consideration and immediate action. Consider the following:

Facts and Statistics

90% of students in grades 4-8 report having been harassed or bullied.

28% of students in grades 6-12 experience bullying.²

20% of students in grades 9-12 experience bullying. (stopbullying.gov)

In grades 6-12, 9% of students have experienced cyberbulling.²

Over 160,000 kids refuse to go to school each day for fear of being bullied. (Nation Education Association)

70.6% of students report having witnessed bullying in their school-and over 71% say bullying is a problem.

Over 10% of students who dropout of school do so due to being bullied repeatedly.

Each month 282,000 students are physically assaulted in some way in secondary schools throughout the United States-and the number is growing.

Statistics suggest that revenge [due to bullying] is the number one motivator for school shootings in the U.S.

86% of students surveyed said, "other kids picking on them, making fun of them or bullying them" is the number one reason that teenagers turn to lethal violence at school.

Nearly 75% of school shootings have been linked to harassment and bullying.

87% of students surveyed report that bullying is the primary motivator of school shootings.

64% of students who are bullied do not report it. (Petrosina, Guckenburg, Devoe and Hanson 2010)

² National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice Statistics

Types of Bullying

When most people think about bullying they envision some kind of physical intimidation. However, bullying can take on many forms which are just as emotionally and psychologically damaging as physical intimidation and harassment. There are four general forms of bullying. These include:

Physical - Physical bullying involves aggressive physical intimidation and is often characterized by repeated tripping, pushing, hitting, kicking, blocking, or touching in some other inappropriate way. Even though it's the most obvious form of bullying, it isn't the most prominent.

Physical bullying is damaging and can be emotionally and psychologically devastating. When a child fears for their safety, they're not able to focus on life and function normally. Notwithstanding the trauma that physical bullying causes, most children don't report it to a teacher or to their parents. Signs of physical bullying may include unexplained scratches, bruises, and cuts, or unexplainable headaches or stomach aches. However, the psychological effects of physical bullying may be even more pronounced than the physical scars. Children who are withdrawn, struggle to focus, or become anti-social may also be the recipients of physical bullying-even if there aren't any other outward signs.

If you think your child or student is being bullied physically, talk to them in a casual manner about what's going on before school, during class, during lunch or recess, and on the way home from school. Ask them if anyone has been, or is being, mean to them. Keep your emotions in check, and stay calm and caring in your tone, or your child may shut off and not tell you what's happening. If you find that physical bullying is occurring, contact the appropriate school officials, or law enforcement officers - there are anti-bullying laws at the local, state and federal levels. Do not confront the bully, or the bully's parents, on your own.

Verbal - Verbal bullying involves putting down others and bullying them using cruel, demeaning words. Verbal bullying includes name calling, making racist, sexist or homophobic remarks or jokes, insulting, slurs, sexually suggestive comments, or abusive language of any kinds. Verbal bullying is one of the most common forms of bullying.

So how do you know when a child is being verbally bullied? They may become moody, withdrawn, and/or have a change in their appetite. They may be straight forward and tell you that somebody said something that hurt their feelings, or ask you if something someone said about them is true.

Verbal bullying can be difficult to address. The best way to deal with verbal bullying is to build childrens' self confidence. Confident kids are less susceptible to verbal bullying than those who already struggle with poor self esteem and self image. Students should be taught in the classroom to treat everyone with respect and that there is never an excuse for saying something mean or disrespectful to someone else.

Social - Social bullying is a common form of bullying among children and students. It involves exclusion from groups, spreading malicious rumors and stories about others, and generally alienating people from social acceptance and interaction. Next to verbal bullying, social bullying is one of the most common forms of bullying.

Social bullying can be one of the hardest forms of bullying to identify and address - but it's just as damaging as other forms of bullying, and the effects can last a long time. Children being bullied socially may experience mood changes, become withdrawn, and start spending more time alone. Social bullying is more common among girls than boys.

The best way to identify social bullying is to stay close to your kids and maintain an open line of communication. Talk to them nightly about how their day went and how things are going in school. Focus on building their self esteem and get them involved in extracurricular activities outside of school such as team sports, music, art and other activities where they develop friendships and interact with others.

Cyberbullying - Cyberbullying is the least common type of bullying, but it can be just as damaging as other forms of bullying. It includes any type of bullying that occurs via the Internet or through electronic mediums. The most common types of cyberbullying include:

Text message bullying

Picture/video clip bullying via mobile phone cameras

Email message bullying

Bullying through instant messaging

Chat-room bullying

Bullying via websites

Children who are being cyberbullied typically spend more time online or texting. They often frequent social media sites such as facebook, twitter, etc. If a child or student seems upset, sad or anxious after being online, especially if they're visiting social media websites, it may be a sign they're being cyberbullied. Kids and students who are cyberbullied exhibit many of the same characteristics as kids being bullied physically, verbally or socially. They may become withdrawn, anxious, distant, or want to stay home from school.

Cyberbullying can occur 24/7, so the best way to combat cyberbullying is to monitor Internet usage and limit time spent on social media websites. Children need to know that if they encounter cyberbullying they shouldn't respond, engage, or forward it. Instead, they need to inform their parents or a teacher so the communication can be printed out and taken to the proper authorities. When cyberbullying includes threats of violence or sexually explicit content, law enforcement should be involved.

Where Does Bullying Occur?

The majority of bullying occurs at school, outside on school grounds during recess or after school, and on the school bus - or anywhere else students interact unsupervised. Bullying may also occur at home between siblings or in the community where kids congregate. Cyberbullying takes place online and via digital communication devices.

According to one statistically significant study, middle school age students experienced bullying on school grounds in the following locations:*

classroom (29.3%)

hallway or lockers (29%)

lunchroom/cafeteria (23.4%)

gymnasium (19.5%)

bathroom (12.2%)

recess playground (6.2%)

* Bradshaw, C.P. (2007). Bullying and peer victimization at school: Perceptual differences between students and school staff. 36(3), 361-382.

Anti-bullying Laws and Policies

Currently, there aren't any Federal anti-bullying laws. However, state and local lawmakers have taken steps to prevent bullying and protect the physical, emotional and psychological well being of children. To date, 49 states have passed anti-bullying legislation. When bullying moves into the category of harassment, it then becomes a violation of Federal law. Criminal code as it relates to bullying by minors varies from state to state. The map below shows the states that have established anti-bullying laws, anti-bullying policies, and both anti-bullying laws and policies.

What Can We Do To Make Schools Safer?

Dealing with feelings of school safety, and specifically addressing school bullying, requires a multi-pronged approach. One of the first steps in preventing bullying is teaching students about it and discussing what their rights are at the school. There are multiple ways to do this. The internet and library can be used by students to research bullying, what it looks like, how to prevent it, and how to respond. Of course, learning about bullying also requires for school staff to step up. It's important to have presentations on what bullying looks like and teach students about how it can hurt others. Schoolwide presentations and classroom discussions can both be used as a means of teaching students about just how bad bullying can get.

Teachers might also want to use alternative approaches to exploring bullying. For instance, in some cases, teachers can turn to creative writing to help students express how they feel when they get bullied. Poems, sketches, and stories can all be written that explore bullying and its effects. This creative exploration doesn't have to be limited to writing. Artistic works can also be created that explore the bullying phenomenon. What's important is that teachers give students the space to explore their feelings on the matter and guide discussions around the topic.

Of course, responding to bullying requires more than just exploring the feelings of students. Concrete actions need to be taken to prevent bullying before it starts and stopping bullying when it happens. To that end, staff training is an incredibly important part of stopping bullying. It's important for not only teachers but all members of a school's staff to be familiar with the policies regarding what to do when they see bullying. Teachers may often step in to address bullying in their classrooms, but other members of staff may be at a loss about what to do when they witness bullying happening. For this reason, it's important that administrators review school policies toward bullying with all members of the staff.

It's also important to be aware of the school climate and how students feel about going to the school. For this reason, it's important for administrators to occasionally perform a schoolwide assessment. These assessments can range in frequency and in what they cover so long as the assessment accurately gauges how the student body is feeling about bullying at that time. A simple survey may be able to pick up on feelings of fear that are circulating around the school. Administrators may even be able to pick up on hot spots around the school where bullying is happening if they ask students to provide information about parts of the school they feel unsafe at. In this way, administrators can at least learn about where to concentrate staff so that bullying goes down.

Stopping bullying goes beyond just what happens within the wall of a school though. It's also important for teachers and administrators to engage with parents and the surrounding community. It's important to reach out to parents to discuss what's happening at the school and what they can do to help. Sometimes, this may mean having conversations with the parents of students who have been bullied. In other cases, it may mean that administrators and teachers hold conferences with students who have bullied. Keeping an ongoing level of communication between the school and parents is one of the most effective means of addressing these problems early, rather than letting them get out of control. This can be particularly helpful when bullying is spotted, since it may mean the bully is having troubles at home that their parents can address.

Within the community itself, schools can partner with groups like mental health specialists and other neighborhood associations. These groups can provide services, from counseling to role models, that might help to curb bullying behavior or inspire students who have been bullied. Community members can be introduced into the school in such a way that students form powerful partnerships with these people. Bullies can learn from older individuals and see how their behavior will lead them down the wrong path. The bullied can be shown how to respond to bullying and take advantage of school resources so that they don't have to feel scared. Even simply introducing a local police officer into the school for a one day discussion may help to change how students feel about bullying.

When bullying does happen, it's important that schools not avoid addressing the issue. With all members of staff aware of the consequences of bullying, it's important for them to step in and intervene the minute that they see something dangerous happening. If two students look like they're arguing or about to get violent, steps need to be taken to separate the students immediately. Once the two students have been separated, staff need to make sure that everyone is safe. If anyone's become hurt, then they need to be treated immediately. At every step in a bullying incident, it's important to remain calm and document everything that happened.

What staff doesn't want to do is ignore the problem. Ignoring bullying leads to tragedy, with students sometimes going so far as to harm themselves if they feel nobody is helping them get beyond the bullying. A bullied child should be allowed to speak in private about what they saw so that they don't feel pressured by the bully. A bully and the bullied also shouldn't be forced to make up immediately after an incident has happened. This may actually make the bullied feel worse. Instead, they need to be allowed to have time apart while an investigation gets underway. In only a few rare occurrences should the police be brought in, but don't hesitate to get law enforcement if there's a threat of serious injury. If a weapon is involved, sexual abuse is occurring, or some sort of severe physical injury has happened, it's important to get professional help right away.

10 Steps to Combat and Prevent Bullying

Bullying is becoming an epidemic. So how do we stop it? There have been many suggestions over the years, yet bullying is still on the rise. Below are 10 basic, yet proven, steps you can take to combat and prevent bullying in your school, community, and even at home.

Step 1 - Be Aware and pay attention.
The first and more important step to combating and preventing bullying is being aware that it's a problem and paying attention to warning signs. Parents and teachers must know the warning signs and proactively look for them. The most common warning signs that bullying is occurring and may be a problem include unexplained physical injuries such as cuts, scrapes or bruises, a change in eating habits, anxiety and fear of attending school, avoidance of social situations, and becoming withdrawn, distant or isolated. However, many students who are being bullied try to hide the fact that it's occurring. For this reason, parents and teachers must engage students on a daily basis, encourage open conversation, and pay close attention.

Step 2 - Recognize it is a problem and don't ignore it.
Bullying is happening in every elementary school, middle school and high school in the United States - and it's getting worse. Bullying is extremely damaging to the emotional, physical and psychological well being of the person getting bullied and those who see it. It causes immediate and lasting effects. It is never harmless. Whenever a student feels the least bit threatened - even if it seems like harmless teasing - take it seriously, assure the student being bullied you're there for them, and that the incident will be taken care of.

Step 3 - Act immediately.
When you recognize someone is being bullied do something immediately. Don't ever take the attitude "kids will be kids" or "It isn't a big deal". Yes, kids will be kids but bullying, in any form, is a very big deal. Bullying can affect kids for a lifetime. If you're not sure bullying is occuring, intervene anyway and politely remind students of proper behavior, respect and edicate. If you're a teacher, always refer to the anti-bullying policy at your school.

Step 4 - Remain calm and stay in control.
Intervene, but don't get involved. Don't start arguing with the students. Be respectful and show them what proper behavior is through your example. If physical bullying occurred, make sure no one is hurt. Send bystanders on their way and take the students involved in the bullying to an appropriate place.

Step 5 - Don't try to sort things out on the spot.
Before you attempt to figure out what happened, separate everyone involved - including witnesses and bystanders - to a safe place where they can be spoken with on a one-on-one basis. Don't allow the students involved to speak with one another, and don't start asking bystanders what they saw at the scene of the incident. Removing all parties involved to a safe place, where they can be questioned alone, will ensure they can tell their side of the story without being concerned about what the other students think or say.

Step 6 - Don't try and resolve bullying on the spot.
For the sake of the student who was being bullied, and the bystanders, it's important that bullying be dealt with responsibly and according to a school's anti-bullying policy. Making the bully apologize right then and there, and having the person who was bullied shake hands with the bully and make up, just emboldens the bully and makes others feel unprotected from the torment repeatedly administered by the bully. Any bullying should be dealt with by the proper authority and consequences should be administered in accordance with the school's anti-bullying policy. Anything less will not prevent future occurrences and help students feel protected and secure.

Step 7 - Bystanders need to be held accountable.
Anyone encouraging bullying, or egging a bully on, needs to be held accountable. Students have a responsibility to stop bullying and/or report it immediately. Students need to be taught that any form of bullying is unacceptable and they should report any incident of bullying, teasing, or harassment to an adult or teacher right away.

Step 8 - Don't pass judgement in haste.
Make sure to hear all sides of a story before coming to any conclusion or passing judgement. It may be that the person who appears to be the bully may in fact be the bullied student retaliating against the bully. In some cases, the person crying for help may actually be the bully. Or an incident may simply be the result of an emotional, psychological or medical condition. Keep an open mind and don't make any assumptions. Wait for all stories to be told, and all facts to come out, before making a judgement.

Step 9 - Seek professional help if needed.
If an incident of bullying is beyond your comfort level or scope of expertise, don't hesitate to enlist the services of a professional or a colleague with more experience. Don't give advice if you're unsure what advice to give. It may be a good idea to refer students involved in bullying to the principal, nurse, school psychologist, counselor, social work, or even a law enforcement officer.

Step 10 - Get trained on how to handle situations that involve bullying.
If you're a teacher, counselor, advisor or anyone else who works in a professional capacity with students, you need to learn the correct methods for addressing bullying.

Conclusion

Quite obviously, bullying can be a massive problem. Although it has declined over time, it still affects so many students that it leaves a negative impact on our schools. Student grades start falling and students themselves stop attending school altogether. However, schools can address this by collecting data on what's happening inside of their halls. Partnerships can be formed with community members that inspire students to better behavior or inspire them to find help when they need it. By adopting multiple strategies to bullying, schools can position themselves so that they deal with bullying before it has resulted in anything tragic.

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Bullying Epidemic: Facts, Statistics and Prevention

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Explore bullying statistics, types of bullying, where it occurs and 10 steps you can take to prevent bullying at school, in the community, or at home.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng_PeRBFa4s

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MLA Tutorial #3: Works Cited Page Formatting

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This MLA tutorial discusses the overall format of the works cited page, including hanging indentation and alphabetizing.

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Everyone knows bullying is a huge problem, and we all need to work to stop it.

But how? The science is unclear. While school districts across the country spend millions of dollars each year to combat bullying, not all anti-bullying programs work equally - and some of the most common approaches, it turns out, don't work very well at all.

"Do we know definitively all the specific elements? Not quite," Susan P. Limber, Dan Olweus Professor of Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life at Clemson University, told TODAY. "We do have some strong data that there are programs and efforts that have demonstrated effectiveness."

In a TODAY.com survey of more than 1,400 parents, 85 percent say their child has been bullied, but only 45 percent say their child's school takes bullying seriously.

Several recent studies have shown that anti-bullying programs can reduce bullying activity by 19 to 20 percent and reduce victimization by 15 to 16 percent, Limber said. But it depends on the program.

"Some approaches are more effective than others," she explained.

Many schools simply tackle bullying by hosting an anti-bullying assembly. While that might be a good start, experts agree that an annual address does little.

"(Most schools) bring in a speaker and do an assembly," Dorothy Espelage, William C. Friday Distinguished Professor of Education at the University of North Carolina, told TODAY Parents. "That doesn't actually work at all."

A one-off program cannot address the complex causes of bullying.

"We can't teach math overnight," Catherine Bradshaw, senior associate dean for research and faculty development in the Curry School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia, told TODAY Parents. "It is not a skill you can learn in an hour. That is the whole issue with social emotional learning."

When schools only host an assembly it sends the message to students that bullying isn't important. That might mean students don't seek help when they are being bullied or see a classmate being bullied.

"It could inadvertently signal that we are checking off a box that we are doing something about bullying without showing an ongoing commitment," Limber explained. "Bullying is a complex phenomenon. There are many reasons why children bully, why kids may be targeted. An approach needs to be comprehensive and touch all the risk factors and really can't be seen as a short-term fix."

Another common tactic is to encourage the bully and victim to talk through the problem and vow to be nice to one other. While it sounds lovely, in theory, it normally backfires.

"It makes the bullying increase," Espelage said.

At least one in four or as many as one in three students has been bullied, according to Stopbullying.gov. Neither the U.S. Education or Health and Human Services departments track how much money the country spends on anti-bullying programs. But as every state requires schools to address bullying, it's a substantial part of local school budgets.

Over the past year, Clifton Middle School in Monrovia, California has tried a different approach to bullying. The school implemented the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, a research-based program that first started in Norway. Olweus encourages schools to have anti-bullying classes as part of the curriculum and provides a framework for addressing bullies and victims. There's no data on the program's success yet, but already, principal Jennifer Jackson has noticed a change.

"I have seen students going from being bullies to being very empathetic human beings because we pulled something out of them they never knew they had," she told TODAY Parents. "It is very powerful."

Clifton Middle School has 30 teachers for 685 students in sixth to eight grade. More than half of its students, receive free or reduced lunch, and the district has a lot of economic diversity. About 55 percent of the students are Hispanic, 15 percent white, and 8 percent black. The school is one of several in Los Angeles County to receive a grant to implement Olweus. The school was using a method called "positive behavior intervention support," which gave students clear expectations and rewarded positive action, but did little to address bullying.

"In the world of bullying, which has always existed, everything discipline-wise was getting lumped together. Olweus allows us to separate bullying incidences and discipline. You are not just addressing the bullying and the victim but also the bystanders," Jackson explained.

Jackson says Olweus focuses on understanding the root causes of bullying, while teaching social and emotional intelligence. One way the program does this is with mindfulness classes and school-wide classes focused directly on bullying and its effects. Staff guide students to stop, think and process before acting, reducing impulsive behaviors. The school even uses therapy dogs to help students struggling with complex and confusing emotions.

What's more, teachers engage students in conversations about bullying and behavior: Often students seem stunned when teachers ask what's wrong.

"There are kids that have actually said, 'Are you really asking me how I feel?'" Jackson said. "Kids become very vulnerable and open and they share and that allows us to go down a whole different path."
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Experts agree that certain things make anti-bullying programs more successful, although research hasn't conclusively identified every element that works. One key to success: setting goals that are properly communicated to the staff, students, parents and the community.

"You need schools to have very clear policies and procedures around bullying recognition and response," Espelage said.

A bullying prevention that's integrated throughout the curriculum also makes a difference. Heather Wellman, a seventh grade English language arts teacher, in Pueblo, Colorado, has used novels to explore social and emotional learning concepts around bullying. When her seventh grade students read "Animal Farm" they looked at whether Squealer was a good friend, which ties into the anti-bullying and mental health program Sources of Strength that her school uses. The school - which receives 100 percent free lunches and has 90 percent minority students and most of the district's homeless students - has grant money to fund its bullying prevention program.

Using fictional characters helps students better identify positive and negative characteristics that might lead to bullying or poor mental health, while better understanding the books.

Sources of Strength encourages students to leverage positive things in their lives, such as helpful adult mentors or healthy activities, to address bullying. For example, the program helps children identify those strong people in their lives so they know where to turn if they do face problems.

Wellman thinks the program's focus on peer mentors is a real asset. It encourages adults to tap 10 percent of its student body to be what she thinks of as "influencers." These student undergo a day of training with monthly refresher courses on anti-bullying concepts, and they are supposed to lead by example. Wellman recalls a group of peer leaders who noticed one girl accusing another of being "fake." They worried she'd be shunned because of it. The peer mentors approached Wellman about the situation, and she guided them to problem solve using concepts from their anti-bullying program. The girls invited the so-called fake student to join them for lunch.

"I didn't tell those girls to be nice," she explained. "They ran with it. It helped alleviate that tension."

Another tactic proven to reduce bullying: teaching social-emotional learning.

"What we would call social skills," Espelage said.

This helps students better learn how to grapple with their feelings in a positive way instead of taking it out on others.

"They know what to do when they are bullied and develop skills with social and emotional learning so they can regulate their own emotions," Bradshaw said.

Experts agree that any anti-bullying program is only as strong as a school's commitment to it. To get results, you have to put in the time.

"These efforts have to be woven in the fabric of their school," Limber said. "It needs to be part of who they are."
For more stories like this, see TODAY.com's special section on bullying here. Related video:

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A lot of anti-bullying programs in schools just don't work: What does?

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Everyone knows bullying is a huge problem, and we all need to work to stop it. But how? The science is unclear. While school districts across the country spend millions of dollars each year to combat bullying, not all anti-bullying programs work equally - and some of the most common approaches, it turns out, don't work very well at all.

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https://www.procon.org/headlines/dress-codes-top-3-pros-and-cons/

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While the most frequent debate about dress codes may be centered around K-12 schools, dress codes impact just about everyone's daily life. From the "no shirt, no shoes, no service" signs (which exploded in popularity in the 1960s and 70s in reaction to the rise of hippies) to COVID-19 pandemic mask mandates, employer restrictions on tattoos and hairstyles, and clothing regulations on airlines, dress codes are more prevalent than we might think.

While it's difficult to pinpoint the first dress code-humans started wearing clothes around 170,000 years ago-nearly every culture and country throughout history, formally or informally, have had strictures on what to wear and not to wear. These dress codes are common "cultural signifiers," reflecting social beliefs and cultural values, most often of the social class dominating the culture. Such codes have been prevalent in Islamic countries since the founding of the religion in the seventh century, and they continue to cause controversy today-are they appropriate regulations for maintaining piety, community, and public decency, or are they demeaning and oppressive, especially for Islamic women?

In the West, people were arrested and imprisoned as early as ​​1565 in England for violating dress codes. The man in question, a servant named Richard Walweyn, was arrested for wearing "a very monsterous and outraygeous great payre of hose" (or trunk hose) and was imprisoned until he could show he owned other hose "of a decent & lawfull facyon." Other dress codes of the time reserved expensive garments made of silk, fur, and velvet for nobility only, reinforcing how dress codes have been implemented for purposes of social distinction. Informal dress codes-such as high-fashion clothes with logos and the unofficial " Midtown Uniform" worn by men working in finance-underscore how often dress codes have been used to mark and maintain visual distinctions between classes and occupations. Other dress codes have been enacted overtly to police morality, as with the bans on bobbed hair and flapper dresses of the 1920s. Still other dress codes are intended to spur an atmosphere of inclusiveness and professionalism or specifically to maintain safety in the workplace.

Should Dress Codes Be Implemented and Enforced?

Pro 1

Dress codes enforce decorum and a serious, professional atmosphere conducive to success.

High school athletes at St. Louis Park High School in Minnesota agreed that their teams' dress code days (which include dressing up on game days) positively contributed to team unity. Brendan Donahue, a hockey player, said participating in dress code days better prepared him for games. He stated, "The dress codes add a further feeling of connection, teamwork and bond by wearing the same thing. It acts as a uniform much like our jerseys. Our dress code of dressing up adds a feeling of professionalism to our team and sport."
Read More

Pro 2

Uniformly mandated dress codes promote safety.

From school chemistry labs to manufacturing jobs, some dress code requirements are obviously about safety. Many places require protective glasses, steel-toed boots, fire-resistant jackets, hard hats, or reflective vests, for example.

Other items of clothing may be restricted for less obvious safety reasons. Leggings, for example, are frequently made from synthetic, flammable materials that could react with spilled chemicals and catch fire. Similarly, skin-baring clothing may also be banned around chemicals to prevent burns.

Religious headscarves have been banned in some settings, such as prisons, because wearers could be strangled by the garments in an altercation.

Still other dress codes, such as no full-face masks (like Halloween masks) allowed in movie theaters, are intended to help prevent shootings and other violence.

Other clothing restrictions at schools and public places may seem arbitrary but are used to protect against gang activity. Colors, brands, and logos may be gang-affiliated in certain locations. As Lincoln Public Schools in Nebraska explained, "Clothing and accessories associated with gangs and hate groups have the potential to disrupt the learning environment by bringing symbols that represent fear and intimidation of others into classrooms. The identification and prohibition of this clothing help decrease the impact of gangs and hate groups in school. These rules also protect students who are unaware they are wearing clothes with a gang or hate group affiliation."
Read More

Pro 3

Dress codes promote inclusiveness and a comfortable, cooperative environment while eliminating individualistic attire that can distract from common goals.

As Bonneville Academy, a STEM school in Stansbury Park, Utah, explained, "The primary objective of a school dress code is to build constant equality among all the students. When all the students wear the same style of dress, then there will be the same kind of atmosphere across the school campus. This pattern encourages the student to concentrate more on their academic and co-curricular activities... then all the learning becomes more interesting and relevant... Students who are used to dress[ing] properly will be well equipped to evolve into the actual world, especially when they enter into the ever-competitive job market."

Susan M. Heathfield, a management and organization development consultant, stated, "Employees appreciate guidance about appropriate business attire for your workplace-especially when you specify a rationale for the dress code that your team has selected." Simply knowing whether suits are required or jeans are appropriate removes guesswork for employees, which leads to a more comfortable work environment. Similarly, dress codes can make a disparate group of people feel like a team-no one is left out or judged differently solely on the basis of the way they dress.

Dress codes can also make workplace hierarchies friendlier and more work-conducive. A manager who dresses in suits with ties may intimidate employees who wear branded polo shirts and khakis, preventing effective communication.

Further, dress codes mean employees and customers or clients won't be distracted by individualistic clothing. For example, a customer of Nebraska State Bank & Trust Co. complained to the bank's president about a branch employee's outfit of mismatched tunic and leggings, fringed boots, and large earrings. A customer complaint can not only alienate the customer but also distract employees from their tasks and potentially embarrass or shame the employee whose outfit sparked the complaint.
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Con 1

Dress codes reinforce racist standards of beauty and dress.

As the National Women's Law Center summarized, "Black girls face unique dress and hair code burdens. For example, some schools ban styles associated with Black girls and women, like hair wraps. Black girls also face adults' stereotyped perceptions that they are more sexually provocative because of their race, and thus more deserving of punishment for a low-cut shirt or short skirt."

Assistant Superintendent and Principal of Evanston Township High School, Marcus Campbell spoke about changing an outdated dress code: "if certain females were not a certain body type, if they had more curves or they had certain features that were developed, they were dress coded over another young lady who may not have the same features but were wearing the exact same items. Our young women of color were dress coded more than our white girls were. So we found it to be racist, we found it to be sexist, we found it to be antiquated. It was not body positive, and there was just trouble all around with our dress code, and we knew we needed to make a change."

Black male students are often "dress coded" at schools for hoodies, low-rise or baggy pants, and do-rags. Black boys were also more likely to be disciplined (suspended, for example) for a dress code violation than non-Black students.

As Dialectic, a company that counsels workplaces, concluded, "Traditional dress codes work to police certain kinds of bodies. They ensure that employees follow the practices of the dominant culture. Under the guise of professionalism, dress codes tend to punish marginalized groups of employees for refusing to conform."
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Con 2

Uniformly mandated dress codes are seldom uniformly mandated, often discriminating against women and marginalized groups.

Girls in school are frequently "dress-coded" for "too short" shorts and skirts, "too thin" tank top straps, leggings, and other clothing that might be a "distraction to boys."

Fourth-grade teacher ​​Marci Kutzer said these rules send a clear message to girls: "A boy's education can be compromised by your gender. Please do what you can to neutralize it."

The problems follow women into the workplace. A leaked training presentation from Ernst & Young coached women to "look healthy and fit" with a "good haircut, manicured nails, well-cut attire that complements your body type," but not to wear too-short skirts because "sexuality scrambles the mind."
Read More

Con 3

Dress codes bolster religious and cultural intolerance.

Only in 2019 did US Congress change the 1837 rule that banned headwear of any sort, including religious headwear such as kippahs, hijabs, and turbans.

While the United States protects religious expression and cannot ban religious wear as France has banned burqas and hijabs, American dress codes frequently use acceptability standards to less explicitly ban religious garb.
Read More
Discussion Questions
1. Consider the official dress codes in your daily life. How are dress codes implemented in your school, workplace, and/or religious institutions? Do you find these appropriate? Restrictive? Explain your answer(s).

2. Consider the unofficial dress codes in your life. What do your friends think is acceptable for various occasions? What do you wear when visiting a place of worship or to grandma's house for a special dinner? How do you dress differently when hanging around with friends than when going on a date? Do you find these formal and informal codes appropriate or restrictive? Explain your answer(s).

3. If you have to choose one, would you prefer a uniform policy for school and work, just a dress code, or neither? Explain your answer.
Take Action
1. Consider the pros of dress codes with Bonneville Academy.

2. Analyze students' rights about school dress codes with the ACLU.

3. Examine the history of rules and laws about clothing and the contemporary repercussions with law professor Richard Thompson Ford.

4. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? If so, how? List two to three ways. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the "other side of the issue" now helps you better argue your position.

5. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives.
Sources

23.

Lincoln Public Schools, "Increased Awareness of Dress Code Guidelines Related to Gangs, Hate Groups," lps.org (accessed Mar. 1, 2022)

More Social Debate Topics
1. Should Students Have to Wear School Uniforms? - Proponents say uniforms may increase student safety. Opponents say uniforms restrict expression.

2. Is Cancel Culture (or "Callout Culture") Good for Society? - Proponents say cancel culture allows people to seek accountability. Opponents say it amounts to online bullying.

3. Are Social Media Sites Good for Our Society?- Proponents say social media spreads information faster than any other media. Opponents say it enables the spread of unreliable information.

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Dress Codes - Top 3 Pros and Cons | ProCon.org

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Some argue that dress codes are important to promote success, safety, and inclusivity. While others argue that dress codes are racist, sexist, and culturally intolerant.

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Do Uniforms Make Schools Better

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https://www.edweek.org/leadership/do-school-dress-codes-discriminate-against-girls/2018/08

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School dress-code controversies have been trending on the web in recent months, fanning a controversy over whether schools are enforcing the rules in ways that discriminate against girls.

In one of the latest episodes, a viral video initially meant to instruct students on the dress-code policy at Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas, drew intense criticism last month for depicting only girls as rule violators. In St. Louis, Oakville High School's principal is captured on video apologizing to parents after telling female students they should not show off their bodies for fear of "distracting" male classmates. And a Roman Catholic school in New Orleans came into the internet spotlight when a 6th grader was forced to leave the classroom, in tears, for having braided hair extensions, which were against the school's hair policy.

Schools with strict dress codes often claim that such regulations prevent in-class distractions, create a workplace-like environment, reduce pressures based on socioeconomic status, and deter gang activity. However, in an age of #MeToo and easy internet access, controversy is increasingly cropping up over whether excluding students from the classroom for violating dress codes is worthwhile, and whether such rules are disproportionately enforced against girls, and especially those of color.

The website Change.org now says it's hosting more than 400 open petitions against individual school dress codes. The majority have been created by students, and many of the petitions' titles assert that their schools' dress codes are sexist or unfairly enforced.

"These rules aren't neutral: many target girls, and especially black girls, by regulating skirt length and headwraps," a report on school dress codes in the District of Columbia that was compiled by the National Women's Law Center states. "And the rules aren't applied equally, either. Students report that black girls, and especially curvier students, are disproportionately targeted."

Lost learning time

Nationwide, 53 percent of public schools enforced a strict dress code during the 2015-16 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. But, data on who's being punished for dress-code violations and how the penalties are being meted out are harder to come by. The study by the NWLC takes a rare quantifiable look at the issue.

Released in April, it examines the experiences of 21 black girls who attend or attended 12 District of Columbia schools, including charter schools, and analyzes districtwide student-discipline data.

In the one-on-one interviews, all of the girls reported experiencing or witnessing dress-code enforcement in their schools. Common punishments for those violations included missing class time or facing suspension, as a result of hair, makeup, or clothing styles that were deemed inappropriate. Since the report's release, two of the schools have made changes to their dress policies.

"[Dress codes] sit at that intersection where they impact girls differently; they impact black girls differently," said Nia Evans, the NWLC's manager of campaign and digital strategies and education. "And when you add discipline to it, it's really a disaster."

The concern is that students who may already be struggling academically fall farther behind in class when they miss too much time serving suspensions, changing clothes, or waiting while administrators measure their skirt lengths. Nationwide, African-American girls are 5.5 times more likely than their white counterparts to be suspended from school, but it's not clear what proportion of those punishments stem from dress-code issues.

Adrienne Dixson, a professor of education policy, organization, and leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, believes dress codes can prevent self-expression among students. Additionally, girls of color, who are more likely to wear styles such as braids, hair extensions, and Afros, are more likely to be disciplined, as the Louisiana 6th grader was.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, dress codes are legal as long as they do not "treat boys and girls differently, force students to conform to sex stereotypes, or censor particular viewpoints." (This includes protection for transgender, non-binary gender, or any other students who may choose to dress in nontraditional ways.)

In some cases, the protests from students and parents are making an impact.

Victoria Schantz was a senior last year when the Women's Empowerment Club at Indian Trail High School in Kenosha, Wisc., decided to take on the district's dress code.

Schantz, who posted about the protest on the ACLU's website, readily joined in, remembering feeling objectified by her teachers after having been pulled out of class for her clothing, given temporary clothes, and sent home to change on multiple occasions. One day, after being sent home twice-once for wearing a shirt deemed inappropriate and a second time for wearing leggings and a baggy shirt-the school called her mother to tell her that Schantz would have to spend the rest of the day completing her classwork alone in the office.

After reviewing 3,000 petition signatures and discussing the issue at six board meetings and two working sessions, the board agreed with Schantz's club and created a more lenient dress code, which will be implemented this year. Changes include allowing students to wear yoga pants and leggings.

Schools' responses

Like the Kenosha district, many of the schools that have found themselves in the internet spotlight so far this year have issued apologies or scaled back their dress-code policies.

Marcus High School's principal admitted that the video, which was an alternative for the annual fashion show that informs students of appropriate attire, "absolutely missed the mark" by featuring only girls. Oakville High School's principal apologized to parents at an open house for her comments about girls distracting boys, promising that she will issue a similar apology to students during the school day; however, an official public statement had not been released as of press time.

Following a lawsuit brought against Christ the King Parish School by the Louisiana 6th grader's family, the policy prohibiting hair extensions has been rescinded.

While some schools have responded to dress-code controversies with a more lenient dress code or by switching to uniforms, others, such as Alameda High School in California and Evanston Township High School in Illinois, decided instead to reform their codes completely.

The new dress code in Evanston begins by stating that it "supports equitable educational access" and "does not reinforce stereotypes." The code outlines that students cannot wear clothes that depict hate speech, illegal items, or profanity; clothes that reveal undergarments (aside from visible straps or waistbands); and accessories that could be considered dangerous.

Essentially, students must wear a shirt, pants, dress, or skirt, and shoes, all of which do not pose a threat to another student or staff member. Everything else is fair game.

"We wanted students to know that your body is your body, and we want you to feel proud and comfortable in your own skin," said Superintendent Eric Witherspoon, who helped reform the dress code.

The new dress code was implemented this past school year and, according to Witherspoon, the school has not received any negative feedback.

"The school did not fall apart, education kept going on, and students did not become more disrespectful," Witherspoon said. "We have students of all different races, body shapes, gender expressions, and backgrounds, and the great thing is that they now are able to express themselves."

Social media posts raise equity questions about dress codes

A flurry of social media posts raise equity questions about schools' enforcement of dress codes:

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Do School Dress Codes Discriminate Against Girls?

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A spate of viral videos is sparking questions about whether school dress code policies unfairly single out girls.

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https://engineering.wustl.edu/news/2020/What-a-lifetime-of-playing-football-can-do-to-the-human-brain.html

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https://healthnews.com/news/concussions-are-high-school-sports-worth-the-risk/

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https://www.everydayhealth.com/concussion/football-concussions-occur-mostly-in-practice-not-games/

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Football players are far more likely to suffer a concussion or a head injury during practices and preseason training rather than in games, according to a new study that tracked five years of practices and games at six Division 1 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football programs.

The study, published online in JAMA Neurology in February 2021, found that over five seasons, 72 percent of concussions and 67 percent of head impact exposure occurred in practice, not game play. Furthermore, nearly half of the concussions and two-thirds of the high-impact hits to the head that the researchers recorded took place during preseason training, which accounts for only one-fifth of the season.

"It's actually shocking that this is allowed to occur," says Christopher Nowinski, PhD, CEO and cofounder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation in Boston, who was not involved in the study but coauthored a February 2020 editorial in JAMA Neurology that accompanied the study. "We've known for more than a decade that most hits to the head happened during practice, and that doesn't need to happen ever. This study shows there's a tremendous need to reduce hits to the head through education and new rules."

Dr. Nowinski noted in his editorial that professional football drastically reduced the number of concussions their players suffer by limiting contact in practice. Now that the National Football League (NFL) Players Association allows only 14 full-contact practices during its 17-week season, only 18 percent of NFL concussions have occurred in practice.

As for high-school football, nearly 40 states have rules that ban or limit full-contact practices.

"College football has gotten a pass because all the power resides with the coaches," says Nowinski. "And the coaches won't change the practices cause they think it will put them at a competitive disadvantage, even if that means sacrificing the brain of a young person."

Nowinski pointed out that some coaches are paving the path forward, noting that in 2016, the coaches in the Ivy League voted to eliminate full-contact practices.

For the current study, a team of neurosurgery professors at the Medical College of Wisconsin, along with colleagues from the Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium, tracked the data from sensors placed in the helmets of 658 players at six different schools from 2015 to 2019.

The sensors detected more than 500,000 hits to the head, for a median number of 415 head hits for each player for every season, with preseason head hits happening twice as often as regular season ones. During the study, 68 players who wore sensors had diagnosed concussions.

"This is likely a severe undercount," says Nowinski, highlighting that the sensors only went to the starters so the head hits from a team's reserves were not recorded at all. And, since the reserves usually play in practice but not in the games, they would likely add to the portion of practice-related head injuries if they were counted. "
RELATED: Facts About Post-Concussion Syndrome
Football Practice Reform Needs to Come From the Coaches

Nowinski complimented the researchers for delivering a sobering message to the NCAA, which funded the study along with the U.S. Department of Defense. The researchers wrote in their study that the NCAA's interventions have had a minimal effect in reducing the incidence of preseason concussions.

"It's important to draw attention to the issue and to open up a discussion about what college football can do," he says. "Unfortunately though, the power is in the hands of the coaches, who are not yet motivated to change their ways."

The researchers acknowledged Nowinki's point in the study. "Football practice reform to reduce exposure and risk of concussion will undoubtedly require engagement from coaches, who ultimately design and implement drill-specific practice activities," they wrote. "Our data supports the development of robust educational offerings that should be customized to specific audiences, including coaches, athletic administrators, and players."

Nowinski pointed out that the very act of observing practices for head hits should have reduced the number of injuries occurring, and yet the study recorded more than half a million head hits when the coaches knew that a team of researchers was watching and recording every moment of impact.

"These are coaches who know they're being monitored and recorded," says Nowinski. "So, just imagine what's happening at a program where kids are on scholarship to play football and there's no oversight.

"That's largely why we're focused on practice," he adds. "It is entirely within the control of the coach. You're literally hitting your own teammates, but you can learn how to play and learn the necessary skills without helmet-to-helmet contact or lowering your head to hit someone."

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Football Concussions Occur Mostly in Practice, Not Games

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Football players are far more likely to suffer a concussion or a head injury during practices and preseason training rather than in games, according to a new study that tracked five years of practices and games at six Division 1 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football programs. The study, published online in JAMA Neurology in February 2021, found that over five seasons, 72 percent of concussions and 67 percent of head impact exposure occurred in practice, not game play.

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https://globalsportmatters.com/health/2022/03/09/how-ncaa-college-football-limit-concussions-cte/

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Add more pizzazz to your writing with punctuation!

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Argumentative Writing Unit - Lesson 5: Body Paragraphs

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