Community groups work to spread anti-bully messages beyond school
Carol Stream Elementary District 93 has teamed with local educational and community organizations to form the Expect Respect Community Coalition, which works together on anti-bullying efforts throughout the community.
The Carol Stream Public Library, Carol Stream Police Department, Carol Stream Park District, St. Isidore School, Glenbard North High School, YWCA, and District 93 comprise the coalition's active members, which have met several times throughout the past year.
The coalition's mission is to effectively encourage positive and respectful behavior through actively sharing, teaching and supporting a common message of respect and promoting a healthy, safe and engaged community for all.
The coalition's goal is for students to encounter the same message of respect and strategies for dealing with disrespect throughout the community, no matter the location.
"The whole purpose of the Expect Respect Community Coalition is that we can all work together to bring these messages and strategies to a deeper level within our own organizations, as well as across the community," said Sharon Frys, District 93's assistant superintendent of student services and continuous improvement.
"It's unlikely that we'll ever be able to stop bullying behavior entirely, but we can certainly curb it by consistently teaching these common messages and strategies to our students, whether at school, the park district, the library or anywhere else."
Among the strategies being taught to students are what to do when they encounter a disrespectful act by another person (SWAT: ask the person to Stop, then Walk Away, and Talk to an adult immediately if the problem continues); how to respond if they are the one being asked to stop a disrespectful behavior (SBL: Stop the behavior, Breathe and count to three, and Leave the area); and even what to do if they witness disrespectful acts as a bystander.
The coalition's name, Expect Respect, comes from the anti-bullying campaign of the same name initiated by District 93's school board after a districtwide Bullying Task Force began convening in 2010.
Expect Respect strategies are drawn from and aligned with Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support strategies, which are used throughout District 93 to establish positive student behavior.
As the coalition moves forward, its broader vision includes providing support for other organizations, continuing to establish a network of communications, educating members of coalition organizations, sharing resources and ideas, providing community outreach and eventually creating a student coalition.
To help spread the word of Expect Respect, more than 40 District 93 students, staff members and school board members marched in the Carol Stream Fourth of July Parade handing out Expect Respect fliers and wristbands to paradegoers.
The coalition meets monthly during the workday. New members are welcome. Interested individuals/groups should contact Frys at (630) 539-3145 or sfrys@ccsd93.com.
More information about Expect Respect in District 93 is available on the district's website, www.ccsd93.com/pages/CCSD93. For information about PBIS, visit pbis.org/school.