Community Schools: Anti-Bullying in the East Bay and Peninsula

by Christabel Breen, Manager of Parent Leadership & Organizing, Bay Area

In honor of National Bullying Prevention Awareness Month in October, our three schools in the East Bay & Peninsula region each found their own way to ensure families and students understand the different forms bullying can take, effective socio-emotional tools students can use to express themselves, and how to use empathy and courage to be everyday heroes in their school communities.

At Rocketship Delta Prep in Antioch, the Parent Organizing Committee partnered with Antioch Police Department, who sent a local officer to campus to run an assembly for 4th and 5th graders on the different forms and causes of bullying and how to de-escalate a bully. The event was live streamed to Delta families on Facebook so they could join in virtually.

At Rocketship Futuro Academy in Concord, the CareCorps Coordinator partnered with a local organization called Teen Esteem to bring an assembly to their campus for 4th and 5th graders. The workshop emphasized the importance of respect for self and others and each class made a kindness chain to connect their whole school community in a united effort to stand up against bullying. Students presented the chain at their launch the next day to show parents their united promise to respect each other.

In Redwood City, the CareCorps Coordinator partnered with the school’s Mental Health Provider to put on a workshop for parents about how to identify bullying, talk to your children about it, and support them with developing socio-emotional tools to work through conflict with other students.

Through the work of our CareCorps teams, mental health providers, and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) teams, we know that we can work to prevent bullying at our schools and prepare our students to be engaged, caring citizens in our world.

Published on December 13, 2021