Gardena's 153rd Street Elementary School is one of a dozen Los Angeles Unified campuses where students are receiving training in non-violent communication.
The program, called Safe School Ambassadors, provides two-day training that's designed to reduce bullying and prevent violence.
From an LAUSD press release:
This bullying is getting younger, meaner, and more difficult to identify than ever before due to access to technology such as MySpace, cell phones, and YouTube. Perhaps most disturbing is that bullying and harassment are also becoming more acceptable among young people. Research shows that 70-85 percent of students have been passive bystanders to peer mistreatment. Their silence amounts to tacit consent, which further reinforces an environment of bullying and mistreatment.
"Students see, hear, and know what adults don't. They can intervene in ways adults can't, but usually don't," said Rick Phillips, Executive Director of Community Matters and co-founder of the Safe School Ambassadors program. "They often fear retaliation or simply don't know what to do."The Safe School Ambassadors program removes these obstacles by very carefully identifying and selecting socially-influential "opinion leaders" from the diverse cliques and groups at school. These students are trained in nonviolent intervention and communication skills such as reasoning with their friends to avoid or stop cruelty and violence. The program is sustained by utilizing regularly-scheduled, small group meetings, in which Ambassadors strengthen their skills, share their experiences, and record their interventions.
The Annenberg Foundation and Kaiser Permanent South are funding the program, which is set for more than 60 campuses across Los Angeles County. Sebastopol-based nonprofit Community Matters is implementing the training, which took place in December at 153rd Street.
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