Stopping bullying dead in its tracks – Colegio Interamericano

posted September 12, 2013

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On Wednesday, September 10, Colegio Interamericano welcomed Maria Teresa Mendoza Estrada, an internationally recognized expert on bullying. Over 160 parents and teachers attended a special evening conference, to learn about some of the causes of bullying, how to identify bullying, prevention steps and much more.

The following day, Thursday, September 11, Mrs. Mendoza returned to Interamericano to give a special workshop for Interamericano staff members. Approximately 30 teachers, selected by their principals and counselors, representing the school’s three levels (Elementary, Middle School and High School), attended this special workshop in the afternoon. Here, teachers learned how to appropriately identify and address bullying situations in school, and brainstormed specific ideas to share what they learned with their colleagues and students.

María Teresa gave a riveting presentation to teachers and staff on working with students to avoid bullying at Interamericano.

Electronic versions of the presentations for parents and teachers can be accessed by clicking the links at the top of this article, and a list of specific prevention tips has also been provided.

This effort to educate our teachers and parents on specific issues such as bullying is one small part of a larger effort by Escuela para Padres (EPP), a division of our parent association OPAI. Escuela para Padres consists of volunteer parents, counselors, and administrators, and its purpose is to offer classes, conferences and workshops to educate the Interamericano community on relevant programs, issues and topics.

Teachers were free to ask questions and were encouraged to pose real world scenarios on the topic.

In addition to bullying, Escuela para Padres has already offered classes to parents on Renweb and Singapore Math, and has future classes scheduled on Study Habits, Addictions, Adolescence, Literacy by Design, iPads in Education, as well as, Summer Learning Ideas.

We would like to give a special thank you to the OPAI parents who made these seminars possible.

The annual list of topics was determined through a careful analysis of stakeholder opinion surveys and EPP has worked tirelessly to find the most qualified individuals to speak to our community. A full calendar of events can be downloaded by clicking the link at the top of this article.

Thank you to all of the parents and teachers that attended the bullying seminars these past two days, we hope to see even more parents and teachers at our next Escuela para Padres event!