Stop-Walk-Talk
Facts about Bullying & Bullying Prevention
By Patricia Graczyk, School Psychologist
Sebastian Oros, School Social Worker
Jenni Cole, School Psychology Intern
Did you know that…
…it is estimated that adults find out about only 10% of the bullying that actually occurs
among youth?
…bullying can lead to serious adjustment difficulties for victims and bullies?
…Gombert students are more likely to tell their parents about bullying incidents than tell
the adults here at school?
… it takes committed action from parents, school personnel, and children who witness
hurtful, disrespectful, or unsafe behavior to prevent bullying in a community.
…these are the reasons we are asking for your help and support in preventing bullying
behavior in the Gombert community!
“Stop-Walk-Talk”
Parents, if you hear your students saying “Stop” when someone is treating them in a
disrespectful, hurtful, or unsafe way, then they are following through on the first step of the
bullying prevention program we are using at Gombert School. Stop-Walk-Talk teaches students
how to respond if other students are not following the Gombert school rules, i.e., our 4Bs: be
respectful, be safe, be responsible, and be ready. Our staff has also been trained how to respond if
students engage in bullying behavior and we want to let you know what you can do to prevent
bullying or how to handle bullying incidents with your children. Stop-Walk-Talk is the bullying
prevention component of our school-wide behavior management program, Positive Behavior
Interventions and Supports (PBIS).
In this article we will describe the steps you can take to see that your children are not
bullied and do not bully others. You are the key to the success of this program because, as
mentioned above, you will probably be the first adults to whom your children will go if they are
being bullied here at school.
What is bullying and what is not bullying. Through “Stop-Walk-Talk” students are taught
what bullying is and what it is not. For example, teasing, calling someone names, texting hurtful
messages, gossiping, pushing or hitting others are examples of bullying. Students are also taught
that if someone accidentally bumps into them or politely declines an invitation to play that does
not constitute bullying because the intent of the other children was not to hurt or harm them.
For those times that someone does bully your children or your children see bullying happening to
someone else, we have taught students three things they can do:
1) “Stop” signal. All students were taught the Gombert “Stop” signal. Our stop signal
requires them to look directly at the other student, make the Gombert hand signal for stop, and
use a firm voice to say, “Stop.” Students were encouraged to use the “Stop” signal if they are
being bullied or if they see someone else being bullied.
Students were also taught how to respond if they are given the “Stop” signal. Students
receiving the “Stop” signal have been taught to immediately stop what they are doing, take a
deep breath, count to 3 slowly, and then go on with their day following our school rules. Students
were told that they should stop what they are doing, regardless of whether they agree that they
deserved the stop signal or not. By following these guidelines, students show respect for
themselves and one another.
2) “Walk away.” What if a student gives another student the stop signal, but the problem
behavior continues? Students were then taught to “Walk” away.
3) “Talk.” Finally, if students have tried to solve the problem by using the stop signal and
walking away, then they can “Talk” to an adult. School personnel have been trained to respond
similarly to a student’s request to talk. First, the staff member will ask the student to describe the
problem (what happened). Then, they will ask the student if they used the “stop” signal and tried
walking away. Students will be praised for trying these steps or reminded about using these steps
first before talking to an adult. Then the staff member will discuss the problem behavior with the
student who is engaging in the hurtful, disrespectful, or unsafe behavior. They will remind
students what they are to do when they are given the stop signal by another student or students
(i.e., immediately stop what they are doing, take a deep breath and count to 3, and continue with
their day following our school rules). In addition, staff will enforce the appropriate consequence
for breaking one of Gombert’s school rules. Parents will receive a phone call from the school if
their student continues to engage in disrespectful behaviors.
Exceptions to Stop-Walk-Talk. One important exception to the “Stop-Walk-Talk”
sequence is when a student is in danger such as falling on the playground. In this case, students
were told to immediately tell an adult.
In addition, on April 5, 2010 we held a School Assembly by The Boom Troupe that also stressed
what students can do to prevent bullying from happening at our school.
What families can do to prevent bullying
We are asking all of you to do what is necessary to stop bullying from happening at home or at
school. The most important thing to do is to encourage and reinforce your children for
acting respectfully toward others and for you to model respectful behaviors for your
children.
If your children tell you about a bullying incident that has occurred at school, you can take
several steps to help.
1) Thank them for telling you about the incident and ask them if they used “Stop-Walk-
Talk.”
2) You can call your child’s teacher to report the incident.
3) You can leave a confidential anonymous message for the principal at the district “tip
line.” There is a link to the “tip line” under “IPSD essentials” heading on the bottom
center of our school website: www. gombert.ipsd.org
4) If your student has engaged in bullying behavior, please support us in our efforts to
prevent bullying by reminding him or her of the importance of acting respectfully toward
others and teach them how they can respond in a respectful way in similar incidents in the
future.
By all of us encouraging students to act respectfully and to use Stop-Walk-Talk, if necessary, we
hope that students will…
feel like they know what to do if they are being bullied or see someone else being bullied
help one another out
get in trouble less often
feel safer at school
be better able to focus on learning during their school day.
Lastly, we will be posting additional information regarding bullying prevention on the Gombert
website, including titles of children’s books about bullying.