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Bullying is one of the most widely discussed topics in developing school safety and security. The safety of our EMS students is a top priority.  ²ÝÁñÉçÇø incorporates Lion's Quest character education or Positive Action programming K-12 in order to support our students' social emotional growth, in learning about themeselves, others, and how to value and treat one another.  In recent years, cyberbullying has increased among students. Effective September 1, 2017, Texas legislature enacted  to address bullying and cyberbullying of public school students, encourage mental health programs in public schools, and increase the criminal penalty for bullying or cyberbully.  ²ÝÁñÉçÇø educates students on reporting cyberbullying and keeping themselves and others safe online.

Is it Bullying? - Texas State Safety Center Checklist

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Report bullying through any of the following anonymous on-line sites:  , Let's Talk and

²ÝÁñÉçÇø utilizes the School Climate surveys in order to target areas of concern.  School Counselors, Intervention Counselors, and Social Workers work alongside the Administrative team on the campuses in order to set-up and provide information for parents.  Some schools provide , Parent University, and various other family systems and mental health presentations. Other parent programming includes transition information from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school as well as College and Career Readiness information that includes FAFSA support, college access, and College Night. For more information about what parent programming your school offers, visit with your school counselor or parent liaison.    

²ÝÁñÉçÇø Counseling is in partnership with you and your child throughout their academic and social-emotional school experiences.  We are committed to providing you with guiding information and support.  Please be aware that occasionally the Internet hosts viral “challenges” that are harmful and require that we be open and available to our children so they can talk to us when they come across threatening information on the internet.  Sites like Youtube will take content down if it is reported, so we encourage parents to always report questionable content.

As always, feel free to contact your child’s school should you have any concerns or questions.

Additional resources for internet safety:

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 Spanish

 English

Spanish

These links provide helpful information for maintaining mental health.

The National Child Identification Program is a community service initiative dedicated to providing parents and guardians with a tool they can use to help protect their children. An ID Kit allows parents to collect specific information by easily recording the physical characteristics and fingerprints of their children on identification cards that are then kept at home by the parent or guardian. If ever needed, this ID Kit will give authorities vital information to assist their efforts to locate a missing child.

The ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Counseling Department will be creating podcasts addressing various topics to include:  social and emotional support, mental health, prevention and intervention, college and career readiness, and more. All episodes are available here on the 

The ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Comprehensive Guidance plan includes prevention practices and lessons K-12.

Lessons regarding emotions, sadness, and depression are presented to students in K-12th grades. Students identify emotions and discuss the difference between sadness and depression, how to cope with different emotions, and who can help.

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Suicide prevention and mental health support lessons at the middle school and high school levels will be delivered through the program. SOS utilizes ACT, Acknowledge, Care, and Tell, when teaching students and adults about recognizing signs, symptoms, and warning signs of depression and suicide and what to do.

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Substance prevention is covered through lessons about healthy choices K-5 and various presentations through and .  Additionally, at the middle and high school prevention curriculum such as ,  and and tobacco will be available for use in 6-12 grades.

Our SOAR Coalition partnership offers us opportunities to collaborate with our community on health and prevention campaigns. Find the latest SOAR newsletters here:           

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Spanish 

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Dating Violence prevention, personal safety, and cyber safety lessons are presented through the and the .

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Bullying and Isolation Prevention lessons are shared regarding what to do if you or someone you know is being bullied.  Additionally, activities through Renaissance and Sandy Hook Promise, promote inclusion, empathy, and compassion by including others.

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Small Group Counseling Support is provided for students that require additional interventions for behavior and emotional growth.  and are used 6-12^th grades.

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²ÝÁñÉçÇø’s resource list includes community resources and informational websites. For additional support, please visit with your school counselor.

Mental Health and Prevention Websites:

• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Website  |

Here are additional resources:

• ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Social Emotional Resource Guide
• Mental Health Hotlines and Resources

Learn more information regarding these topics through the Smore newsletter links below:

Suicide is the second leading cause of death in adolescence. ²ÝÁñÉçÇø is committed to being a competent school community in suicide prevention. As a district, we train our staff to identify students who may be at risk for suicide, refer students to counselors, and work with parents to provide support for students.

 (Suicide Prevention Communication Initiative)

The  program. SOS utilizes ACT, Acknowledge, Care, and Tell, when teaching students and adults about recognizing signs, symptoms, and warning signs of depression and suicide and what to do.  Parent Info. 

 - Mental Health Reminders

: Suicide prevention and support, including an option to chat online with a trained volunteer.

: Suicide prevention and crisis support, including an option to chat online with a trained volunteer.

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Teen Dating Violence Prevention

During the month of February, secondary schools will provide age appropriate information to students regarding teen dating violence.

Almost one-third of teen relationships involve abuse. Help students learn to avoid—or break free from—unhealthy entanglements. According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, dating violence is controlling, abusive and aggressive behavior in a romantic relationship. It can happen in straight or gay relationships. It can include verbal, emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, or a combination of them. You may want to share with students the following examples of dating violence: 

 Controlling behavior includes:

• Not letting them hang out with their friends
• Calling or texting frequently to find out where they are, whom they’re with and what they’re doing
• Telling them what to wear
• Having to be with them all the time

Verbal and emotional abuse includes:

• Name-calling
• Jealousy
• Belittling them (cutting them down)
• Threatening to hurt them, someone in their family or themselves if they don't do what they want

Physical abuse includes:

• Shoving
• Punching
• Slapping
• Pinching
• Hitting
• Kicking
• Hair-pulling
• Strangling

Sexual abuse includes:

• Unwanted touching and kissing
• Forcing them to have sex
• Not letting them use birth control
• Forcing them to do other sexual things

Anyone can be a victim of dating violence. Both boys and girls are victims, but boys and girls abuse their partners in different ways. Girls are more likely to yell, threaten to hurt themselves and pinch, slap, scratch or kick. Boys injure girls more, are more likely to punch their partner and are more likely to force them to participate in unwanted sexual activity. Some teen victims experience violence occasionally. Others are abused more often, sometimes daily.

If you or someone you know is involved in an unhealthy dating relationship, your school counselor can help by providing counseling and resources.

Resources 

• Trauma: Consejos y datos breves
• Cómo sobrellevar un duelo: Consejos y datos breves

• Talking to your child about a Suicide death
• Consejos para ayudar a los niños después de un evento traumático

The CASEL 5 addresses five broad, interrelated areas of competence and examples for each: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. The CASEL 5 can be taught and applied at various developmental stages from childhood to adulthood and across diverse cultural contexts to articulate what students should know and be able to do for academic success, school and civic engagement, health and wellness, and fulfilling careers.

CASEL Framework

CASEL Framework - Español

The ²ÝÁñÉçÇø Counseling Department has created an SEL Communications Toolkit, which include the 10 Words Counseling Video Series. Visit the SEL Communications Toolkit to view the videos.