Search result for: Defying conformity

Defying Conformity

Bullying and alcohol abuse were the norm for an average teenager at the little prairie school where I used to teach. In order to combat these rampant problems along with a growing drug subculture, my school had become involved with STAND, Students Taking A New Direction, a nationally-sponsored drug and alcohol prevention program that partnered with our county health department. I became the sponsor of STAND after two years of

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An Open Letter to My Eighth Grade Self

As a teacher, it’s hard to define what motivates kids to bully others, and what keeps bullied kids from standing up for themselves. Those who stand by and watch are probably the biggest problem, though, and sometimes its teachers as well as students who are the bystanders. As a bullied kid myself, I found it much easier to identify the bullies, the bullied, and the bystanders in my own classroom,

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