October is National Bullying Awareness and Prevention Month. Your children will be engaged in Social Development Lessons throughout the month dealing with how to be a friend, being an upstander vs. a bystander, mean-spririted behavior vs. bullying, etc. October 21st is National Unity Day. In honor of this day we are asking all students, faculty and staff to wear orange shirts. There are some great talking points and activities that you can find on www.Pacer.org, a National Bullying Prevention Center. Below are some proactive ideas for discussing this issue with your child:

*    Talking to children about both being bullied and about being bullies.
*    Being a role model for kindness, caring, and understanding.
*    Speaking with children about bullying and cyber-bullying to make sure they are not engaging in it.
*    Discussing how hurtful cyber-bullying is, and emphasizing that what is online stays online forever.
*    Emphasizing that online misbehavior could affect your child's future.
*    Encouraging your children to tell you if they are bullied off or online.
*    Reassuring your child and making sure to remind school personnel that retaliation cannot be condoned.
*    Discussing Internet safety with your children, and monitoring what they are doing online.
*    Informing schools if there is bullying, and joining with schools to promote bullying awareness and prevention programs.

SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT THEMES
The Social Development Theme for the month of October is Self-Esteem. The Social Development Books of the Month are Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon (K-2) and Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun (3-6). Please enjoy a description of the books below.

Be yourself like Molly Lou Melon no matter what a bully may do.

Molly Lou Melon is short and clumsy, has buck teeth, and has a voice that sounds like a bullfrog being squeezed by a boa constrictor. She doesn't mind. Her grandmother has always  told her to walk proud, smile big, and sing loud, and she takes that advice to heart.

But then Molly Lou has to start in a new school. A horrible bully picks on her on the very first day, but Molly Lou Melon knows just what to do about that.

How can Ralph be so mean? Lucy is one of a kind and Ralph loves to point that out. Lucy's defining moment comes when Ralph truly needs help. Because she knows what she stands for, Lucy has the courage to make a good choice. This charming story empowers children to always do the right thing and be proud of themselves, even when they are faced with someone as challenging as Ralph.

The goal of our Social Development Book-of-the-Month is to integrate literature and concomitant language arts objectives with themes and ideas that support our social development program.
 
The Chester Public Library is graciously partnering with us on our social development Book-of-the-Month initiative.  Our Book-of-the-Month is displayed at the library and there are multiple copies available for families to borrow, so that the discussion begun at school can be shared and extended at home.