February 2014 Lancer Lesson - A is for ally

Welcome to the 2014 February Lancer Lesson "A is for ally." We begin the Lesson with a quotation about dignity. "The human brain experiences dignity violations in the same way it interprets a threat from a knife-wielding attacker. This explains the shaking, sweating, the rapid breathing and the other symptoms. When our dignity is violated, we are physically incapable of moving forward unless that violation is acknowledged. The purpose for today's Lancer Lesson is to learn to increase ally behavior in order to support and honor the dignity of all. We have three learning targets: The first is at the end of this lesson students should know what it means to be an ally. This is something that will be discussed by the class. Students should also be able to describe what dignity means, and along with that be aware of what constitutes a dignity violation, and this also will be part of homeroom discussion. The final learning target is that students should know what is happening during "A is for Ally" next week, and this will be assessed by student participation in the events. If you have not already done so, please take a moment and fill out the survey that your homeroom teacher distributed. When done please turn it into your homeroom teacher. You may pause the video now if needed to complete the survey. We began this with a quotation relating to dignity. Homeroom teachers, you may want to pause the video now and reread this quotation to the class. Otherwise, please continue a discussion. Students, take a moment and think of your answers to these questions: What is dignity? And what does it mean for dignity to be violated? Please pause the video for your discussion and continue when ready. Teachers, if you intend to show the video please pause, exit this video, then watch the experiment video and return here when done. If you did not intended to show the video, keep this playing and it will progress to some discussion questions you can use instead out the video. If you had a chance to watch the video, please take a moment and discuss what, if anything, surprised you about the video; if you have ever seen something like this happen at LaFollette; and discuss how do people who see incidents like this react? If you haven't seen the video or if you've completed your discussion of the video and want to explore these topics in greater depth, please discuss these topics: What kinds of bullying/ harassment/dignity violations happen here at La Follette High School? Is cyber bullying or face-to-face bullying a bigger problem? Is it possible to violate someone's dignity if they are not there at the time? When done discussing these, please resume the video. ♪"Make it Stop" by Rise Against ♪ (instrumental) ♪ So... True or false: Bullying, even verbal or cyber bullying. is a type of violence. True or false: Bullying is a problem in our schools. True or false: We ALL play a role in bullying. Okay, I'll give you a hint: The answers to all three of these questions are true. When bullying takes place, everyone around that event participates in one of four ways. We can have the role of victim, and be the target of the bullying. We could be the bully, who's just the mean person. We could be a bystander, who is aware what happens but does not take an active role. Or we could be an ally who is a defender of the victim. So, which of these roles do you choose when bullying or dignity violations happen at LaFollette? Both the bully and the ally do choose to take action. Of course the victim usually can't help but take their role. The bystander seems to have a passive role but really doesn't. By taking no action, the bystander is allowing the bullying to continue. And perhaps even a worse role his that have cheerleader. That's when the bystander joins forces with the bully to encourage the mistreatment to continue. ♪Eighteen years pushed to the ledge. It's come to this, a weightless step. On the way down singing Whoa, whoa. Did you know, that both bullies and their victims are at higher risk for mental health problems later? Bullies are at risk for greater substance abuse, depression, anxiety, hostility, and could even develop antisocial personality disorder. Victims of bullying Are at a higher risk for suicide, may suffer from depression, or panic attacks, are more likely to have low self esteem, and later in life may possibly develop anxiety disorder. So how do we help? Well, it does take practice, but put yourself in the victim's place. Would you want someone near you to assume the role of bystander or the role of ally? This little guy has got the right idea--he's standing up for his friend. He's doing a great job of being an ally. So how DO we help? How can we assume that role of ally? It doesn't need to be complicated, although as I said, it may take a little practice before it becomes completely comfortable. When you see something happening where one person is violating the dignity of another person either verbally or physically, or even online, it can be as simple as telling them, "Stop it. Don't call her that." "That isn't funny. I heard you say this, that is not OK." "You tweeted that, that was really mean. Not cool man." Simply calling out a bully on their actions, letting them know that you also don't appreciate this, can discourage that type of action from happening again. It is often especially important, like in the last two examples, to specifically identify what words or what behavior is not okay with you ♪***, *** from the closet walls, The schoolhouse halls, The shotgun's loaded. Push me and I'll push back. I'm done asking, I demand. From a nation under God, I feel its love like a cattle prod. Born free, but still they hate. Born me, no I can't change. It's okay to notice differences. It's okay to disagree with people. It's okay to not like someone. But violating someone's dignity because of differences or disagreements or your dislike is not okay. ♪What God could? Make it stop. Let this end. Eighteen years pushed to the ledge. It's come to this, A weightless step. On the way down singing, Whoa, whoa. Next week, at La Follette, we celebrate "A is for Ally" week. During the week, we will have the opportunity to raise our awareness of all sorts of bullying and dignity violations that can happen, and all too frequently do happen, here at La Follette High School. Student groups will help raise awareness of some common ways that dignity gets violated here at La Follette. Every day at lunch, a different student group will be in the Commons holding an activity special for that day's theme. Next week Monday, Pride Guides will be in the Commons with the "Be a Buddy Not a Bully" campaign. On Tuesday, IMAGINE is going to do an activity relating to gender language and some other ways that very often we violate people's dignity based on their gender. Wednesday, Black Student Union and OLA are going to be doing an activity related to racism, and Black Student Union's activity will also tie in to Black History Month, which we are celebrating now. On Thursday, Project Unity and MSCR together are going to help us end the R word. On Friday, our GSA group is going to do an activity about "That's so gay!" Remember: The human brain experiences dignity violations in the same way it interprets a threat from a knife-wielding attacker. This explains the shaking, the sweating, the rapid breathing, and the other symptoms. When our dignity is violated, we are physically incapable of moving forward unless that violation is acknowledged. ♪ "Make it Stop" plays through end of video.