‘Month of Respect’ Has Positive Impact at Local School

The first week of October was celebrated as the “Week of Respect” as mandated by New Jersey’s new anti-bullying law, and Fort Lee elementary schools were ready for it. In fact, says director of school counseling, anti-bullying specialist and character education program coordinator at , Nancy Sanders, the entire month of October was dedicated to “Respect” as the school’s character value of the month—something that was planned in advance of the state mandate.

“Fittingly enough, [October] happened to be our ‘Month of Respect,’” Sanders said recently, adding that after a month of events, activities and lessons designed specifically around the theme, incidents of bullying and other disciplinary problems dropped off significantly at the school.

“The first few weeks of school that’s all I was doing, writing reports,” Sanders said. “After a month of this, we haven’t had one discipline issue. Whether or not it has anything to do with this whole month, we feel it has to do with all of the components, because they’re writing about it; they’re singing about it; it’s going on in gym. It’s permeating throughout this entire building.”

During School No. 4’s “Month of Respect,” each week featured a different set of activities:

Week of Oct. 3-7

Teachers at the school were asked to administer and discuss a “self-reflection” survey.

“The teachers used this as a springboard to open up discussion about what respect is and how you are a respectful person, how you give respect and how you earn respect,” Sanders said. “It was a great tool.”

Also during the week, students were treated to a “positive behavior assembly” program called “The Ned Show.”

“He talks about positive behaviors while he’s doing yo-yo skills,” Sanders explained.

She said that after the show, “Ned Zones” were established all over the school where students could practice some of the yo-yo tricks and techniques they learned during the assembly. She described the impact of the program as “amazing.”

“The camaraderie we saw, with younger children working with older children, helping them and showing them yo-yo tricks, and helping them to make their string the right length, it was just unbelievable, and it’s still going on,” Sanders said. “We still have the ‘Ned Zones,’ and that whole feeling of helping one another—that positive behavior—was great.”

Week of Oct. 10-14

Teachers were asked to distribute “response to respect” surveys, after which the students’ writings were put on display all over the school.

“First they’re hearing it; now they’re writing it, and they’re thinking about it,” Sanders said.

Week of Oct. 17-21

The third week of the month was “Red Ribbon Week” at the school. In fact, each Friday during the month, students were asked to were red “to show unity and the importance of respect,” according to Sanders.

Week of Oct. 28-28

Students in each class voted for the “most respectful student” in their class. Winners were to be honored at a breakfast reception sponsored by the school PTA.

The final week of the “Month of Respect” also featured a musical assembly program called “Pull Together” presented by the group, “Squeaky Clean,” who put on a concert and multi-media presentation teaching respect, diversity, cooperation and tolerance. Students from the entire school sang a respect-themed song taught in their music classes by their teacher, Mr. Faust.

“I can’t tell you how the program impacted them,” Sanders said. “They loved it; the teachers loved it. The teachers now feel as though, with the music playing in the morning on Fridays, kids were smiling. It gave them a whole different approach to the school day. Parents were telling us, ‘Whatever you’re doing this month, my kid wants to come to school.’”

The music Sanders referred to was Aretha Franklin’s rendition of the song, “Respect,” which was playing every Friday in October as children entered the building

“So the whole energy level was great,” Sanders said, adding that the school is planning to continue with music on Fridays, playing other “school-appropriate” songs.

Other Events Throughout the “Month of Respect”

The respect theme at School No. 4 played out across nearly all areas of the curriculum, Sanders said. For example, in music class, students learned the song they ultimately sang together at the culminating assembly.

“Teachers came up to us and said that was the most touching thing,” Sanders said. “And every child in the school knows this song.”

The theme was also used as the basis for art classes, in which students made respect-related posters and other art projects; ESL classes, in which they learned about diversity and tolerance; and even physical education classes, where children were taught good sportsmanship and encouraged to compliment one another after good plays and shake hands with the opposing team after games.

“In the world of bullying, the two hot spots in the school are lunchtime and the gym,” Sanders said. “Lunchtime because teachers are not there; it’s aides, and children feel like, ‘Okay, my teacher’s not around; I can do whatever I want to do.’ And in the gym it’s a hot spot because the noise level is so high. You can say something really nasty to me, and the gym teacher’s not going to pick it up.”

Overall, Sanders said, the “Month of Respect” was a great success with a potentially far-reaching, positive effect.