Guest Blogger
Shiryl Barto M.Ed
Shiryl Henry Barto works for the Center for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention (CHPDP) at the Windber Research Institute, Windber, Pennsylvania as the director for bullying prevention initiatives.
Shiryl spent time as a classroom teacher and home school liaison, before turning her professional focus to violence prevention and school-based public health. She’s been involved in education, pro-social learning and coordinated school health for over two decades. Shiryl is a national Technical Assistance Consultant with the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program and consults with public and private agencies across the state. She has been asked to speak to national audiences about bullying and school-based interventions. She is currently working on the development, implementation and evaluation of the Highmark Foundation’s Bullying Prevention Initiative, formerly the Highmark Healthy High 5. This project has become the largest implementation of the Olweus program in the world, impacting over 275,000 students.
Shiryl lives in southwestern Pennsylvania with her husband Stephen and their four children.
www.wriwindber.org/wriwindber/CenterforHealthPromotion.aspx
Conflict vs. Bullying: How can you tell the difference?
As parents, we want to prepare our children to handle conflict and work through it, but what may sound like a conflict to us may sound like bullying to others. How do you determine if your child is facing a conflict with someone else, or if they’re actually involved in bullying? First, let’s define bullying. [...]
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Bystander Behavior: What do other children do when they witness bullying?
You can just imagine it. Your son or daughter is on the playground, and a bully comes up to them. They start picking on your child, and soon, one of your child’s friends steps in to defend them. The bully walks away, and the confrontation dissolves. Sounds likely, right? Wrong. The fact is that most [...]
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How to Speak with Your Child’s School about Bullying
Your child has opened up to you that he is being bullied at school. Now what? If you feel less-than prepared to handle this situation, you’re not alone. Although most schools are becoming responsive to bullying behavior (and are likely required to by state law) some are still not doing enough to promote open communication [...]
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Is Your Child Being Bullied? Know How to Spot the Signs
As a parent, it doesn’t take much to detect when something’s different about your child. While not all issues are apparent, if your gut is telling you that something’s wrong, then it’s time to inquire. The health issues that children experience when involved in bullying – as the bully, bullied or bystanders – are significant. [...]
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How to Identify if Your Child is a Bully
Maybe it’s the extra money your child came home with. Or the fact that he’s losing his temper more often. Does she deflect responsibility for her actions, especially if those actions are earning disciplinary consequences at school? Children who bully often exhibit certain behaviors, and it’s important as parents to be able to identify the [...]
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