I am pleased to announce that our publication section will soon include a selection of books from Hinton House Publishers who produce books and resources for education and special needs professionals.

Impact of Social Media

It is hard to keep pace with all the advances in modern technology. With the development of a variety of handheld devices including smartphones and tablets, taken in conjunction with the impact of social media it has become very difficult for parents and teachers to monitor appropriate use of these.

With over 40% of 7-10 year olds and 60% of 11-16 year olds having internet access in their own rooms at home it can make the job of monitoring very difficult for parents. Many young people do not understand what is acceptable use of this medium as there are often non clear boundaries set. Added to this overtly sexual advertising, pop videos and television images can have a desensitizing affect on children leaving them confused about what might be appropriate or inappropriate areas to visit on the internet and indeed what is safe and appropriate to upload onto social media.

Because of this inappropriate and compromising images are often sent and according to Gloucestershire Constabulary it is something that is happening with increasing frequency. In a recent survey 40% of 14-16 year olds said that friends had engaged in sexting – sending inappropriate images of themselves to someone. Smartphones enable images to be taken and shared with ease. Schools need to give clear guidance to pupils on appropriate use of technology including social media. Significant levels of bullying occur online including posting of inappropriate images without the knowledge of the individual. 40% of students have reported being bullied online or on their mobile phones. Take a look at a new article on The Dangers of Cyber-Bullying which is available in the Behaviour Solutions Library area. To access this area you need to be a member of the web site. If you are a member just go into the members area and if not just click here to sign up today.

Excuse for a lie-in

Research published in the Journal of Sleep Research based on a survey of 936 children has found that children aged 10 and 11 who had slept in on Saturdays and Sundays were 33% less likely to have a weight problem. Sleeping in helps to reset a child’s sleeping patterns and allows them to catch up on sleep they miss during the week. The lie-in helps to regulate calorie intake by reducing snacking during waking hours. The research concluded that those who slept longer at weekends were less likely to have obesity problems.

Buy Behaviour Solutions in the Classroom, Behaviour Solutions for NQTs and Brain Breaks, Starter Activities and Fillers as an ebook for a very special price of £10 each (a saving of £15 on each title).

Buying an ebook is easy, and has the advantage of being available to download immediately after you have placed your order. You can save it to your pc, or print out a copy to take with you.

You need to be a member of the web site to take advantage of this offer. If you are not already a member, why not sign up today by clicking here.

News Update

In the past few months I have been busy preparing new resources and in April one of these will be available. It is an Advanced Resource File for Cover Supervisor Managers which is packed full of materials for Cover Managers to use with their Cover Supervisor teams including resource packs and materials to use for behaviour management training. This will be available from Tribal Education.

Also I have been working with an LSIS/UCU Advisory Group on a project for Further Education Colleges. It is producing a Whole College Behaviour Policy document which will be a blueprint for FE colleges to use. This work has been very useful as it has made clear the behavioural issues faced by college staff within differing age groups.

Students with SEN and Disabilities Vulnerable to Bullying

A new book by academics from Cambridge University, Perspective on Bullying and Difference, surveys the experience of young people and carers in relation to bullying and teasing. It suggests that teachers often ignore the teasing and bullying of students with Special Education Needs (SEN) and disabilities and that there is little evidence in schools implementing effective strategies to manage these situations.

It goes on to suggest that teachers tend to underestimate or discount bullying of students with SEN and disabilities. Students who were bullied talked about it as if it was an inevitable part of their disability or special need. Withdrawing pupils from lessons and extra support from Teaching Assistants can impede them from forging links with their peers. The researchers are attempting to raise funds so that teachers can become more aware of the issue and can develop strategies to prevent it.

A key section in the book deals with the importance of building rapport and positive relationships and I was lucky enough to see this in action when I spent a few days at the first ever Youth Winter Olympics in Innsbruck in January where 14-19 year old competitors from all over the world tackled ski-jumping and the Biathlon. It tested their endurance to the limit. To watch their coaches getting the best out of them through positive coaching was an eye opener.

New Article

The importance of coaching and support was highlighted in the recent film The King’s Speech. The film focused on the challenges facing a person who has a persistent stammering problem. A new article is available in the Behaviour Solutions Library in theMember’s Area which highlights the issues that stammerers face and gives some of the strategies and treatments that are available.

Remember – you need to be a member of the web site to view this article. If you are not already a member, why not sign up today by clicking here

As you near the end of a busy term I am sure you are all looking forward to the Christmas Holidays. I would like to wish you a very Happy Christmas and thank you for your support and custom during 2011. I look forward to working with you again in 2012.

New Training Resource

Details of an exciting new training resource being developed by Behaviour Solutions is given in the Courses area which will enable institutions to easily run behaviour management training days using the approaches and materials used by Behaviour Solutions. To take a look at this new resource CLICK HERE.

In The News

In the news this week it is reported that just 120,000 families are costing the UK over £9 billion per annum. These families cause most crime, anti-social behaviour and use up a disproportionate amount of resources including the involvement of 28 different agencies including Police, Social Workers and Health Visitors. In some of these families, three generations of them have never worked. The Government is now getting local councils to appoint family workers who will work with individual families. They will co-ordinate local agency responses and report directly to a troubled families team.

A new article is available in the Behaviour Solutions Library in the Members Area which reflects on this topic and gives reasons why so many students arrive at school disrupted.

Remember – you need to be a member of the web site to view this article. If you are not already a member, why not sign up today by clicking here.

 In a survey of 1500 teachers by Canterbury Christ Church University 80% said that behaviour was worse. The report suggests there is ‘a sizeable proportion of teachers who do not consider they have a sufficiently wide range of strategies to manage the behaviour of pupils with SEN’.

 Behaviour Solutions has produced 2 books which give strategies to support learners with 46 syndromes and conditions covered. Why not take a look at Behaviour Solutions: A Guide to Syndromes and Conditions, and A Guide to More Syndromes and Conditions.

 Make sure you stay up to date with the latest news on behaviour on my Twitter page by signing up at http://twitter.com/@DaveVizard

New Articles

A new article is available in the Behaviour Solutions Library in the Members Area of the website which gives practical tips on how using positioning in the classroom can help in the management of behaviour.

 Also to mark Anti-Bullying Week (14th – 18th November) theme Stop and Think – words can hurt which focuses on tackling verbal bullying, there is a new article entitled “Behind the Tears – A Guide to detect and help the victims of bullying”.

 Click here to visit the Behaviour Solutions Library. Remember – you need to be a member of the web site to view these articles. If you are not already a member, why not sign up today by clicking here.

As a special offer to members of the Behaviour Solutions web site, I am offering 40% off the price of “A Guide to More Syndromes and Conditions”.

One of the biggest problems with working with students today is keeping up to date with all the special needs that one can encounter. This book is a companion to the best selling A Guide to Syndromes and Conditions and contains details of 26 most common and often misunderstood additional syndromes and conditions. These are defined in terms of characteristics, symptoms and strategies to use.

This offer is only available until the 14th October, and whilst stocks last. CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR COPY TODAY.

Latest News

Hassan Ugail from the University of Bradford has developed a new lie detector. The system uses two cameras. One monitors facial movements and highlights facial deceits such as lip biting, nose wrinkling, blinking, rubbing of eyes and nose, and tongue

movements. The other is a thermal sensing camera which maps the temperature profile on the face. When someone is lying and making things up on the spot, facial blood flow increases particularly around the eyes. When information is correlated from both sources it gives a clear indication on whether someone is lying.

Make sure you stay up to date with the latest news on behaviour on my Twitter page by signing up at www.twitter.com/@DaveVizard

New article: Impact of Gaze

Continuing on the theme of body language there is a new article in the members area on the impact of gaze – why not have a look by visting our members area.

Issues relating to behaviour have certainly been hitting the headlines in the UK in the past few weeks. My article on Ways to Reduce Impact of Gangs and Youth Communities in Schools can be found in the Behaviour Solutions Library and deals with many of the gang related issues discussed recently.

I would like to welcome Helen Kennedy, a new Associate, to Behaviour Solutions. She is a Myers Briggs practitioner and provides training on how we can enhance learning through the power of personality using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator. More information on Helen can be found in the trainers section of the website and a copy of her most recent published article can be found in the Behaviour Solutions Library.

I am very keen to extend the number of people accessing the website, particularly in Europe. If you have any contacts in the UK or other areas of Europe you could recommend the website to I would be grateful.

I am near to finishing producing the 2nd edition of How to Manage Behaviour in FE book. It has been extensively re-written and updated to include many current behavioural issues. It will be published in the New Year. Watch this space for further details. I am also in the process of producing 6 new e-books in a series entitled ‘6 of the best’. Each booklet will cover an area of behaviour management and will be about 20-30 pages in length – a mini guide. The first in the series will be entitled Supporting Parents and will give a range of practical strategies parents can use in the management of their child’s behaviour. Many schools have been asking for such a resource that they can use with their parents. Each booklet will cost £6-99.

Becoming a better parent – the essential 5 a day

Centre Forum has produced a report giving 5 easy steps parents should follow. It suggests parents should be taught how to improve their skills. Poorest families will be given extra child benefit if they enrol in parent classes. The 5 a day pledges include:

1. Read to child for 15 minutes a day
2. Play with child for 10 minutes a day
3. Talk to child for 20 minutes a day with television off
4. Adopt positive attitudes and praise them often
5. Ensure your child has a nutritious daily diet.

Inequalities within exclusion rates

Permanent exclusion rates in schools show that boys are 3½ times more likely to be permanently excluded than girls. Children with special educational needs are 8 times more likely to be excluded than those without SEN. Black Caribbean pupils are 3 times more likely to be permanently excluded.

Child abuse doubles risk of depression in adulthood

A study conducted by King’s College, London found that people maltreated in childhood are twice as likely as those with no history of abuse to develop multiple and long-lasting episodes of depression.

Screen addicted children

Research at Bristol University has found that children are good at multi-tasking and can use four interactive devices at the same time. 63 ten and eleven year olds were able to simultaneously use iPods, smartphones, laptops and hand-held computers whilst watching television. The research suggested that families need to develop strategies to limit the overall time spent on multi-screen viewing.

Research at Oxford University has found that Facebook, Twitter and other social networking devices have led to users having an identity crisis. The youngsters are self-obsessed, have short attention spans and desire constant feedback. There is an inability to make eye contact during conversations and they have poor non-verbal skills. Some parents allow children as young as 6 to surf the net an hour a day, much of it unsupervised.

Asthma affected by electrical items

Scientists in California found that pregnant women who use hairdryers, vacuum cleaners, microwaves or live near pylons could put their babies at risk of asthma. Use of these items could treble the chances of their child getting asthma. Findings were published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

We have now launched our brand new web site and new look newsletter. This month’s newsletter talks about some of the exciting new features of our site. Big thanks to Simon Mosse (themosse.com) who has created this brand new website.

Exclusive Offers

To mark the launch of the new site we are giving away a copy of Magic Moments with every printed book order from the shop. Just place your order, and your free copy of Magic Moments will be delivered to you.

Members Area

As discussed in last month’s newsletter, we now have a free members area. To get access to this free area, you need to register by visiting the registration page . You will then be able to access:

• A library of Articles from Behaviour Solutions – exclusive to Members of the site
• Exclusive offers available to members
• Newsletter Archive – where you can gain access to all Behaviour Solutions newsletters from March 2005.
• Free copy of “Behaviour Solutions: Ways to Manage Challenging Students”.

Brand New Shop

Our shop has gone interactive! You can now browse our products with ease, and place orders at a click of a button. Why not have a look now. You can pay securely by Paypal, or even pay by invoice by clicking on the Invoice Option tab at bottom of page.

Quality Courses

We are introducing a new generation of courses from Saturday Solutions to webinars. Click here for information on this.

NEW ARTICLE – Teenage Girls: Size Zero or XXL

Eating disorders affect 7 in 1000 girls. These eating disorders can range from those where severe weight loss occurs through to binge eating disorders. A new report from the Food Standards Agency has said that teenage girls are wrecking their health by copying the ‘size zero’ diets of female celebrities. They are refusing to eat dairy products and protein to keep as thin as possible. There is immense pressure on girls to stay as thin as possible – if they are overweight they have to put up with name calling and bullying…

To continue reading this article – click here.

The bookshop will have new products available which can be bought using Paypal or by traditional invoice. Most of our books will be available as E-books in the coming months. To mark the launch of the new site there will be a free book given to everyone purchasing a paper copy of any of our books.

There will also be a link to Twitter (www.twitter.com/@DaveVizard).

Many thanks go to Simon Mosse (www.themosse.co.uk) and my son Tim Vizard for all the work they have done to produce this exciting new website.

Brain training games can help pupils

Research by the University of Michigan psychologists found that brain training games helped a group of 62 pupils with an average age of 8 in tests relating to abstract reasoning and problem solving after 3 months of a daily 15 minute workout using these games.

Early cannabis use damages the adolescent brain

A study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry found that chronic cannabis users who started taking the drug in early teens struggled with neuropsychological tasks. Those that stated taking the drugs later did not have the same problems. The findings support the view that the developing brain appears vulnerable to early exposure to and the neurotoxic effects of cannabis which can lead to deficits in cognitive functioning.

Children struggle through parents’ divorcing

The American Sociological Review has reported on a 5 year study comparing the emotional and academic development of children of divorced couples compared with children whose parents stayed together. The report found that when divorce proceedings began the children suffered more from anxiety, loneliness, low self-esteem and sadness. They found it more difficult to make and sustain friendship.

The impact on children of households which are book free

Research conducted by the National Literacy Trust in 111 UK schools of 18,171 pupils aged 8-17 years old found that 30% of them live in households that contain no books and 40% of them live in homes with 10 or fewer books. This leads to lower levels of attainment and negative attitudes to reading. Children with no books in their homes are 2½ times more likely to fall below the expected reading level for their age.

Thirty somethings becoming grandparents

A study by the Economic and Social Research Council has found that rising rates of teenage pregnancy mean that mothers who had children young are becoming grandparents in their 30s. Also high rates of young motherhood and closely spaced generations in deprived areas have resulted in grandparents having children of a similar age to their own grandchildren. Also the grandparents often have to look after their child’s babies as they are without a partner.

Weaker children

A study in the child health journal Acta Paediactrics compared the physical fitness of 315 ten year olds from Essex tested in 2008 with 309 children tested in 1998. They found unsurprisingly that current childhood lifestyles dominated by television, computer games, social networking and other sedentary pursuits has led to a decline in children’s fitness. Over anxious parenting has also led to less exercise. 5% of children were unable to hold their own weight when hanging from a gym bar in 1998. This figure had doubled in 2008. Arm strength fell by 26% and their group strength declined by 7%.

Beware of too much staffroom coffee

Have you ever heard imaginary voices in school, then you’ve probably been drinking too much coffee. Professor Simon Crowe of La Trobe University in Melbourne found that there could be health risks associated with drinking too much coffee and that caution needs to be used in relation to consuming this ‘safe’ drug. Drinking just 5 cups a day could play tricks on your hearing. In the research he conducted, subjects were asked to listen to white noise. When listening it was found that people who were stressed and had consumed high levels of caffeine heard a song that in fact was not being played. The combination of stress and caffeine led to some individuals experiencing a psychosis like symptom.

This month’s newsletter is in the form of a feature article. ATL at their Easter Conference highlighted research which said over half of teachers surveyed said girls’ behaviour had worsened over the past 2 years and is now more challenging than boys’ behaviour. The feature ‘Ladettes behaving badly’ looks at this area in some detail.

Ladettes Behaving Badly

Increasing numbers of girls are displaying extreme and challenging behaviour in the classroom. This article looks at the background and reasons for this trend. Lancaster University found in a survey of girls in the North of England that there was an increase in ladette behaviour with a growing number of teenage girls being rowdy, swearing and fighting. They found that girls were becoming loud and more assertive. According to the British Association of Anger Management girls are copying some aspects of aggressive male behaviour. The number of teenage girls who lash out and are physically aggressive at school has increased dramatically.

It appears increasingly socially acceptable for young girls to vent their frustration in a violent and aggressive manner. According to Anger Management Psychotherapist Mike Fisher ‘In some of the inner city schools we are visiting it is seen (violence and aggression) as a sign of strength’. Mike Fisher also suggested that there was a strong link between binge drinking amongst young girls and their physical aggression. More binge drinking teenage girls now end up in hospital than boys. Other potential triggers for anger include family breakdown, bullying and premature sexualisation.

The portrayal of young people in the media including soaps where more and more extreme negative storylines occur and on reality television shows often promote competitiveness between contestants particularly girls and the need to eliminate other competitors to get ahead. Adverts and products can encourage early sexualisation and experimentation. Social networking sites can have a negative impact on their behaviour. The impact of gangs can mean a pack mentality develops and girls are forced to do extreme things to ensure membership. Girls are also treated in a negative manner by gang members. Violence is now the most common first time crime for females under 17 years of age and these offenders make up more than 33% of those girls receiving sentences. Childline Plus reported that parents were frequently attacked physically and through verbal abuse by their daughters.

The ladette culture frowns upon educational achievement and promotes girls becoming streetwise. Groups of girls are more effective bullies than boys according to Besag (2006). They can use psychological warfare to dominate their victim which can be damaging and have lifelong effects on victims. They use covert types of bullying including using a subtle undermining of confidence including nasty looks, catty comments and excluding behaviour. Some other nasty tricks include:

• Making a girl drop her old friends if she wants to join the in-group, then excluding them anyway
• Missing the victim out of a party invitation or encouraging a victim to organize a party then ensuring no one turns up
• Stealing a victim’s exercise book from the homework pile and hiding it
• Starting rumours about the victim

A gang of girls can make life hell. ‘The girls are acting in a group and that is where their strength comes from,’ says Professor Helen Cowie. ‘Although the ringleader will typically feel little empathy for the suffering of peers, the other members of the gang will have varying degrees of remorse and guilt.’ ‘Give the bystanders the skills to know how to respond and stop the violence in a safe way’ advises Rita Adair, an educational psychologist with the Anti-Bullying Alliance.

It is possible to change the ringleader’s actions by empowering those around her. The chief bully or ‘Queen Bee’ needs the laughter and attention of the crowd. If the hangers-on refuse to condone her behaviour, she is left isolated. Ways to do this include discussing the different levels of culpability with the class. Who is really to blame for this: the main bully, the sidekicks, those who fan the flames or the seemingly innocent bystanders? The class will realise bullying is everyone’s responsibility.

Dr Val Besag illustrates how pupils can be manipulated by friendship groups. ‘Girl bullying is nearly always done by friends,’ she says. ‘It can easily be denied with a, ’Oh, it’s only a game’ comment, which makes it harder to deal with.’

Friendships appears more important to girls than academic success. They fear isolation after being pushed out of a friendship group. Girl bullies are subtle and exclude girls from friendship groups and hide their possessions. According to information presented to a Commons’ Education Select Committee, girls use “rumour-mongering and ‘social isolation’” to control their victims. David Moore, a Senior Ofsted Inspector highlighted the use of non-verbal communication as a powerful weapon. He said that a group of girls would walk up to another girl who thinks they are all friends and then walk away isolating her and leaving her publicly humiliated.

They typically exclude children from their circle by cruel words and devious back stabbing. They can be obsessed by the consumer culture, with its emphasis on clothes and looks. They are supremely confident.

In the classroom we need to use strategies to break up the power base of groups of ladettes, as indeed with other groups of students. A group of ladettes will get its strength from acting in a group and there is likely to be a leader – the alpha female. She will be controlling, loud and will use sarcasm and stage whispers to isolate others. She will try to assemble her group close to her in lessons. I will often try to re-arrange the class, including this group in the name of a task. If the cluster is broken up it is less likely to be as effective. I sometimes give out cards numbered 1-5 and get students to sit together with those who have the same number. This immediately breaks up the power base and will isolate the alpha female and other group members

Early intervention strategies need to occur when instances of bullying are identified. The promotion of the importance of bystanders in bullying incidents is central to reducing bullying. Using the work of kidscape (www.kidscape.co.uk) with victims to help empower them is useful. There are also programmes that can be used with groups of girls to help them reflect on what is occurring and through role plays develop more positive relationships. Many schools use the Virginia Satir’s Daily Temperature Reading delivered as Circle Time where groups consider key areas including appreciation, new information, puzzles, complaints and their wishes, hops and dreams to develop positive relationships.

References

Besag, V. (2006) Understanding Girls’ Friendships, Fights and Feuds: A Practical Approach to Girls’ Bullying. Maidenhead: Open University Press
Fisher, M. (2005) Beating Anger. London: Random House / Rider
Vizard, D. (2007) How to Manage Behaviour in FE. London: Sage Publications Ltd