HEAR for Middle School Teachers

The Threat of Middle School Bullying

As a middle school teacher, you know that your classroom is not merely a collection of students, but a complex mini-community of children and soon-to-be adolescents with widely diverse origins, cultures and needs. While delivering the highest quality education possible to this community is the ultimate goal, you realize that the first step in reaching that goal is to ensure a safe learning environment for all – an environment devoid of threats, insecurities and other obstacles to active student engagement.

Bullying challenges the stability of that environment. Regardless of whether this dangerous and destructive behavior occurs in your own classroom, in the hallways or off school grounds, the impact of bullying is clear. When your students are more worried about their personal safety and well-being than their coursework, your ability to teach is frustratingly compromised.

We Know Your Needs

At Project HEAR, we understand the challenges bullying presents and the critical role you play in recognizing incidences of bullying and dealing with the inevitable results. As educators ourselves, we also know that middle school teachers are often the first to notice the anxieties, exclusion and isolation that victims of bullying exhibit. And you are typically the first ones to witness bullying in your classroom, hallways and other common areas – more so than counselors and other school administrators, you are on the front lines of the bullying battle.

We also know that middle school students face different pressures and stresses than their high school or elementary school counterparts. We understand the particular challenges faced by your students’ age group – the stresses brought on by emerging concerns over personal appearances, peer pressure, the hive mentality, etc. We are intimately aware that younger students are much less adept at rationalizing the consequences of their actions – that to them, every slight, every disagreement, every worry seems an insurmountable obstacle. That focus on the immediacy of every issue – combined with their first foray into the cell phone world of constant digital connectivity – can make it sometimes seem like the end of the world is near.

An Age-Appropriate Solution

HEAR for Middle Schools was developed with the specific needs of middle school teachers and their unique student audience in mind. Founded on extensive academic research conducted by nationally renowned subject matter experts at Making Caring Common, a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and aligned with Common Core State Standards, HEAR for Middle Schools informs and educates today’s middle school students on bullying and the countervailing principles of respectful behavior.

Through participation in the age-appropriate, research-based HEAR for Middle Schools program, your students have the opportunity to reflect on the kind of real-life bullying situations they face and help brainstorm solutions that fit their age group. By initiating and enabling structured discussions on what it means to behave in a respectful and inclusive manner, key messages in support of bullying prevention and active engagement begin to take hold.

We Know Your Challenges

Finally, we know the resource and time limitations you face in today’s middle school teaching environment.  Hear for Middle Schools is available on a classroom-by-classroom basis as a stand-alone curriculum package, a fully delivered service or through a variety of curriculum materials and teacher training solutions.  HEAR is offered at a relatively low cost-per-student, with a wide range of staffing and funding options available, depending on school resources, local or national sponsorships, education grants and other financing opportunities.  Visit our Resources section for available funding sources and strategies for generating local partnership or sponsorship relationships in support of your bullying prevention needs.

To find out more, simply fill out the contact form below and we’d be happy to discuss how HEAR for Middle Schools can help.

Get more information about our bullying solutions.

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