American School Board Journal: August 2002 -
[Cached Version]
Published on: 8/1/2002
Last Visited: 12/29/2002
said Anne Cass, principal of Riverdale High School, near Portland, Ore. "You know gossip is ugly.I've seen enough kids with their stomachs clenched, day after day, in pain."
Adolescent and preadolescent girls wield enormous power over their peers.Their weapons -- gossiping, name-calling, excluding -- may not give other girls black eyes or bloody lips, but they can be as harmful as physical intimidation, violence, and racial slurs.These frequently covert acts of aggression also affect your school climate and culture, as well as the girls' grades and sense of self-worth.
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Riverdale High School principal Anne Cass said the parents in the elementary school didn't like the kind of behavior they were seeing in their children.Cass got involved when she heard that high school volunteers would be needed.
Eleven schools, including Riverdale, have been pilot sites for the Ophelia Project.Volunteers from Ophelia train teachers, administrators, and parents.They also train the high school volunteers who will work with the younger students.
High school students are a key component to the program.Not only do they suggest other ways for girls to act, they also act as mentors and role models to the younger girls.
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People are treating each other better as result of the program, said Cass."We are developing a system to call students on the covert stuff, " she said."It has to be a cultural change."-- K.V.
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The Crick Social Development Lab at the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota.
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