STUDENTS DISPLAYING SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY SKILLS

The Delta school board wants to make sure its schools are safe and
caring places.

Earlier this year, the district hired a consultant from the Institute
for Safe Schools of British Columbia at the University of the Fraser
Valley to conduct a safe school responsibility review.

The consultant met with district and school staff and community
agencies over several months to assess Delta's current programs,
policies and protocols dealing with bullying, drug use and other issues.

He came up with a list of recommendations how the board, which is
already revising the district's code of conduct, can improve its policies.

In a presentation of his findings last month, Terry Waterhouse told
the board social responsibility is a high priority at local
elementary schools. He said the ones he visited students appeared to
have strong grasp of what it's all about.

He recalled a visit to Grade 3 class where he was impressed with the
students' understanding of the concept.

"It was unbelievable to me the sophistication which the students
could define what it meant to be socially responsible," said Waterhouse.

"Then I asked, 'What are some of the behaviours that someone who's
socially responsible uses with their friends and others around them?'

They would then talk very positively about the need for displaying
positive behaviour ... it was clear to me that the commitment that's
going on in schools has kids developing fairly strong, fluid ability
to understand the concepts and even use the concepts."

Waterhouse, a former police liaison officer, said Delta's school
liaison program is well integrated in elementary schools. He said
officers visit schools on a regular basis and address issues in a
proactive way.

"Given all the competing demands, I was actually impressed to see the
lengths to which the (Delta) police department is actively involved
in the support in that area."

Noting the B.C. government is the only one in Canada to give its
schools a set of social performance standards, Waterhouse pointed out

social responsibility isn't identified as a major point in Delta
secondary schools' growth plans.

Teaching social responsibility in classrooms on a sustained basis is
difficult for a variety of reasons, not just in Delta but in most
communities he's visited, added Waterhouse.

"There are few opportunities for direct instruction for two specific
categories: solving problems in peaceful ways, and value and
diversity and defending human rights."

One of Waterhouse's recommendations includes developing a strategy
for instructing social responsibility in high schools.

Another recommendation is to collaborate with community agencies to
develop a substance abuse strategy.

On the topic of bullying, trustee Heather King told Waterhouse the
district was caught off guard last year with an occurrence at one
school, that she didn't name, which went beyond bullying. She wanted
to know how schools can undertake post-incident reviews to make sure
potential occurrences can be avoided.

Also commenting on what happened in that school, trustee Rose
McDonald noted the problem seemed to drag on, showing that some kind
of policy change is needed.

On the topic of addressing drug use in schools, chairperson Janet
Shauntz said that problem has been around, no matter where one goes,
for a long time.

Waterhouse agreed, saying it's a tough issue to deal with because
many different intervention strategies have been tried over the years
with only limited success.

Superintendent John Anderson said the recommendations from Waterhouse
are in a draft form only; a final report is to come to the board.