Second

Step, a top-rated violence prevention program,

will be introduced in seven Fayette County

elementary schools during the 1999-2000 school

year.

According

to Karen Spangler, director of student services

for the schools, Second Step teaches children the

skills society used to refer to as good manners,

such as impulse control, empathy and anger

management.

"Each

school participating has identified three or more

people to attend summer training," Spangler

said. In turn, these people will return to their

schools and train classroom teachers to

facilitate the 20- to 40-minute lessons given

several times a week throughout the year,

Spangler explained.

The

program includes parents and non-teaching school

personnel such as bus drivers, secretaries and

cafeteria workers in its scope of instruction,

allowing for continuity in the methods used in

dealing with children's behavior. In the

classroom, teachers will use puppets,

manipulatives and role playing to convey the

message that "violence will not be

tolerated."

The

schools participating in the program applied for

and received grant money from the Georgia

Children's Trust Fund Commission. Spangler

explained the 25 percent district match will come

from the Safe and Drug Free Account. The amount

awarded Fayetteville Elementary School, which was

the first school in the county to apply, is

$7,831 from Children's Trust and $2,610 from the

school district.

Comparable

grants were awarded to Peachtree City Elementary,

Brooks Elementary, Tyrone Elementary, Braelinn

Elementary, Kedron Elementary and Peeples

Elementary. The total amount received was

$33,000.

"This

is a research-based program," Spangler said.

Reading from a recent article examining Second

Step, Spangler added, "A 1997 study

published in the Journal of the American Medical

Association, comparing changes in student

behavior at six Second Step schools with those at

six scientifically selected control schools,

found that physical aggression fell 29 percent

and verbal hostility fell 20 percent with Second

Step. At the other schools, these behaviors

worsened 41 percent and 22 percent

respectively."

Schools

in Forsyth County and the Decatur School District

have both implemented Second Step programs.

Second

Step works on the premise that people prone to

violence and aggression lack empathy, impulse

control, problem solving and anger management

skills. Second Step's curriculum addresses this

skills in the areas they are lacking.

For

information on Second Step in Georgia, phone the

Children's Trust Fund, 404-206-6043 or go to [email protected]

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