Anti-bullying program begins at Saint Vincent de Paul School with U of U interns teaching the program

Saint Vincent de Paul School

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SALT LAKE CITY — At Saint Vincent de Paul School, the announcement comes over the intercom, "This is Koby Konshot, student body president. This week’s SLE (Student Learning Expectation) is to ‘Show respect for God, Church, others, self and property.’"

Examples of these SLEs include: be helpful to those around you, especially the younger students who look up to you; pick up litter on our school campus to keep it beautiful; and help those in need by donating a can for the food drive.

The SLE is announced every Monday, helping students strive to be more active Christians, better human beings and take responsibility with their actions. These announcements work hand in hand with this year’s "Hearts for Peace" anti-bullying program that was started at Saint Vincent de Paul School in September.

Bullying can make life difficult for the victims, damage their self-esteem, hurt their academic performance, cause depression, and make them afraid to go to school. According to the National Education Association, "Six out of 10 American teenagers witness bullying in school once a day." Utah is not immune to these trends, so Saint Vincent’s launched a new school-wide anti-bullying program called "Hearts for Peace."

This program was developed around key concepts found in the book Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict, written by the Arbinger Institute.

Corrine Johnson, the school’s counselor, said, "I felt this would be a wonderful idea to create a school-wide intervention targeted toward hearts at peace versus hearts at war."

Johnson, has worked with St. Vincent’s School over the past 10 years and also works for Holy Cross Ministries. She brought in student interns in the University of Utah’s Master of Social Work, Andrea Richmond, Helen Kambkala and Julie Ogilvie, to teach the program.

All St. Vincent students in K-8 participate in classroom presentations, small group activities and all-school events designed to cultivate "hearts at peace." They are shown ways to build positive relationships with others and given language and social skills designed to resolve conflicts in a respectful manner. They are encouraged to choose to maintain a peaceful heart, a heart that strives to see others as people and not objects. The school has monthly activities that include poster and writing contests, T-shirt design, and love coupons the children create for their parents. Students are encouraged to help others or do an act of kindness for family, friends, or those in need.

Parents have a very active role in this campaign; they are encouraged to read the book, discuss it with their children and reinforce the concepts at home.

"The goals of this program are both educational and behavioral," Johnson said. "Students will express and understand the difference between a Heart at Peace and a Heart at War and be able to identify times when their actions reflect one of the two heart states. If this program is successful, it will be used at other schools served by Holy Cross Ministries." 

Courtesy of Saint Vincent de Paul School