Stand-in PARENT is Job-ONE of All Teachers & Administrators - PERIOD! ...like... Duh!
Channel: Michael Sirbola
Date: 2012-10-17

INSIDE every STUDENT is a CHILD! Being a kid is a full time job! It can't be turned on & off! Children are NOT "little" adults! Yet many teachers and administrators believe & act precisely as if this were so - SEE the madness! A bunch of trained adults, a bunch of kids, all alone in a big building a good part of every day - There had better be LOTS OF PARENTAL-TYPE GUIDANCE - PARENTING - GOING ON! We know there isn't as much as there should be, and we know why... belief that the "HAT" of education is entirely separate from the hat of "Stand-in Parent."  So... as of now... if you are a teacher or administrator... you know. See how simple that was! YOU are a stand-in parent FIRST and educators a distant... second.  This is not complicated, it is clear and it is not how things are currently viewed. Many solutions are not thought of, believed possible, and are conceptually invisible due to this flawed understanding of responsibilities and implied belief in a mythical organ that can "shut-off" all of the needs of a young child once they step into a classroom. Solutions will appear once the mind-set of the school administration and system changes holistically. How about today?

Broward County Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie - What are the Broward County, Florida Statistics on SCHOOL & BUS BULLYING? What are the STATISTICS for SUICIDES, SUICIDE ATTEMPTS & CHILD ABUSE? On a per school and per class basis, please, now that it is so simple to know the true numbers. 

DEMAND TO KNOW THE NUMBERS of kids being BULLIED ON BUSES and in crisis at your school! The Federal Statistic is 1 in 5 KIDS VICTIMIZED - Mostly in SECRET with NO ONE TO TELL because NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR IT! Every School MUST ANONYMOUSLY POLL FOR NUMBERS of KIDS IN CRISIS! EMPOWER & GIVE KIDS a VOICE - HEAR THEM! This method applies to every class, every day because kids can use it to answer BOTH regular and sensitive questions! 

SCHOOL PRINCIPALS need to KNOW as do parents REAL numbers on students being bullied in Broward County, Florida in class, in school and on the bus! 

How many are in crisis now? Anonymous Coin-toss polling enables a principal or school superintendent to ask of ones students; Has anyone in the room ever ?-ed in the past? Not surprisingly, many students will lie if they answer the question at all - coin tossing  gives true anonymity to the student.  Ask a question, "Have you ever ?-ed? Yes or no," but request that before answering, students privately flip a coin. If the coin lands heads, students simply answer yes. If the coin lands tails, students are instructed to answer truthfully. Because a yes response might indicate only a coin's landing heads, people presumably would have little reason to lie.

HOW IS IT ANONYMOUS? A yes might reflect the toss of the coin or ones true experience, there's no way to tell! Half who answer "not" to "Have you ever ???'ed?" will answer "yes" although they haven't. 

HOW DOES ONE CALCULATE THE PERCENTAGES? The number who did not do ??? is double the number saying "no"- So if 20% of the population surveyed said "no, then the true fraction that did do ??? is 40%! 

IS IT FOOLPROOF? YES! When asked a private question, a coin is flipped before answering. The flip result is kept private and is known only to the student answering the question.

NOT JUST FOR SENSITIVE QUESTIONS! All class questions could be asked anonymously this way to encourage full participation & real inclusion for ALL students. 

NATIONWIDE 1 IN EVERY 5 KIDS IS CRIMINALLY VICTIMIZED BEFORE 18 - We have inexcusably been stepping over the writhing-in-pain bodies of our own and others children and blindly ignoring the reality of what this statistic means. We regularly step over the bodies of our children because we feel we have to, because everyone else is doing it and because we don't believe anything can be done about it, so we continue (stepping over bodies) and pretend blindness - We Need be Blind No More! 

REAL NUMBERS ON KIDS BULLIED ON BUSES, IN CLASSROOMS, SCHOOLS, AT HOME - OUR KIDS ARE IN CRISIS! Until now we simply had no way of knowing the truth, now we know how to ask and find real answers - Dunk our heads or flip a coin for the truth - Which will it be?

100% INCLUSION OF ALL (ESE) KIDS NOT A FAIRY-TALE! Exceptional Students (ESE) kids are often shy about raising their hands - how horrible - set apart if too often wrong & if too often right! 100% of kids RESPOND to every ANONYMOUS-%POLL coin-flip coin-toss question! 

MILITARY WOMEN AND MEN CAN HELP! Every military man and woman can lead the way on this - Some say there is an endemic culture of abuse throughout the military - True? or False? The public deserves to know the truth as do the military men and women themselves! Safe2Tell Coin-toss Anonymous-polls are needed NOW! 

Speaker: Michael Sirbola - Broward County School Board, July 2012