Unit Plan Rationale, Campbell

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Introduction
School violence harms children emotionally, physically and mentally. Violence can be

defined as the use of physical force, words, or actions with a goal to injure, harm, abuse, damage,

or destroy (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). This can include anything from vandalism, theft and

bullying to school shootings and suicide attempts. Violence prevention must be taught to

students, starting at a young age. Think about the lives that could be saved.

Why
Every day in the United States there are around 12 children who die from gun violence,

and another 32 are shot and injured (Sandy Hook Promise, 2023). More than ever, a violence

prevention unit is needed for students at Byron-Bergen School. According to the Youth Risk

Behavior Survey for New York State, 20.8% of all students were involved in a physical fight

(YRBS, 2019). One of every five students has gotten into a physical fight on or off of school

property. It makes you wonder, why? Another sad statistic is that 35.1% of students felt sad or

hopeless almost every day for two or more weeks in a row (YRBS, 2019). This could be due to

many reasons such as bullying, threats, social skills, mental health, and more. 10.9% of students

have skipped school because they did not feel safe there, or on their way to school (YRBS,

2019). School should be a place where students feel safe and loved. This should be where kids

look forward to coming so that they can see their friends, learn, play sports, and more. No one

should feel scared or nervous to come to school. As a teacher, most days I see conflicts between

students and sometimes they turn violent. There are days where I am nervous to go to work. Due

to all of the school shootings and violence happening in our world, it is hard to feel safe in a

school.

Teaching violence prevention to students is one way to help end some of this violence.

Violence prevention will help students and teachers feel safer in school, and it will teach students
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how to handle certain situations. In the New York State guidance document for health education,

violence prevention is a functional knowledge content area that must be taught in order for

students to be safe, healthy, and achieve the NYS and National standards. If we look at the

National health education standards, each standard is broken down into performance indicators

that students should be able to perform and know by the end of grade five. The national

standards that a violence prevention unit addresses with their performance indicators are:

Standard 1 Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.
1.5.3 Describe ways in which safe and healthy school and community environments can promote personal health

Standard 2 Students will analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology, and other factors on health
behaviors.
2.5.3 Identify how peers can influence healthy and unhealthy behaviors
2.5.4 describe how the school and community can support personal health practices and behaviors
1.5.5 Explain how media influences thoughts, feelings, and healthy behaviors

Standard 4 Students will demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or
reduce health risks.
4.5.1 Demonstrate effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills to enhance health
4.5.3 use nonviolent strategies to manage or resolve conflict

Standard 5 Students will demonstrate the ability to use decision-making skills to enhance health.
5.5.3 Identify healthy options to health-related issues or problems
5.5.4 Predict the potential outcomes of each option when making a health-related decision

Standard 7 Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and avoid or reduce health risks.
7.5.1 Identify responsible personal health behaviors

The New York State health education standards also require that violence prevention is a

unit that is instructed at the elementary level. The NYS health education standards that apply to a

violence prevention unit with their performance indicators include:

Standard 2: A Safe and Healthy Environment

NYSHE 2A Understand basic safety rules
NYSHE 2B Recognize potentially dangerous situations and know how to avoid or reduce their risk
NYSHE 2C Know some personal and social skills which contribute to individual safety
NYSHE 2D Recognize characteristics of the environment that contribute to health
Standard 3: Resource Management
NYSHE 3B Understand how culture contributes to individual family and community beliefs and practices affecting health
NYSHE 3C Know how to access help when illness, injury, or emergency situations occur
NYSHE 3D Recognize how the media influences health choice
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Violence will have a long-term impact on a child's health and well-being, teaching

violence prevention will have a long-term effect on students and their decision making skills.

According to the CDC, youth violence is very common, in fact, homicide is the third leading

cause of death for young people ages 10-24 (CDC, 2022). Hospitals treat more than 1,000

adolescents for physical assault-related injuries every day (CDC, 2022). We must educate

students on violence prevention. The research proves that violence prevention education by

teachers can reduce violence and improve the school environment (CDC, 2021).

How will a violence prevention unit change behavior?

Any violence prevention unit will have a goal to target behavior change, we want

students to look at their behavior and perform a self evaluation. Are they doing what they can do

to prevent violent conduct? The skills that Byron-Bergens violence prevention program will

target include decision making, self-management, and relationship management. Students must

be able to make their own decisions and ensure that those decisions are going to enhance their

personal, family and community health. Self-management is a skill that is related to violence

prevention because students must be able to manage their emotions and know how to react in

given situations. This also involves the skill of communication, which plays a big role in

violence prevention. Relationship management is a skill that can be targeted in a violence

prevention program because students must know how to handle relationships with their peers and

how to properly solve conflicts, so that they don't turn violent.

The Social-Ecological Model focuses on a community level perspective. With this model

you must consider the interaction between individual, community, relationship and societal

factors. A bullying prevention unit is designed to prevent bullying by influencing a school

climate through intervention components that affect classrooms, peer norms and behavior, and

individual attitudes, norms, and skills.

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The evidence based curriculum that I will be adapting for use is the Second Step violence

prevention program. This program focuses on SEL, empathy, emotion management, friendship

skills and social problem solving. Throughout my years of teaching, I have found that building

relationships and focusing on SEL, especially at the elementary level, is the best way to teach

students. The Second Step program for violence prevention uses an integrated approach, is very

engaging and it involves family and community members. The program is aligned with academic

standards, anti-bullying legislation, and supports trauma-informed practices in schools.

One study found the effects of the Second Step Bullying/Violence Prevention Program to be

useful in reducing bullying in schools (Espelage et. al., 2015). Another study was done that

looked at students' perceptions of the program. In this study, 87% of participants stated that they

would recommend the program to other students (Farrell et. al., 2015). On top of the violence

prevention program, Second Step provides a conflict resolution unit, which I will also use.

Throughout the unit, I will use multiple different teaching strategies because I understand

that each child learns differently. I will ensure that I model everything and provide extensions for

students who need them. I will include students in my teaching and have student-led days. I will

use a variety of individual work and group work. I will teach using lectures, visuals, and hands-

on activities (mostly hands-on activities). I will also ensure that I have good classroom

management and walk around the classroom to give feedback to my students and help those who

may need it.

I understand that as a teacher, I am a role model. One thing that I like to do as a

professional is address my mistakes. I find it important for my students to understand that I am

human too and I go through the same things that they do. The last thing that I find to be the most

important thing a teacher can do is build relationships with students. To me, this is a strategy to
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be a successful teacher because if my students respect and trust me, then they are more likely to

learn what I am teaching them and they will come to me with any questions or concerns that they

have. Using a variety of research based teaching strategies is the best way to engage all students.

CSH and WSCC

A unit on violence prevention contributes to coordinated school health and the WSCC

model. The whole school, whole community, whole child (WSCC) model is part of a

coordinated school health program. These programs are used to improve students' health and

well-being. The WSCC model can be seen in a violence prevention unit in many different ways.

One component of the WSCC model is social and emotional climate. A positive school climate is

extremely important to ensure effective teaching and learning. A positive school climate is also

an important aspect of violence prevention. If students are excited to go to school and they have

fun, they are less likely to be violent (Johnson et. al., 2011). On the flip side, if we are able to

decrease violence through teaching violence prevention, then there will be a more positive

climate at the school. Social and emotional climate is another component of the WSCC model

and also a component of a violence prevention program. In the classroom I will focus on SEL,

which will be seen throughout the district in the way that students interact with others and their

engagement in school activities.

The WSCC model addresses the need to engage students as active participants in their

learning and health (CDC, 2023). In violence prevention, students are taught that they are in

charge of their own actions and decision making, they are active participants in their learning.

Lastly, violence prevention plays a part in coordinated school health by involving parents and

community members in the unit. When teaching violence prevention, parents will be contacted

and they will be encouraged to be a part of their child's learning. In the WSCC model and CSH,

parents and community members are encouraged to be involved with the district and events that
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are held. A violence prevention unit is a great way to encourage coordinated school health, get

families involved in the district, and create a healthy and safe school atmosphere.

Alignment with rest of curriculum

The violence prevention unit will align with almost any other units that are taught in

health class. Violence prevention skills include decision making, self-management and

relationship-management. These skills can be carried through to many different units throughout

the year, and these are skills that students need to have in order to be successful. Violence

prevention aligns with units such as conflict resolution, safety, and more. The knowledge and

skills that students will learn throughout this unit will be used for many other units throughout a

student's career and throughout their entire life. Violence prevention is a lifelong skill that must

be understood by all.

Conclusion

A violence prevention unit is extremely beneficial for students of any age. Although it is

not guaranteed to work for all, educating students about violence prevention is one way to work

towards ending the bullying, fighting, suicides, students scared to go to school, school shootings,

and other violence. The health education standards and data gathered clearly show that a school

violence prevention unit is needed and has important benefits. Although there are many

programs and curriculums available, Second Step is a great program for elementary level

students to teach them about the topic of violence prevention and the importance of SEL. By

teaching violence prevention, we are setting students up to live a healthy and safe life.
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References

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Eisenbraun, K. D. (2007). Violence in schools: Prevalence, prediction, and prevention.
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