Fewer kids in two local elementary schools are going to the principal's office for causing trouble in class.
At Stawamus Elementary, there was a 50 per cent reduction in discipline incidents for the 2003/2004 school year when compared to the statistics from the 2002/2003 year.
The school has been keeping discipline records for the past three year and for the first time was able to compare the statistics, said Sebastian Amenta, the school principal.
Mamquam Elementary has also seen a drop in the number of children sent to the office. In September 2000, 106 students were sent to the office. This September, only 44 students went. So far 395 students out of 417 have not been sent to the office.
"The kids have really adopted a positive attitude to do the right thing," said Jeff Larcombe, Mamquam's principal.
The school has been teaching strategies for resolving conflicts and teaching a provincial anti-bullying program. There are also positive posters up all over the school, and teachers talk to their students about issues like conflict resolution.
Positive things are emphasized at assemblies too, and it's making a difference, he said.
"When you emphasis the positive, it rubs off on everybody," Larcombe said. "It makes you feel good."
It's an approach being used at Stawamus Elementary as well. The school had an assembly on last Tuesday celebrating the drop in discipline incidents.
Amenta said the school has been using a different approach when it comes to discipline over the past few years.
"You work from a positive to a negative," he said.
The staff starts by telling the student what was good about the way he or she handled a situation before they suggest what the student should not have done. But the child has to make the decision to do something about their behavior. The philosophy is simple.
"Nobody can change you except yourself," Amenta said. "We're just saying it has to be fixed."
It's a philosophy that is working. "One thing I've noticed is these kids are more willing to take responsibility," Amenta said.
And Amenta and staff at the school are getting the students to take ownership and responsibility for their school.
Social responsibility is a goal for the 2004/2005 school improvement plan and all the schools in the district are working on it.
"We're focusing on social responsibility because we see in our schools students who don't have empathy, said Amy Shoup, the chairperson for Howe Sound School District No. 48.
"Unfortunately, some of them don't learn it at home," she said.
