RHHS Wildcats: News You Can Use
#WEareRH - Friday, 3/16/18
Student Parking - some changes
Effective Monday, March 19th, students will see some changes with regard to parking on campus:
- Student parking decals should be placed on the rear, driver-side window
- Students may park in any student lot/student parking space-except the senior lot- with a registered student parking decal
- Student parking spaces in the non-senior lots are on a first-come, first-served basis
- After 7:30am, if all of the student parking spaces are full, students will be expected to park behind the softball field
- Students parked behind the softball field will not be permitted to exit that area until after buses have cleared that afternoon
- Students who are in violation of established rules for parking on campus are subject to fines - the first offense will be $5 and each subsequent offense will increase by $5
- Citations will be written for vehicles without decals or properly displayed decals, vehicles parked in unmarked spaces, and student vehicles parked in faculty-designated spaces
Parent conferences for 9th and 11th graders
Advisors of 9th and 11th grade students have started contacting parents to set up these conferences. All conferences should be scheduled and completed by March 23rd.
Prom is NEXT Friday, March 23rd!
Students must attend school (at least 1/2 day - 2 blocks) in order to participate in extracurricular activities, such as prom. This year, since Prom is on Friday, we are allowing Juniors and Seniors with NO absences and NO tardies March 1-22 to attend Prom even if they are absent (unexcused) on Friday. Students with any tardies and/or absences in March are required to be at school at least half-day on Friday in order to attend Prom.
SAT and ACT test dates and registration information
Fee waivers are available for students on free/reduced lunch. Students should talk to their counselor for more information.
Taking care of our students
Bullying vs. Peer Conflict
With ongoing media coverage and educational emphasis on the problem of bullying, it would be easy to categorize bullying as an epidemic. It would also be easy to fall into thinking that developmentally normal behavior, such as conflict, could be categorized as bullying.
So, how can we tell the difference between bullying and peer conflict?
Conflict is normal-- It is a part of everyday life. As adults, we maneuver ourselves away from conflict and sometimes we know that it will occur. Therefore, some conflict is normal in our children’s lives in the same way that it is normal in our lives. It is only because of our experience in dealing with conflict that we, as adults, now know how to deal with conflict ourselves. In fact, many adults attribute the difficulties that we have faced in conflict with others as areas of growth that have built our resilience and helped us face life’s adversities.
As adults-whether parents, school official, or community members-we need to recognize that some of what we call “bullying” may actually be developmentally appropriate conflict and is a normal part of growing up.
Recognizing bullying--Bullying is a complex problem, but there are good tools and resources that can help parents identify bullying behaviors. There are four characteristics that can qualify a situation as bullying.
Intentional
Repetitive
Hurtful
Imbalance of power
When to intervene--We have the same issue in our adult lives as well, and there are laws to protect us when conflict crosses the line into adult size bullying. We cannot legally threaten, harm or harass each other; when we do, there are procedures in place to bring the “bully” to justice. Because we are adults and because we have learned that threatening, harming, and harassing each other is not right, this system works. This is not the case with children, yet. When dealing with children, we have to both educate and protect. We need to model behavior that teaches children how to communicate and go through conflict with others. In helping kids rise above bullying, the action steps that adults can take start at home, and spread to schools and entire communities. These steps are called building resilience, and it’s the long-term solution to addressing bullying and other risky childhood behaviors.
How to help teens conquer peer conflict:
Reign in the social media-- educate and closely monitor your child’s interactions on social media sites.
Create family identity-- create a model for healthy conflict resolution within the family structure to model habits that children can take into other environments.
Encourage multiple interests-- this will help combat clique development by encouraging your child’s interests and helping them to pursue them.
Talk it out--promote conversations with your children that will help them put reasons behind decisions that they make.
Increase independence with clear expectations--allow your child to start making more choices about where they are and who they are with.
Make family a priority--create family time that is protected while being flexible around your child’s commitments.
Create codes for getting your child help-- children need to know that their parents will help them get out of sticky situations, even if there may be consequences later.
Be prepared to interact--be willing to talk through your child’s successful and failed conflicts so that they can learn how to proceed in both their teenage and adult years.
Additional Resources:
https://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/index.html
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/relationships-communication/conflict-resolution-skills.htm
http://www2.peacefirst.org/digitalactivitycenter/files/peaceful_conflict_resolution_0.pdf
http://www.stompoutbullying.org/
At Richmond Hill High School, we want to work with students and parents to make sure that our student population feels safe.If your child is experiencing bullying, please report the incident immediately to your child’s school counselor or grade level administrator immediately. Counselor information is included below - please do not hesitate to let us know if we can be of better support. Email information for each counselor can be found on the RHHS website (http://www.bryan.k12.ga.us/o/rhhs/page/school-counseling--7 )
Rhashida Bunyan: last names A-Davidson
Emily Neff: Davis - Hobby
Wallace Ingram: Hod-Miller
Laine Lynch: Milton-Sa
Saraswati Hendrix: Sc-Z
Jennifer Blanton: Graduation Coach
Jonna Vaughn: Military Family Life Counselor
Richmond Hill High School
Email: dmcneal@bryan.k12.ga.us
Website: http://www.bryancountyschools.org/o/rhhs
Location: 1 Wildcat Drive, Richmond Hill, GA, United States
Phone: 912-459-5151
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richmondhillhigh/
Twitter: @RichmondHill_HS