06/13/99

Readers respond to 'Friends'

... in response to "Special Friends" (5/21/99)

Tell Administrators about "Special Friends"

"I was excited to read your article about the Special Friends program in East Hampton for two reasons: First, I baby-sit for the children of a first grade teacher involved in such a program; and second, I am a 49-year-old woman who knows herself pretty well and would love to do something like this. I have natural teaching and counseling abilities and some college; I've raised five children; and I've been seeking more to do, since my regular job is part-time. I plan to find out if the elementary school in my town has such a program. If not, maybe they'll start one. I'm a firm believer in awareness about both good news and bad news in our world. Children need to learn to channel what they hear and see, from an early age.

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Online Support Club

"Special Friends Programs are a terrific idea. They give children a chance to speak their piece about issues important to them, and in doing so, larger family issues may be identified and given a chance for resolution. I have a child with Asperger's Syndrome, a disorder in the Autism family. In my years of dealing with my family's health needs, I have come to realize how important it is to give support to and receive support from others. To that end, I created an online support club for families like mine. It is called "Time Out for Families." Anyone is welcome to drop by for a visit."

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Results have been Wonderful

My son's school has a Special Friends program, too. He has been attending the program all year long for socialization and self esteem issues. He enjoys going, and the results have been wonderful. I encourage all schools to have this program if possible."

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More Adult Male Role Models Needed

"My impression is that virtually 50% of children coming through middle school or early high school have emerged from a divorce. This teaches them about conditionality of family love and builds an iceberg of rage in some of them. Of course these teens are responsible for their actions, but their families, if preserved, would have taught them the lessons they need to learn about forgiveness and reconciliation. In the early grades, many of these angry children attend after school programs. Boys especially need male role models in these early years. How about providing tax credits to men who are willing to become mentors or coaches to these boys, to expand constructive, esteem building relationships with the boys who feel isolated or pushed aside at home?"

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"The Social Emotional Learning Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University was founded because social and emotional learning is now recognized as an essential part of children's education and is a necessary feature of all successful school reform efforts. A growing body of research is confirming what parents, educators and health care professionals have long known: social and emotional competencies provide the essential foundation for academic achievement and healthy behavior. The Institute offers educators at all levels, elementary through high school, courses designed to five core principles that characterize social emotional learning:

1. The essential importance of creating safe, caring and responsive schools;
2. Enhancing awareness of self and others
3. Using our developing awareness of self and others to solve problems on the one hand and;
4. To be generative and learn on the other hand;
5. To engage in long term collaborative planning.

For more information, please contact Ms. Eleanor Lazarin, Program Coordinator of The Project for Social and Emotional Learning at the Center for Educational Innovation and Outreach.

Telephone: 212-678-3407
FAX: 212-678-8417
Email: sel@columbia.edu
Website: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/~academic/csel

Please send questions or comments to bbruno@snet.net.