Bullying

There are various types of harassment-bullying, intimidation, exclusion from a social group, verbal abuse, sexual harassment and Internet harassment-anyone of them can make many students’ school years a nightmare.

What happens to students who regularly experience harassment? Victims report low self-esteem, depression, the emotional turmoil of living in fear and torment and thoughts of suicide. They commonly do poorly in school and suffer from high rates of absenteeism.

Safe schools are everyone’s responsibility. When we fail to stop harassment in its many forms, we promote a climate of fear and abuse. We give the message to harassers that they have the right to victimize people and to victims that they are not worth protecting. Educators must give students the tools to recognize and deal with harassment so that everyone can experience a safer learning environment.

Driver's Education

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens. Inexperience plays a huge role in that statistic, however, many other factors can be present as well. Help young people recognize a potentially risky situation before it happens.

Many young drivers do not know that driving while drowsy can have catastrophic consequences. Studies have shown that being awake for 18 hours has the same effect on the body as having a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent-a BAC level considered legally drunk in most states. With delayed reflexes and vision problems, sleep-deprived teen drivers are a danger to both themselves and everyone else on the road.

Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs is another factor that can hinder a person's ability to drive safely. Although many teens are aware of the risks involved with drinking and driving, some have yet to realize that message. A lesser known cause of car crashes is drugged driving. Fewer realize that alcohol is not the only substance that can impair judgment and reaction time. Many illicit and over-the-counter drugs have effects that can make it unsafe to operate a vehicle.

Speed, too, can be deadly. Add a young adult's feeling of invincibility, and a desire to push the limits of new-found freedoms, it is easy to understand why young drivers often become a threat to themselves and to others on the roadways.

Parent and Professional Resources

Human Relations Media offers educational video-based and pamphlet resources geared toward use with classroom teachers, administrators and parents.

The parent education programs were designed to help educators work with parents to understand some of the issues today’s children face, and how the adults in a child’s life can provide help and understanding. These programs are often used for parent education seminars, take-home references to provide help for individual parents as well as being offered in a school’s parent resource library.

The programs for professionals offer invaluable insights to aid teachers with their classroom management skills as well as being able to recognize the signs and symptoms of child abuse and neglect, and report them.

Our parent pamphlets arm parents with the latest information they need to keep their teenagers safe and drug-free.

Special Education

According to the National Institutes of Health, 15 percent of the U.S. population-or one in seven Americans-has some type of learning disability. According to the National Center for Learning Disabilities, nearly four million school-age children have learning disabilities. Human Relations Media has several programs designed with special needs students in mind. These resources provide a step by step approach and dramatic situations that will resonate with untraditional students or mainstream students with a variety of learning styles. Whether dealing with their emotions, learning how to complete their assignments or deciding on a career path when a traditional 4-year college route may not suit their needs or situation, special needs students face more challenges. However, as the programs stress these challenges don’t hinder the opportunities and successes in life for students with learning differences.