Hi all,

I'm saddened reading the story below. I'm also scared, imagining
people in positions of power with the ability to cancel out the
financial support that many of us need to do the work we do, and
also to 'blacklist' us and spread ideas like the ABA mention about
the work we do.

I want to live in a world where we communicate with care around our
mistakes in relation to each other, and where schools nourish the
whole of students - body, emotions, spirit, as well as their
intellects. Also where schools offer more support to students to
enable them to grow into aware and caring adults.

I call on the divine energy that runs through everything to give me
the strength and resources to be able to connect with people such as
those mentioned below from the government and Kidscape, to connect
fully with their needs and to connect them fully with mine, so we
may find ways to meet them all.

Daren De Witt



--- In NVC-EducationUK@..., "Shona Cameron"
<shona.cc@v...> wrote:
>
> Dear All
> I am wanting to pass on a message which came throught the
Educational
> Psychology List that I subscribe too- mainly to share what is
happening in
> the world of education and as a way of supporting Barbara Maines'
work which
> with its emaphasis on restorative work in schools fits with our
hopes for
> nvc in schools
> I would enjoy to hear reactions from others
> Shona
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: The Educational Psychology List [mailto:EPNET@J...]On
> Behalf Of Barbara Maines
> Sent: 06 February 2006 22:49
> To: EPNET@J...
> Subject: [EPNET] Anti Bullying Alliance
>
>
> Successful Strategy under Attack
>
> When a society behaves at its worst it is often the result of
oppression
> by those who hold power. Compliance, maybe reluctant, is given by
those
> who are powerless.
>
> Since the first publication of the No Blame Support Group method
in 1991
> we have been both supported and criticised. We have never
complained
> about that – the work is controversial and should be evaluated and
> debated. Some of the negative comments have been personalised and
we
> have tried hard to be restrained in our responses, whilst
continuing to
> promote non-punitive, restorative and solution focused process.
>
> The principal source of the criticism has come from Kidscape,
members of
> which have misrepresented our 7-step method by suggesting that it
is a
> process during which the victim has to confront the bullies and the
> bullies `get away with it'. That is definitely not what we
advocate but,
> through popularisation of this variation, we have found that some
> schools misuse the method and end up with different results. If
you want
> the cake you have to follow the recipe!
>
> Since the formation of the Anti-bullying Alliance and our
appointment as
> regional coordinators in September 2004 the negative press has
escalated
> and become very unpleasant.
>
> Towards the end of 2005 a Labour MP in Bristol took the
opportunity to
> attack the recently elected Lib-Dem Bristol Council by asking Tony
Blair
> to condemn the use of the No Blame method as referenced in the
Bristol
> policy document.
>
> On 16th of December we received a phone call from Paul Ennals,
Chief
> Executive of the National Children's Bureau which hosts the service
> agreement for the ABA, telling us that our contracts as regional
> coordinators would not be renewed. Until that point we had been
led to
> believe that we would be signing new contracts before the end of
the year.
>
> At a meeting of regional coordinators on 9th January Paul Ennals
> explained that he was under extreme pressure from the Prime
Minister's
> office including frequent phone calls both to his home and at
work. The
> threat was to withdraw funding for the ABA if we continued in post
as
> coordinators because we are associated with a non-punitive
approach to
> bullying. Paul Ennals assured us that our work was supported by
the ABA,
> that we had not promoted our own work in our roles as regional
> coordinators, and that we had done nothing wrong.
>
> At subsequent meetings our colleagues (coordinators and members of
the
> advisory group) unanimously and in the strongest terms condemned
the
> action and asked Paul to reverse his decision. He refused. Our
contracts
> have not been renewed and ongoing work has been interrupted,
including
> development of an accreditation scheme for schools and creative
work
> with Looked After Children.
>
> This is a short, factual account of what has happened. We should
add
> that we have been devastated by this and as we left the
coordinators
> meeting we broke down in tears, feelings of rage at the injustice
and
> overwhelmed by the support and concern expressed by our colleagues.
>
> Whilst criticism is often voiced publicly and makes good press,
messages
> of support are usually sent to us privately. We are now contacting
> colleagues to ask for help on three counts.
>
> 1. We want to explain what has happened and allow people to express
> their views on a political process that threatens professional
freedom
> and integrity for all of us.
> 2. It is important that the voices advocating punishment and
retribution
> do not go unchallenged and that those who support restorative,
problem
> solving and emotionally literate methodology have a strong voice
> 3. We need to protect our reputation and access to our work.
>
> For clarification we can confirm to you that we are Sage employees
on
> salaries and we have not had any personal financial gain from the
ABA.
>
> During recent weeks we have been updating our website with new
> information which will go live on the 6th February.
> http://www.luckyduck.co.uk/supportgroup
>
>
> If you would like to express your views by email they should go to:
> barbara@l...
> george@l...
> ccloke@n... - Chair of ABA
> PEnnals@n... - Chief Executive NCB
> conorfryan@a... - Prime Minister's Office
>
> We have made the decision to resign as members of the ABA and make
> public what has happened to us. We have made contact with the
office of
> the Children's Commissioner and will be meeting with his team to
discuss
> ways in which we can continue to make a contribution to this
> anti-bullying work.
>
> We will be contacting colleagues in the UK and overseas inviting
them to
> join an interest group to share good practice, training and
research in
> the range of non-punitive methods to combat bullying. It you would
like
> to join please email barbara@luckyduck and we will keep in touch .
>
> If you have received our training or used the Support Group Method
then
> we would be very grateful if you would complete the enclosed
questionnaire
>
> Thank you
> Barbara Maines and George Robinson
>
> 1. How did you learn about the method?
> 2. Have you ever used it
> 3. Did you follow the 7 steps
> 4. Have you used other methods to change behaviour of bullies
> 5. What has worked
> 6. What has not worked
> 7. Other comments
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------
----
> The views expressed in this EPNET message are solely the author's.
> They are not to be represented as the views either of the member's
> employer or of educational psychologists generally
>
> The EPNET archives and the subscription manager can be found at
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>