When Child Abuse Prevention Services (CAPS) began its work on Long Island 28 years ago, the non-profit organization focused on educating about and intervening in the cycle of abuse and neglect, said Alane Fagin, who has been executive director since the organization’s founding. Soon, however, CAPSs’ staff began focusing on additional issues that were affecting children, including sexual harassment, rape, bullying and Internet safety.
“What started out as being strictly child abuse prevention has evolved to meet the needs and changing needs of the Long Island community,” said Fagin, of Roslyn, where the CAPS office is located.
The organization, whose approximate 120 volunteers bring free educational programming to schools, began offering programs on these topics in recent years, she said. In the 2010-2011 school year, volunteers educated about 42,000 students on Long Island by going classroom-to-classroom. CAPS also offers programs for adults and trains school and summer camp employees.
In September 2010, CAPS launched the Bully Prevention Center. The center provides educational programs about bullying and has a phone and e-mail bully helpline for children and parents.
“We’re here to listen,” Fagin said. “We understand that bullying is a serious problem that affects many young people and sometimes they feel helpless and don’t know where to turn.”
While CAPS does not offer as many programs during the summer because schools are out of session, bullying occurs in any place where youth gather, including summer camps, Fagin said. To prevent bullying anytime, there is safety in numbers, she added, and banning together against bullies with friends can stop the bullying. But if the bullying is physical or makes children fearful, they should seek adult intervention, she said.
If your child is being bullied, CAPS suggests that you discuss the following points with your child: stick up for one another, travel in a group, empathize, explore your choices, resist using fists, calm down, leave, enlist the help of others, assert yourself and act confidently and report incidents that make you feel unsafe.
Other tips that CAPS teaches children to prevent bullying and boost self-esteem are:
• Think about talking it out with the bully one-on-one.
• Say something funny to interrupt the bully’s script.
• Walk away.
• Do not allow the bully to see you upset.
• Take a deep breath and reaffirm your good qualities by repeating them to yourself.
• Try joining new clubs and activities to make new friends.
• Try journal writing.
• Get immediate help from an adult if you feel you are in physical danger.
Parents and children can call the Bully Prevention Center helpline at 516-621-0552 or e-mail bullyhelpline@capsli.org.
