A first grade teacher holds up a large black and white picture card of a boy.
"This is Jamal," she says to the children sitting in a circle before her. "How do you think Jamal feels?"
"He feels happy." "He feels excited." "He feels joyful!" "He feels good," the children respond. "How do you know?"
the teacher asks. "Because he's smiling!" And what does that look like? "You can see his teeth." "His cheeks are up."
"His eyes are almost closed!"
Hartford children at all grade levels, pre-k through sixth, in three elementary schools are learning what
ordinary feelings like happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, surprise and fear look like, how these feelings
"feel" inside their bodies, and the cause and effect relationship between feelings and actions. As part of
the Second Step Violence Prevention Curriculum they will complete an exploration of empathy and then move on
to impulse control, problem solving and anger management. Cate Bourke, Project Coordinator in CCMC's Injury
Prevention Center, supports teachers in using the Second Step curriculum and monitors the pace of the
implementation of the proven effective program at Burns, McDonough and Martin Luther King elementary schools.
"A comprehensive violence prevention program is a whole school approach. Teachers are trained to deliver the
Second Step lessons in the classroom, and to reinforce the development of good social skills all day, every
day. Administrators use Second Step problem solving strategies to enforce discipline codes.
Other staff-security officers, clerical staff, school nurses, building maintenance and food
service staff- and parents attend workshops focused on Second Step skills. They learn how they can
encourage and support kids to use can empathy, impulse control, problem solving and anger management
outside the classroom and in the home."
Community agencies and organizations also have a role to play. Previously, Ms. Bourke coordinated
the implementation of Second Step in the Meriden Public Schools where 32 community agencies were
involved in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the program. Now in its third year
of operation, the Meriden program continues to serves all 8 elementary schools and no longer requires
technical assistance from CCMC's violence prevention staff. In Hartford, a much larger district, some
community agencies have been trained to deliver the Family Guide component of the Second Step program.
As the program expands into more schools, community participation will increase as well.
Programs like Second Step have been proven to increase attendance and academic performance. According to
Kevin Borrup, JD, MPA, Director of the Violence Prevention Program, "Second Step teaches the necessary
skills that all children need to manage social interactions." With this in mind, CCMC's VPP is supporting
important primary prevention services in an effort to reduce youth violence. For more information about
this project, supported under a grant from the Connecticut Health and Education Facilities Authority
(CHEFA), call 545-9984 or see
www.ccmckids.org/vpp .
