Schools

Anti-Bullying Tactics 101: NJ Educators Get Lessons from Experts

Hundreds attend training sessions that include learning interrogation techniques used by State Police

By John Mooney (Courtesy of NJ Spotlight)

New Jersey educators are getting lessons in police interrogation techniques and how to tell if someone is lying – even if they are only in elementary school – as the stakes have increased in the crackdown on bullying.

More than 500 teachers, counselors and administrators completed training sessions this spring with state and outside experts -- including a N.J. State Police sergeant - that included detailed investigation and “interview” techniques. (One suggestion: never use the word “interrogation.”)

Lengthy PowerPoint presentations offered tips on how to talk with students of all ages and how to interpret their words and body language. There was also step-by-step guidance on how to interpret the state’s new bullying law and what classifies a fight between two kids as a potential bullying incident.

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One of the more intriguing presentations included a listed indicators that a child might be hiding something:

  • Inappropriate laughter

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  • Starting to speak in third person

  • Telling you they have done things … wrong in the past

  • Repeating your question

  • The training was conducted by the state Department of Education and LEGAL ONE, a partnership of state education and law groups that teaches school employees about important education law and policies that affect their jobs.

    Read more at NJSpotlight.com

    NJ Spotlight is an issue-driven news website that provides critical insight to New Jersey’s communities and businesses. It is non-partisan, independent, policy-centered and community-minded.


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