Once kids reach secondary school, the most talkative elementary school tattletales tend to clam up, fearing backlash from their peers if they tell on someone. This can make it hard to get important information from students, even when the situation is dangerous or harmful. A student may feel intimidated by his classmates and not want to give the name of someone who hurt him. A student can feel scared enough not to speak up about a classmate who has been sexually harassing her. They don’t want to be perceived as snitches.
This is a challenge that faces most secondary teachers or administrators. It’s important to teach students that reporting on a student who is harming himself or someone else is not snitching, it’s reporting. In a short lesson or perhaps in a guidance seminar, explain to students that:
Snitching is:
- Trying to get someone in trouble
- Looking for attention
- Done because you want to get your own way or to damage someone you don’t like
Reporting is:
- Telling someone with authority about a situation that is dangerous.
- Looking our for your safety (both physical and emotional) of yourself and your peers.
- Speaking up because something is really wrong; not because you want someone to get in trouble.
Getting secondary students to report can be extremely difficult. Even when their reporting was justified, they may be targeted by their peers as a snitch if teachers or administrators get involved. Making reporting safe for students can require some creativity on the part of the adults in the situation–one school nurse who I knew had a smart method. She’d casually leave pen and paper on a table, and point out to her patient that if he happened to jot down the name of the classmate who hurt him he wouldn’t have told her anything. She’d turn her back, the student would write down a name and leave the office. He didn’t feel like a tattletale, and she had the name. You may need to be creative, but it’s essential that you teach students that there are times when they absolutely should speak up.
For more information about conflict education and caring communities, see Susan Fitzell’s book, Free The Children, Conflict Education for Strong and Peaceful Minds. Available in both print and electronic versions!
Anger Management Curriculum
Click HERE for more information on Susan Fitzell’s Anger Management Curriculum for Teens!