How Our Social Emotional Wellness Manager Leads the Charge Against Bullying
Bullying Prevention Month is a powerful call to action to inspire organizations – and everyday people – to take a stand against bullying. We want to highlight the efforts hardworking people are making to make communities safer for children.
Tiara Jordan-Sutton is an experienced advocate and leader dedicated to helping under-resourced communities thrive through youth mental health.
How Personal Experience Led To Change
Born and raised in Flint, MI, Tiara’s family deeply valued education. However, her eyes were opened to the inequities in the educational system and how many people were not afforded the same privileges.
Over the years, she worked as a special education teacher, then moved into administration as a Principal and Director of Curriculum, and is now our new SEW Program Manager for CHADS.
“I worked in urban settings in Chicago, Cleveland, and Brooklyn. There’s something more powerful that happens behind the school walls,” she says. “Students finding pride in who they are. That was my own experience and that drove a lot of my work as an educator.”
Tiara pictured with her daughter and niece.
Her Approach to Bullying Prevention
Having been bullied herself, Tiara approaches bullying prevention with a mixture of pragmatism and honesty.
“We have to talk about it and name it, from staff to students to parents,” she says. “We have to educate people on this so that parents can have conversations with their kids. Teachers can best engage with what type of messaging is being given. We need to involve people at all levels.”
An especially important detail is the statistics surrounding bullying and suicide, a painful topic that staying silent about doesn’t help.
“The second leading cause of death is suicide for ages 10-34,” she stresses. “We need to start taking this seriously based on numbers.”
Tiara also emphasizes the importance of implementing a bullying policy in school and backing that policy up with ongoing training. Additionally, there needs to be a treatment plan for the bullies themselves so they can start to heal.
“Oftentimes, the bully themselves is hurting,” she adds. “How are we supporting them while holding them accountable for their actions?”
How Social-Emotional Skills Reduce Bullying
Bullying prevention efforts require a layered approach that targets key details such as empathy, emotional processing, and connecting with others.
“I got to see the CHADS curriculum in action, providing the space and time for students to process their feelings,” Tiara says. “I saw the topics, activities, and questions asking them what they’re learning about and what we ask them to reflect.”
There’s a delicate balance between approaching bullying prevention with a new mindset and potentially invalidating how people feel.
“It’s important for leaders to be clear about definitions of bullying,” she explains. “You have a responsibility to create a safe culture and how you define a community and culture.
Her Goals For Preventing Bullying Through Social Emotional Wellness
Tiara has several short-term and long-term goals as our new SEW Program Manager. She acknowledges her work can be challenging at times, a challenge she plans to target with a supportive and resourceful approach.
Building trusting relationships with direct reports and her CHADS team is at the top of the list. Being seen as a resourceful and supportive leader will take time, but she’s confident she’ll nurture a thriving and growing program.
“I want to increase the total number of students receiving these services. This should be everywhere. My hope is that kids can learn to look at people that are different from themselves with a new mindset—one that embraces curiosity instead of a lack of empathy and fear.”
As we continue through Bullying Prevention Month, Tiara’s passionate and nuanced approach is just one example of how we can reduce bullying and create transformative and loving communities.