I AM Inspiration!

Addressing Bullying With Emotional Intelligence. We have been approaching the bullying subject in similar ways for a long time. The moment has come to take the evolutionary step necessary and make a difference. Unfortunately much of what we say to children stems from an outdated perspective of the world, from our own personally UN-examined lives and from fear of overstepping boundaries. What we are currently experiencing in regard to bullying, needs to be understood on a deeper level. Bullying needs to be approached with true compassion and forgiveness. This means that when we are confronted with a situation, we need to be willing to see in what way it may reflect our own bullying/manipulative behaviours. If we tend to use even subtle bullying tactics in our personal lives or in the classroom this will be obvious in our energy. Human beings are extraordinarily perspicacious when it comes to detecting lack of integrity and children often more so than adults. Emotional intelligence is the key to forgoing our reliance on manipulation to attain what we desire. Whether for affection or for drama there is a tendency to locate another's weakness in order to gain an advantage. This is a learned behaviour and as such can be reprogrammed to embrace a more empathetic and sustainable attitude. The human ability to hone in on the energy of another and respond appropriately is a wonderful communication skill when used as nature intended. But we have taken our instinctive fear of predation to live mostly from the cornerstone of that fear, thus making our interrelating fraught with underhanded tactics. The development of self-awareness brings with it conscious choice but are we prepared to relinquish the scape-goating that comes with it; are we ready to spread the wings of personal responsibility? As Socrates said: 'Know thyself- the greatest joy, the hardest challenge' We teach what we most need to learn and as a society our current focus seems to be on 'telling' people the how's and why's of bullying without addressing the source of bullying; our fear and the addiction to it. It stands to reason that to change our external environment and reduce the terrorism that we see we must one by one address the terrorism within our own behaviour. Reducing our personal bullying activity and embracing our passive aggression will eradicate the hypocrisy our children sense behind our words thus redeeming our right to teach and tuning us into joy. Having the courage to clean our own slate will make teachings of peaceful interaction so much more effective. The Human's natural tendency is to nurture; we are drawn to the most efficient channels of evolution. Based on this educators have what it takes to make the necessary changes to bring peace to our world. Without true compassion nothing we say will be heard by a child that is using bullying to access his/her sense of power. The child’s ‘dis-honesty’ radar will put up an immediate wall of resistance. When we humbly embrace the obvious reflections, as confronting as they may be, we will be able to openheartedly address bullying and make positive headway. Our Mission Statement All children Have the right to an education Have the right to learn in a safe and supportive environment Deserve the opportunity to develop high self-esteem and emotional intelligence Will thrive in an environment of healthy self-acceptance and non-judgement The I AM Program gives back 10% of proceeds from the sale of The I AM Program workshops and products are used to send art materials and programs to underprivileged schools nationally and globally as part of the: I AM For Children Incentive