ira

A new dawn at Bat Yam's schools

By Yuval Azoulay



Each morning the tables are pushed aside in every Bat Yam school, and the students sit in a circle. Even before they begin to study mathematics or learn history, the teacher makes a round of the class and asks how everyone is doing, inquiring about the students' dreams, wishes, hardships and troubles. This is the time for the children to air their worries and they discuss their burdens and the things that make them happy, sharing their experiences with their classmates.

At the same time exactly, some 15,000 students begin their school day in this manner. The class is called shaharit - synonymous with the dawn prayer - and it is already proving its worth on the ground: according to statistics of the Bat Yam municipality, there is a drastic drop in school violence, with a 75 percent decline in reports of incidents in the school yard and halls.


"The dialogue among the students results in a noticeable drop in violence, for the simple reason that when a student knows the classmate to his side, and is exposed, during shaharit, to the pain and frustration that arises because of the illness or death of a relative, for example, the assumption is that he will not want to cause him any harm during break. Because he recognizes that things are difficult enough for that person," says Nurit Ramati, the Education Ministry supervisor of high schools in the city.

The shaharit began as a pilot in a number of schools in the city three years ago and has since been implemented at all the educational institutions in Bat Yam. It is applied in the 19 elementary schools, the 11 high schools and the four religious schools in the city.

In one 7th grade class, the "educator" - as the teacher leading the shaharit is called - Michal Shamai, began by listening to the students' experiences from the weekend. The next stage of the meeting deals with their goals - at this point, each student is asked to pick up a piece of paper that lists a known wish of a classmate, and assign that classmate the wish. Michal then asks each student to turn the piece of paper over and write two pieces of advice they believe would best help their friend achieve their goals.

Bat Yam Mayor Shlomi Lahiyani takes part in these meetings - each morning in a different class in his city. "This way the students get to know each other, to accept differences and to respect them. A student who has difficulty expressing himself is accepted as a result of shaharit, in a more tolerant way. They will not laugh at him. They will give him strength and love him," Lahiyani says.

Livni

a good mayor can make a lot of difference.

ira

If this program has such dramatic success why isn't it adopted throughout the country. Has anyone heard about any similar programs in other towns.

I'm sure the Mayor is taking credit for the success but I'm sure he wasn't' the one who developed the program. He does deserve credit for encouraging it .

Ynhockey

Municipalities are very slow to adopt even good initiatives. However, I think one reason that most don't do it even if it works, is that lack of study hours is already a huge problem in Israeli schools (especially high schools), so spending another 6 study hours a week (i.e. an entire full day each week) on not studying will not be a positive things in many places and for many students. I believe that as long as school violence isn't as extreme as in Bat Yam, most municipalities will not adopt this program.

ira

The whole school system in Israel is kind of messed up. I was shocked when I found out what the country pays it's teachers ($1000 a month). It is hard for me to believe that there can be a dedicated professional teaching staff in any school.

The level of violence is situational according to you. What cities in Israel don't have violence. Bulling and fighting in schools in Israel is common and the teachers can't possibly teach anything in that atmosphere.

School is also about personal growth 6 hours a week is showing dramatic results in Bat Yam. Both in interpersonal relations as well as academic achievement.