Quantum Leadership: Transforming Bullying Into Opportunities for Others

Executive Director & Founder of Quantum Leadership

 

Like many bullies, JP Butler started out as the one who was bullied. What’s different about JP’s story is that his next transformation took him from bully to a bullying prevention leader and activist. Dedicated to taking a stand against bullying while instilling leadership qualities in youth and their role models, Quantum Leadership was born. Below is an interview with JP which I believe you will find inspiring and motivating.

 

What is Quantum Leadership?

Quantum Leadership is a nonprofit organization that seeks to lower the prevalence of bullying through leadership development. We provide leadership trainings for youth and adults, professional development workshops, parent education seminars, and other presentations that all revolve around empowering communities to end bullying.

Why combine youth leadership with bullying prevention?

I found that the common topics that are covered in bullying prevention programs (such as empathy, awareness, connection, and emotional regulation) were all topics that were just as applicable in leadership programs. I asked myself, “Why don’t we combine the power of youth leadership with the potential to approach bullying prevention in a way that had never been done?”

Why do you see a need for schools to teach leadership and bully prevention?

We are all leaders in one way or another. At the most basic level, we are leaders of our own lives. We must make decisions, reflect on our actions, strive to become a better person each day, and do what we can to make the world a better place. This is in alignment with schools’ objective of teaching and preparing contributing members of society. I see leadership and bullying prevention as a crucial social-emotional component of traditional academic learning.

Do you have a history with bullying?

I was a victim of bullying at the tender age of 11. The offense caused me to become a bully myself, picking on students who were easy targets. I finally recognized the wrong I was doing after my primary target finally stood up to me and pointed out the harm and pain I was causing. As I became older, I realized that so many students (19.6 percent of high school students in the United States, as a matter of fact, according to the CDC) experience some form of bullying each year.

How did you start Quantum Leadership?

After working for years as a youth program coordinator, I wanted to learn more effective ways to help adolescents. I enrolled in the couples and family counseling master’s program at the University of Colorado, Denver, and simultaneously began my career as an independent motivational speaker, focusing specifically on bullying. After two semesters of my master’s program, my passions took a new course and I changed my master’s degree to educational psychology with an emphasis in human development. I spent my spare time outside of class writing a leadership training curriculum that would eventually become the cornerstone of a new nonprofit.

How is Quantum Leadership different than other bully prevention/leadership initiatives?

A combination of our experience, creativity, innovation, and focus on leadership sets us apart. Between myself, our board of directors, and our volunteers, we have over 50-plus years of youth programming and leadership development experience. We work with youth to develop and redevelop our curriculum so it is up-to-date with what students are experiencing. Finally, we actively engage all members of the community to be a leader and to stand up against this social issue.

When did your organization take off? How is it funded?

Quantum Leadership incorporated in 2011, and every training we have done up to this point has been covered, in-kind, by my board of directors and my parents. They have been such a loving and supportive network and have continued to fuel and support my ambitions. Because of our future vision, Quantum Leadership is looking to raise $100,000 before the start of the 2015-2016 school year.

What’s in store for the 2015-2016 school year?

My goals for the 2015-2016 school year are: (1) serve 10,000 students through assemblies and keynotes to increase awareness about what students can do about bullying, (2) train over 1,000 students to lower the prevalence of bullying through student leadership, and (3) train over 500 school staff to recognize the signs of bullying and effectively intervene. In order to do that, we need to partner with community members across the nation to raise these funds so we can continue our work and see this vision through.

What do you hope to accomplish with Quantum Leadership in the next decade?

Quantum Leadership is already on the way to becoming a national organization. Many of my volunteers are close friends who work in education in several different cities. We want to diversify the national resources available to schools and communities through our knowledge and experience. Therefore, I truly do hope that everyone will see Quantum Leadership as a leader in bullying prevention and leadership development.

What’s one thing you wish everyone knew about bullying?

Bullying behaviors are not a part of normal youth development (or adult development, for that matter). When someone is bullying a victim, there is a power imbalance and the bully is taking advantage of that. So you have three choices: (1) victim-blame the student who “can’t stand up for themselves” and hope they figure it out, (2) shame the bully and try to remove the power imbalance, or (3) equalize the power imbalance. Quantum Leadership opts for the third option through self- and others-awareness training, leadership development, and empathy training.

How can someone learn more about Quantum Leadership?

Visit Quantum Leadership’s Website at: http://www.quantumleadershipinc.org and our youth website at http://www.qleaders.org.

Through JP’s vision, persistence, stamina, and his own quantum leadership, more students and adults are better equipped to recognize the patterns of bullying and prevent future offenses through dialogue, strength, and understanding. The more we can achieve this locally and throughout our own country, the more we will have peace, understanding, and respect throughout our world.

 

The above article was originally posted as part of my blog series on the Huffington Post where I share stories of young entrepreneurs making a difference. Read more at (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-j-carter/) 

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Upcoming at LifeBound: Now on Huffington Post, Summer Reading, Academic Coaches Training & More

 

This spring we’re definitely not sitting still at LifeBound. In the next few months we have many new events, trainings, blogs, and more that will reach communities who are dedicated to improving learning opportunities for students, teachers, and professionals. One initiative we’re supporting all summer long is to get more students involved in productive learning activities over the summer months.

Research shows all young people experience learning losses when they do not engage in educational activities during the summer. That’s why LifeBound is offering summer enrichment workshops at Lighthouse Writers Workshop for students in middle school through high school that foster self-awareness, critical thinking, and practical know-how. You can find out more about our week-long workshops for teens at our website. We are also encouraging students to read over the summer with our book display at the Tattered Cover Book Store on Colfax.

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Lessons in Basic Neuroscience Build Persistence

How much do you know about how the brain works?

Studies show that children don’t have a solid understanding of how the brain functions, which isn’t surprisingly linked to the lack of education they receive in early childhood neuroscience. New research shows elementary students commonly believe the brain is like a container that holds memories and facts, according to Annie Murphy Paul’s article “What Kids Should Know About Their Own Brains.” Consider the limitations students might start putting on themselves at an early age when they envision the brain as having the same finite characteristics of a container. They might set unnecessary parameters on knowledge, knowing that a container acts as a holding tank and that it runs out of room.  This runs counter to the brains’ nearly infinite and plastic capacity.
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Promoting Nonfiction Literacy Standards Is a Collaborative Effort

Most states are adopting the new Common Core Standards, requiring that students’ reading curriculum include more rigorous and nonfiction materials. In fact, the goal is to have 70 percent of a student’s reading come from informational texts by graduation, according to the article “New Literacy Standards Could Challenge Even Passionate Readers.” This shift in reading content is aimed at helping build reading skills students will need in college, career and throughout their lives.

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The Achievement Gap: Students with Devices Lack Internet Access

We have many dreams for today’s students. We want to ensure they get an education that prepares them for a successful career. We want them to have all the latest technology. We want them to use technology to become a new generation of innovators and creative thinkers. We want them to have the best teachers. We want a system that values learning, not memorization.

Many people have many different ideas for how education can be reformed, but they all have one thing in common: they they all require funding.

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Introducing a Remedial Program That Actually Works

While our nation is at-risk for financial and real-estate debacles, we are also at-risk for our economy of the future in underprepared college graduates who are swelling our Higher Educational institutions in numbers two-thirds strong in community colleges and almost one-third strong in four year schools as the article below indicates.

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