November 19th, 2015

       The Ontario Ministry of Education has defined bullying as, “typically a form of repeated, persistent, and aggressive behaviour directed at an individual or individuals that is intended to cause (or should be known to cause) fear and distress and/ or harm to another person’s body, feelings, self-esteem, or reputation.  Bullying occurs in a context where there is a real or perceived power imbalance.”  There are various types of bullying behaviour: physical – hitting, etc.; verbal – teasing, name calling; social – excluding, embarrassing someone; cyber – sending threats or insults by email or cell phone text messaging.

When a community is built on mutual acceptance and inclusion, the members feel safe. Respect for one another is the norm. Bullying is abnormal. At Empire Public School we strive to build this kind of community by practicing justice, respect, equity, inclusiveness and compassion.  Students have opportunities to be involved in many positive leadership experiences such as the “We Club”, “Let’s Make a Difference Club” and PALs.

Children learn respect and acceptance of others when:

– parents model conflict resolution, supervise play, provide consequence for poor behaviours.

– school staff give students opportunities for leadership development, teach and recognize pro-social behaviours, teach social skills(e.g. Tools for Life), follow guidelines and procedures when bullying takes place.

This year’s Bullying Awareness Week theme is “Stand Up! (to bullying)”.  Research has shown that approximately 15% of a given population in a school or workplace are directly involved with bullying.  The remaining 85% act as bystanders and are the silent majority (www.bullyingawarenessweek.org).  We need to challenge and support our students to help end bullying.  The silent majority or bystander gives the bully power.  The bully will stop his / her behaviour in ten seconds when their peers speak up.

Let’s all do our part to build a positive environment at Empire!