kids corner
Saying NO
by Penny Webb
The Alannah and Madeline
Foundation is aiming to reduce
bullying within schools and raise
awareness of the seriousness and
long term impacts bullying can have
on young people as part of National
Buddy Day on June 12.
Sadly, it seems that everyone
has a story about bullying, whether
they’ve witnessed it, heard about it
from someone else or experienced
it as a victim. 27 per cent of young
people report they are bullied every
two weeks or more often.
At Arndell College in Oakville,
a group of teachers and students
decided it was time to update the
anti-bullying policy and took active
steps to increase awareness of
bullying and build trust within the
school community.
Lauren Kenny is an English
teacher at Arndell and was part of a
committee that helped rewrite antibul lying processes and procedures.
“The first thing we did was
create an anonymous survey for the
students to complete. We wanted to
see where we were and understand
what type of bullying was taking
place,” Miss Kenny explains.
“From there we focused on
students being an Upstander which
means standing up against bullying.”
Senior members of the student
body took part in the committee and
also a number of workshops that
equipped them with the knowledge
to identify bullying behaviour and
also ways to help younger children
being bullied.
Workshops and activities were
also held with younger members of
the school community, focusing on
specific areas that were relevant to
that group.
‘For example, with boys we
concentrated on how what is seen
as friendly banter can actually be
quite hurtful and we addressed the
stereotype of the physical side of
bullying,” Ms Kenny says.
“For girls in Year 7 and 8, we
focus on building resilience and selfesteem. It can be such a vulnerable
time for them at that age.”
While bullying within playgrounds
across Australia has unfortunately
always been part of the playground
landscape, the introduction of social
media and cyber-bullying has
added a whole new element to the
challenges children, teachers and
parents face.
Cyberbullying happens to about
one in five young Australians every
few weeks or more often.
Leonie Smith is a cyber-safety
expert and works with the police,
schools and parents to minimise
cyber-bullying.
“The effects of cyber-bullying
can be devastating for a child. The
internet breeds anonymity. If a child
doesn’t know who is bullying them,
they simply don’t know where they
are safe and feel that they can’t
confide in anyone,” Leonie says.
“A common misconception that
parents have is that children are
smarter than adults with technology.
Children may know how to navigate
a site or device but they don’t
have street smarts. Parents
need to provide life experience
and support both online and
off.”
Miss Kenny talks about the
importance of providing that
support as a school community
as one of their strategies in
tackling bullying in all its forms
head on.
“Anti-bullying activities that
focus on positive relationships
helps reinforce relationships
between younger and older
students. We want children
to know they can speak to
an older student or teacher if
they are being targeted,” she
explains.
Parents also need to keep
an eye on behaviours at home
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32 ISSUE 61 // June 2015
HAWKESBURY DISTRICT INDEPENDENT NEWS www.hdinews.com.au