Bullying
I. What is Bullying?
Bullying is a conscious, willful, deliberate, hostile and repeated behaviour by one or more people, which is intended to harm others. Bullying is the assertion of power through aggression. Its forms change with age: playground-bullying, sexual harassment, gang attacks, date violence, assault, marital violence, child abuse, workplace harassment, and elder abuse. Bullies acquire power over their victims in many ways: by physical size and strength, by status within the peer group, by knowing the victim's weaknesses, or by recruiting support from other children, as in group bullying. Bullying can be physical or verbal. It can comprise of direct behaviours such as teasing taunting, threatening, hitting, and stealing or it can be indirect in the form of gossip or exclusion. With repeated bullying, the bully's dominance over the victim is established and the victim becomes increasingly distressed and fearful.
Bullying Myths and Facts:
Myth: “Bullying is just a, stage, a normal part of
life. I went through it my kids will too. ”
Fact: Bullying is not “normal” or socially acceptable
behaviour. We give bullies power by our acceptance
of this behaviour.
Myth: “If I tell someone, it will just make it
worse.”
Fact: Research shows that bullying will stop
when adults in authority and peers get involved .
Myth: “Just stand up for yourself and hit them
back”
Fact: While there are some times when people
can be forced to defend themselves, hitting back
usually makes the bullying worse and increases
the risk for serious physical harm.
Myth: “Bullying is a school problem, the teachers
should handle it”
Fact: Bullying is a broader social problem that often
happens outside of schools, on the street, at
shopping centers, the local pool, summer camp
and in the adult workplace.”
Myth: “People are born bullies”
Fact: Bullying is a learned behaviour and behaviours
can be changed.
II. What Should You Do (students)?
1. If you are teasing, taunting, threatening, hitting, stealing, gossiping, or purposely excluding someone, YOU ARE BULLYING. Think about what you are doing, and STOP IMMEDIATELY or you can expect to be dealt with by staff.
2. If you provoke a bully by teasing or taunting, you are also practicing a form of bullying. STOP IMMEDIATELY.
3. If you feel you are being bullied tell the following people:
- your parents
- teachers
- principal
- friends
-
4. Report incidents of bullying, even if you are not involved. You can report directly to the individuals listed above or you can report indirectly by:
- E-mailing the school's anti-bullying line at vschool2000@gmail.com
5. Other tips for dealing with bullies:
- Stand up, look the bully in the eye and with a confident voice say "Leave me alone or Stop it! I don't like that!"
- Stay calm and walk away.
- Shout, "Cut it out!" as loudly as you can.
- If other people are near by, join them so you are not alone.
6. Don't do any of the following if you are being bullied:
- Cry (If you can help it. If you can't, get away as quickly as possible and find a friend or adult that can help you).
- Try to get even with a bully
- Hit, push, or kick the bully
- Stay home from school
- Threaten the bully
- Call the bully names
- Ignore the bullying - Get help!
7. Read about other people's experiences with bullying. There is plenty of information on the World Wide Web. One of the best sites is a Canadian site www.bullying.org
8. Please ensure that you read about and understand what constitutes bullying. We have had many accusations of bullying, when the student behaviour is in fact not.
9. Please note that isolated incidents are not considered bullying. Bullying is REPEATED behaviour.
