MSVUCritical Language Awareness

Nancy Barillaro, Salini Francis-Xavier, Kety Gizzi, Annamaria Iacobelli,

Alexandra Mackie

Power: Who bullies and why? Who has the resolutions to prevent and intervene?

Diversity: Who is bullied and why? Who needs support to get out of bullying situations?

Access: Who does not have easy access to a safe location or situation?

Design: What designs/discourses support the allowing of bullying to occur?

Redesign: What might one do to prevent and intervene when bullying occurs?

What memories do you have about

bullying in school? Consider: As a teacher,how can you create Heroes in the Hallway?

Connections To Students Lives

“Bullying is 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.”

Normal childhood conflict like sibling rivalry or 1 to 1 fighting or arguing

An act of impulsive aggressionAn indiscriminate behaviour, eg, no intended victim

A random act

Bullying occurs once every 7 minutes in the schoolyard

Bullying occurs once every 25 minutes in the classroom

Bullying stops within 10 seconds 57% of the time when peers intervene

85% of students indicate that watching bullying makes them uncomfortable

Increases after 8 years of age (grade 3), reaches a peak in grades 6-8

More males than females are bullied (Hawkins, D.L., Pepler, D.J., & Craig, W.M., 2001)

Today's bully is no longer just the

tough kid who pushes others around and steals their lunch money. Today's bully could be any student, in any school.

smaller or weaker than other students;

more anxious, quiet, or insecure than others;

does not have any reliable friends; differs from other children in some way—learning disability, physical handicap, speech or language, skin color, clothes;

cries easily; feels lonely and disliked; won’t challenge a bully.

1. Verbal bullying including derogatory comments and bad names2. Bullying through social exclusion or isolation3. Physical bullying such as hitting, kicking, shoving, and spitting4. Bullying through spreading lies and false rumours5. Having money or other things taken or damaged by students who bully

6. Being threatened or forced to do things by students who bully

7. Racial bullying8. Sexual bullying9. Cyber bullying (via cell phone or Internet) *Look for Facebook 101 sessions

1. As per PPM144, each school must have a

Safe Schools Action Team.

2. As per Bill 157, all school board employees and transportation providers must report

bullying to the principal.

3. Principals must investigate all incidents, report to parents of victims and offer resources to support victims and their families, and apply progressive discipline, taking mitigating

and other circumstances into account, with the aim of changing behaviour, rather than

punishment. Police must be involved for students over twelve where criminal activity (eg, assault) is suspected.

Create a positive school culture: Staff and students feel safe; Healthy and inclusive relationships

are promoted; Students encouraged to be positive leaders in their school

community; All partners are actively engaged;

Bullying prevention & awareness-raising strategies are reinforced through programs addressing discrimination based on such factors as age, race, sexual orientation, gender, faith, disability, ethnicity, & socio-economic disadvantage;

Improvement of learning outcomes for students is

emphasized. (Ontario Ministry of Education PPM144, p.2)

◦Build an inclusive classroom!

◦Incorporate character development programs (eg, TRIBES, Fill Your Bucket)

◦Develop opportunities for student involvement (eg, PROPS Program)◦Ensure Parent Engagement (communication is key!)

An effective response to bullying must be comprehensive, taking into consideration all students involved in the bullying incident.

Critical thinking and critical literacy in health and physical education (supported by the living skills component of the curriculum)

Focus of learning in the Healthy Living Strand Learning Skills – development of

responsibility, collaboration, initiative, self-regulation

Ask the Teacher-Librarian for books and resources about bullying

Possibilities For Making A Difference

Incorporate literature about bullying

Create inquiry about bullyingHave regular communitycircles and/or class meetings

Consistently reinforce character development program initiatives (eg, TRIBES agreements)

Organize presentations for the students about bullying

Have clubs for students to join at break times

Provide support to students (eg, fighting the culture of “not snitching”), make it OK to ask for help for themselves or someone

else

Create an inclusive classroom – make all students feel safe with you and with each other!!!

Bullying Prevention Week (The Legislative Assembly of Ontario passed that it is the third week of every November.)

Day of Pink

Parent Engagement

Create a pledge:BULLYING PLEDGEBULLYING PLEDGE

I, as part of the (insert school name here) community will always stop and prevent any type of bullying. I will treat everyone as an equal.

o Have every class and student sign the pledge to show agreement to the pledge and post them in each classroom.

Create signs:BULLYING

PREVENTION WEEK!!! Remember to always follow the Tribes

agreementsRemember to use your words to solve

problems If you need help, ask an adult

Have a poster contest and post them around the school:

As part of Bullying Prevention Week we are having a poster contest!!!

Create a poster of a Tribes agreement! You can choose the agreement – mutual respect, attentive listening, right to pass, appreciations/no put downs.

Your poster could be displayed in the classrooms in our school and in our hallways!

  

People across Canada are being asked to wear pink as a sign of our pledge to prevent and intervene in bullying situations.

Why wear pink? In Nova Scotia a high school freshman boy wore a pink shirt to school one day. He was bullied by other students for wearing the shirt. The next day, in support of the student who was bullied, two senior boys came to school with 75 pink tank tops which they gave to male students to wear, including the freshman who had been bullied. Other students also took up the cause and started wearing pink to school. This show

of support has since led to Pink Day, an anti-bullying day across the country.

www.dayofpink.org

PARENT ENGAGEMENTPARENT ENGAGEMENT Include information in your class, grade team and

school newsletters about initiatives you are undertaking to prevent bullying (eg, information about TRIBES, what bullying is and is not (the term “bullying” is widely misunderstood)).

Include information on your teacher website about what you are doing to create an inclusive classroom.

Safe Schools Action Teams exist in each school and parent involvement is mandatory.

Student Conversations – know what they’re talking about, ask questions

Report to the principal anything you are concerned about regarding student safety

Support is needed for allall students involved in a bullying situation:

the student who bullies; the bullied student; and the student who watches

1. STOP the harassment

2. IDENTIFY the harassment

3. BROADEN the response

4. ASK for change in future behaviour

(Toronto District School Board)

Always remember that…

ALL OF OUR STUDENTSARE ALL OF OUR

STUDENTS!

INTERVENE!