WHY THE FOCUS ON BULLYING?

• School wide focus and stance on unacceptable behaviour.

• Current review and development of policy and procedure around Bullying.

- to do this we need a clear and consistent definition of what is deemed bullying.

- Increase confidence of everyone to talk around what is and isn’t bullying.

WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE BULLYING TO BE?

Inconsistency in definition leads to confusion and misconceptions between staff, students and parents.

THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF MISLABELLING BULLYING

• The negative connotations around bullying • Emotional- Children's sense of self being effected when

called a bully. • Cognitive bias- The labels of 'bully' or 'victim' can also

cause further harm if a child accepts them as part of their social identity.

• Unnecessary fear- Mislabelling bullying induces fear in children from both parties. Children being frightened they may be bullied at any time and children scared actions will be misinterpreted as bullying. Unnecessary fear defeats trying to create resilient children.

DEFINITION OF BULLYING

The national definition of bullying for Australian schools says:

• Bullying is an ongoing misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that causes physical and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power over one or more persons. Bullying can happen in person or online, and it can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert).

• Bullying of any form or for any reason can have long-term effects on those involved, including bystanders.

• Single incidents and conflict or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not defined as bullying.

EXPLORING THE DEFINITION FURTHER

Bullying has three main features:

• It involves a misuse of power in a relationship

• It is ongoing and repeated, and

• It involves behaviours that can cause harm.

WHAT IS NOT BULLYING?

Behaviours that do not constitute bullying include:

• mutual arguments and disagreements (where there is no power imbalance)

• not liking someone or a single act of social rejection• one-off acts of meanness or spite• isolated incidents of aggression, intimidation or violence

WHAT IS BULLYING

https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/resources/videos/pages/videoplayer.aspx?VideoID=82

TYPE OF BEHAVIOUR – VERBAL, PHYSICAL AND SOCIAL

There are three types of bullying behaviour:

Verbal bullying which includes name calling or insulting someone about physical characteristics such as their weight or height, or other attributes including race, sexuality, culture, or religion

Physical bullying which includes hitting or otherwise hurting someone, shoving or intimidating another person, or damaging or stealing their belongings

Social bullying which includes consistently excluding another person or sharing information or images that will have a harmful effect on the other person.

ONGOING AND REPEATED

https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/resources/videos/pages/videoplayer.aspx?VideoID=102

HOW TO HELP CHILDREN BEING BULLIED Define Bullying – use situations to do this

Words to avoid

Avoid describing a child as a 'bully' or a 'victim'. Although these words are often used in research and in the media, they are not very helpful for finding positive and lasting solutions.

Talk about bullying with the understanding that children and young people are growing and still learning how to be effective members of the community.

When you talk about bullying, focus on more appropriate ways to act with others and positive ways to get on with other people.

If the behaviour is not bullying and you are stuck for how to describe it use the terms targeted/unacceptable behaviour. Talk around schools stance on unacceptable behaviour.

Children can change the way they behave with support from parents and teachers. If the labels of 'bully' or 'victim' stick, it can make it harder for them to change. Using these words can suggest that bullying and being bullied are due to unchangeable things about the children involved.

WHAT IS THE SCHOOL DOING ABOUT BULLYING

• Stymie- Making a notification • Policy/procedures• Social emotional wellbeing/positive education

RESOURCES

https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/

RESOURCES

https://www.esafety.gov.au/

QUESTIONS