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Bullying Prevention Week
Published on Nov 14, 2017 12:00


Hi everyone,

As you may know, November 19 – 25, 2017 is Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week, so I thought I would share some information with you about bullying and harassment.

First some statistical information from the Ontario College of Teachers:

  • 58 percent of students are victims of bullying
  • 78 percent have witnessed it
  • 30 percent admit to having bullied others
  • 12 percent of students report that they are bullied once or more per week
  • 21 percent of bullied students share the bullying with a teacher
  • students most at risk of being targets of bullying are “those marginalized by racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism and classism”

There is no doubt that bullying occurs in schools, including HT, but it is important to remember that bullying is a complex issue because it is so deeply tied to relationships, social behaviour (on and offline), feelings, and perceptions. Sometimes students confuse conflict with bullying or think that they are being bullied because someone dislikes or insults them. On the other hand, students who bully sometimes fail to see that what they are doing is harmful, or say they weren't serious. "I was only joking" is a common claim.

The Education Act has a very specific definition of bullying. Bullying means,

    Aggressive and typically repeated behaviour by a pupil where,

    a. the behaviour is intended by the pupil to have the effect of, or the pupil ought to know that the behaviour would be likely to have the effect of,

    i. causing harm, fear or distress to another individual, including physical, psychological, social or academic harm, harm to the individual’s reputation or harm to the individual’s property, or

    ii. creating a negative environment at a school for another individual, and

    b. the behaviour occurs in a context where there is a real or perceived power imbalance between the pupil and the individual based on factors such as size, strength, age, intelligence, peer group power, economic status, social status, religion, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, family circumstances, gender, gender identity, gender expression, race, disability or the receipt of special education; (“intimidation”)” 
The definition goes on to describe that this can occur in physical, verbal, written or other means. It's important to remember that bullying describes behaviour, not a person.

When a student (or parent) brings a report of bullying to our attention, we must investigate, and this takes a lot of time because it is usually the case that there are many students to interview. Whenever we find that bullying has occurred, we take appropriates steps to address it in keeping with the principles of progressive discipline and our Code of Conduct. 

There are many things parents can do to help prevent bullying:
  • keep the lines of communication open with your teens about their relationships
  • monitor their phone use and expect transparency
  • discuss and define bullying to make sure they know what it is
  • let your teen know you will not tolerate bullying and set consequences
  • encourage your teen to talk to an adult if he or she is having relationship difficulties

Next week we will be making daily announcements about bullying so that students hear a clear message from the school. The announcements will be for students who are victims, witnesses or participants alike. We will also encourage teachers in all classes to discuss bullying with their students so they know that, whatever their role in bullying, the school will be a safe environment.

God bless,

Brian McKenzie
Principal