Wellbeing

Bullying .... is it or isn't it?

Over the next 3 weeks our Foundation - Grade 4 students are talking about bullying and unkind behaviour.  I believe that bullying can be a very overused word. The definition of bullying is something that we make sure that our children understand so that they use the word correctly.

The Bounce Back Program by Helen Mc Grath and Toni Noble defines Bullying as  

 when one child (or a group) repeatedly and deliberately uses negative words and/or hostile actions against one specific child that causes distress. 

Bullying can be: Physical (e.g. hitting, pushing or damaging personal property) Verbal (e.g. insults or nasty name-calling) Social (e.g. trying to socially isolate someone by spreading lies or rumours about them or stopping them from joining in) 

Cyberbullying: this means using technology (such as email, mobile phones or social networking sites) to bully someone verbally or socially or to frighten or intimidate them.

During SEL sessions our students will focus on what bullying is, what unkind behaviour is and very importantly what to do if they experience or witness unkind behaviour. These sessions link with our Be and Upstander statement that focuses on how you can keep yourself and others safe when experiencing conflict. 

Below is an example of some of the work our students are completing. While they use the word bully teachers make sure that these strategies can be used when we experience unkind behaviour too. We can't always control others actions but we can control our own. 

Rikki Winduss

Wellbeing Leader