Wellbeing MATTERS!

Welcome to Week Six

Have you ever experienced unwelcomed behaviour?

Has some one excluded you?

You may have been called a nasty name.

Maybe you have witnessed aggressive or physical actions.

If these are one off instances, and you have been able to put in place strategies that support your personal mental health and wellbeing, then these can be considered as life experiences that you can learn from and hope not to experience again.

However, if such behaviours are repeated, and ongoing, and you have clearly informed the perpetrator that this behaviour in not acceptable and you ask them to stop, and they do not then this is bullying.

According to the Kids Help Line, bullying is defined as:

It's more than just a fight or disliking someone.

It’s being mean to someone over and over again.

Bullying is an ongoing or repeated misuse of power in relationships, with the intention to cause deliberate (on purpose) psychological harm. Bullying behaviours can be verbal, physical or social.

Bullying can happen anywhere – at home, online, with friends, in a group, on the bus or at school.

The Victorian Department of Education goes onto to identify four types of bullying behaviours:

physical – examples include: hitting, pushing, shoving or intimidating or otherwise physically hurting another person, damaging or stealing their belongings. It includes threats of violence
verbal/written – examples include: name-calling or insulting someone about an attribute, quality or personal characteristic
social (sometimes called relational or emotional bullying) – examples include: deliberately excluding someone, spreading rumours, sharing information that will have a harmful effect on the other person and/or damaging a person’s social reputation or social acceptance
cyberbullying – any form of bullying behaviour that occurs online or via a mobile device. It can be verbal or written, and can include threats of violence as well as images, videos and/or audio.

Taking action against bullying behaviour can sometimes be hard.

BUT it can be stopped.

We all have the right to feel safe and be safe. We also have a responsibility to act safe and be safe. It is possible, using appropriate strategies, at any age, to stop these unwanted behaviours.

On March 18 it is ‘Bullying. No way!’ day. This is a National Day of Action against bullying and violence. The aim of the campaign is to encourage Kindness Culture by promoting inclusion, respect and community belonging in Australian schools. The following video ‘Bullying is never ok – what can you do?’ is a small snippet in taking positive steps to stop bullying.

You can also visit the Bullying. No Way! Family page for tips and ideas.

Bullying. No Way!

If ever you need help sorting out personal or family issues, give CatholicCare Victoria a call. They offer many services to all members of our community – FREE.

Tip of the fortnight: Be mindful of exposure to information through traditional and social media. Take a break from the 24-hour news cycle.

Are you taking care of yourself? Try this: Spend 5 minutes soaking up the sunshine on the back of your face.

Have a happy fortnight

Niente Senza Gioia

Dom POPPA

Pastoral Wellbeing Leader

Tip of the fortnight: It can help to talk with a trusted adult if it all feels a bit much