Title: Bullying: A Growing Problem in Ontario Schools
1Bullying A Growing Problem in Ontario Schools
- By Ashley Imgrund, Jen Kroetsch, Kim Herbert, and
Haily Buettner.
2Ontario Unveils Plan to Fight Bullying in
Schools
- In an article in the Globe and Mail on November
17th, 2005, the provincial government made an
announcement regarding mandatory anti-bullying
programs in every Ontario School. - The Ontario government has outlined a three-year,
23-million initiative. Each school will receive
as much as 2,000 for staff training and
resources to create an approved
bullying-prevention program. All Ontario schools
will also be required to create safe-school teams
and anonymous reporting mechanisms, such as drop
boxes and peer group interventions. - This is a serious problem that should not be
left unchecked, says Gerard Kennedy, Ontarios
Education Minister.
Gerard Kennedy (Education Minister)
3Relation to the Safe Schools Act
- (Bill 8, 2000)
- All members of a school community have the right
to expect that schools are safe and free of
violence. - Zero-tolerance policy for bullying and violence
- (Ontario Schools Code of Conduct)
- Sets out clear standards of a behaviour in
schools - Specifies mandatory consequences for student
actions that do not comply with these standards - All members of a community are treated with
respect - Members of the school are expected to use
non-violent means to resolve conflict
4Presentation Outline
- In order for us, as future teachers, to
understand and prevent bullying, it is crucial
that we examine the following aspects - Statistics of Bullying
- What is Bullying? Why do children bully?
- Types of Bullying
- Confrontation Types in Children
- Group Activity
- What schools can do? Considerations.
- Examples of Programs Kelso, SNAP, Peacemakers,
2nd Step Prevention Curriculum. - Wrap Up/Conclusion Questions
5Statistics
- Survey results from St. Annes Catholic School in
Richmond Hill, Ontario (281 students- Grades
2-7) - 68 of children feel safe in school
- 88 believed bullying was a major problem in
their school - 62 said they have been bullied at some point or
another - 40 said they have been bullies at some point in
their school life. - 78 said they have seen someone being bullied
- 51 have reported bullying when they have
witnessed it in the school yard - 12 are afraid to report because of the fear of
being made fun of by the bully. - In looking at these statistics, it is quite clear
that bullying is a major problem in Ontario
schools and MUST be dealt with accordingly.
6What is Bullying?
- Bullying is harmful, deliberate behaviour
intended to hurt the victim physically,
emotionally and/or psychologically. Bullying is
ABUSE and as such needs to be taken very
seriously.
7Why do children bully?
- Children who bully enjoy having power and control
over other children. They often get positive
attention from their peers for bullying. Victims
of bullies may learn to become bullies
themselves. - (Victim Services Brant)
- The intention of bullying is to put the victim in
distress in some way
8Types of Bullying
- Physical This type of bullying involves hitting
or kicking the victim, or taking and/or damaging
the victims property. As these types of bullies
get older, their attacks usually become more
aggressive. - Verbal This type of bullying involves using
words to hurt or humiliate another person. It
includes name-calling, insulting, making racist
comments and constant teasing.
9Types of Bullying
- Relational This is where bullies try to convince
their peers to exclude or reject a certain person
or people and cut the victims off from their
social connections. This is most often seen in
girls who spread and create nasty rumours about
others or exclude an ex-friend from the peer
group.
10Confrontation Types in Children
- The Terrible-Tempered Atoms Regard anger as a
way of life, and trust no one. They give out
insults where none was intended, at times. - The Hipshooters Are quick to express anger and
quick to forget it. They are impulsive, volatile,
and often surprised at the negative reaction they
evoke. - The Counterattackers Hide their hurt over
criticism by criticizing in return. What they are
really saying is, When you hurt me, Ill hurt
you right back! - The Displacers Handle anger they dare not
direct at a powerful figure, such as a parent, by
blowing up at someone elseoften another child.
This rage is out of proportion to the incident
that provoked it. - The Handlers Have a repertoire of responses to
employ in different situations. They know how to
take time to cool off, ventilate, and understand
the source of their anger. They attack the
problem, not the person! - (From Managing Conflict A Guide to Conflict
Resolution for Educators)
11Group Activity
- Your group has formed a school committee for
anti-bullying. What aspects should and do you
think you need to consider when creating a school
behaviour management plan? - Brainstorm some points you should consider and
include in your plan. (5 minutes)
12What Schools Can doSix Recommended Components
in a Conflict Resolution Program
- Curriculum
- All students learn how to deal with and resolve
problems and conflicts peacefully. - Students gain tools and skills to solve common
problems in the classroom and playground.
13Recommendations continued...
- Peer Mediation
- Students are trained in conflict-resolution and
mediation and can handle common
student-to-student problems, such as rumours,
friendship arguments, misunderstandings, etc. - Teaches students how to solve disagreements,
without consulting with adults. - Peer Mediators are expected to communicate
effectively, ensure confidentiality, remain
neutral, find the underlying cause of conflict,
know the steps for resolving conflicts and
maintain self-control.
14Recommendations continued...
- 3. Professional Development
- Need to train staff on the conflict-resolution
curriculums and for certain roles, such as policy
makers, counselors, and administrators. - Teaching staff about programs, how to implement
them, and how to model them. - As well, on an ongoing basis, to refresh,
develop, and possibly adapt the program.
15Recommendations continued...
- 4. Parent/Community Initiatives
- Provide training and materials for families to
reinforce conflict-resolution strategies at home. - Encourages parents to help at school, as
negotiators or facilitators of peer mediation-
parents can help facilitate these programs. - Other people in the community can also be
involved, like police, business, churches, local
government agencies, and community and public
services. - With these community agents, schools can create
partnerships.
16Recommendations continued...
- School-wide Reinforcement and Behaviour
Management Systems - Conflict-resolution programs
- The program should be integrated into school
policies and procedures and be outlined in the
student/school handbook. - Behavioural issues should be disciplined and
resolved with cooperation. - Teachers classroom management plans should also
reflect the school conflict-resolution
program/system.
17Recommendations continued...
- Evaluation
- Have to evaluate the needs of the school before
establishing a program (as each school and
neighbourhood experiences different issues and
problems). - Need to look at ways to improve issues and
maintain areas that are good or working well. - Also need to continue to evaluate the
effectiveness of the program and continuously
improve various aspects (as schools needs do
change over time).
18Four Examples of Conflict-Resolution Programs in
Ontario Schools
- Kelsos Choices (Conflict Management Program for
Children) - Mascot is a green frog named Kelso, as the
program is geared towards primary/junior
students. - Child can resolve conflict and is capable of
being a peacemaker. - Knowing what to do will help students reduce the
stress and number of conflicts in the school
playground and classroom.
19Kelsos Choices
- If a child has a problem in the school yard, he
or she can try 2 of Kelsos choices - Wait and cool off
- Go to another game
- Share and take turns
- Talk it out until the issue is resolved and there
are no hard feelings - Walk away
- Ignore it
- Tell him or her to stop and how you feel.
- Apologize
- Make a deal or compromise
- (www.shentel.net/school/ales/kelso/kelso.html)
20Four Examples of Conflict-Resolution Programs in
Ontario Schools
- 2. SNAP Program (Stop, Now And Plan)
- Helps students think before they act
- Can reduce impulsiveness or reactive responses to
conflicts with peers - Encourages students to describe how they feel and
think about a situation - Helps students recognize physical and emotional
signs before they react to a problem (understand
the problem trigger)
21SNAP PROGRAM
- STOP- Snap fingers, take deep breaths, put hands
in pockets, count to ten, and tell him or herself
to stop. - NOW- Calm down and make the right choices.
- AND.
- PLAN- pick a plan that will work for him or her
in the situation. Example use words to solve the
problem, ignore the issue, and/or ask for help
from a friend and teacher.
22Four Examples of Conflict-Resolution Programs in
Ontario Schools
- Peacemakers Program
- Curriculum-based violence prevention program for
upper elementary school students. - 18-lesson psychoeducational curriculum delivered
by teachers. - Teaches students positive attitudes and values
related to violence, and trains youth in
conflict-related psychosocial skills such as
anger management, and problem solving. - The program includes a variety of classroom
activities, including instruction, role-plays,
hand outs, and experiential exercises.
23Peacemakers Program
- After this program is completed by each student
in grades 7 and 8, students who score 75 or over
in the program are selected to become
peacemakers or peer-mediators in their school
playground at recesses and lunches. - The students, much like lunch monitors, walk
around the playground and mediate or assist
students who need help in solving conflicts or
communicating to say NO to bullies. - At an elementary school in Toronto, the school
reports indicated that the intervention was
associated with a 41 decrease in disciplinary
incidents and 67 fewer suspensions.
24Four Examples of Conflict-Resolution Programs in
Ontario Schools
- Second Step A Violence Prevention Curriculum
- Classroom-based social skills program for 4-14
years old children. - Aim is to reduce impulsive, aggressive behaviour
and to increase social-emotional competence. - The program was created by the Committee for
Children, which is a non-profit organization.
25Second-Step A Violence Prevention Curriculum
- The program is organized into 3 skill-building
units - Empathy Teach students to identify and
understand their own emotions and others. - Impulse control and Problem Solving Choose
positive goals, evaluate consequences, understand
safety, fairness, and the impact on others. - Anger Management Manage emotional reactions and
engage in decision making.
26Conclusion
- Bullying is a very serious problem that is
affecting elementary schools in Ontario today. - Whether it is calling others names or physically
or emotionally harassing others, these are forms
of bullying that affect students. They are
damaging to childrens lives, grades, and they
impact schools by creating a climate of fear and
disrespect. - If we, as future teachers, target this problem at
an early age in children then we can prevent more
aggressive incidents from taking place. Incidents
such as the Columbine School shooting or the most
recent incident in Hamilton, on November 22nd
2005, at Glendale Secondary School where 15 boys
burst into the school with machetes to avenge the
bullying on one of their younger brothers. - If the problem of bullying is tackled early
enough with proper education on bullying
techniques given to teachers, parents and
students, it will hopefully become a PROBLEM OF
THE PAST!
27Any Questions??
- YOU BETTER NOT HAVE ANYOR ELSE
- HAHA! ?
- We hope you enjoyed our presentation!!