This past week was Bullying Awareness Week. Last week we also observed world kindness day. As part of an ongoing commitment to the community, CCAO Senior Constable Terry Seguin attended every elementary school and secondary school in the Town of LaSalle over the past two weeks to talk to the students about bullying. Thank you all for the warm reception and remember the promise each of us made to our peers that day! “I promise I will not bully you”.
What is Bullying?
Bullying is when someone is being hurt either by words or actions on purpose, usually more than once.
Different Types of Bullying:
● Verbal Bullying- Verbal bullying involves ongoing name-calling, threatening, and making disrespectful comments about someone’s attributes (appearance, religion, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, etc.).
● Physical Bullying- Physical bullying involves repeated hitting, kicking, tripping, blocking, pushing, and touching in unwanted and inappropriate ways.
● Relational Bullying- Relational bullying involves deliberately preventing someone from joining or being part of a group, whether it’s at a lunch table, games, sports, or social activity.
● Cyber Bullying- Cyber bullying involves haranguing someone by spreading mean words, lies, and false rumors through emails, text messages, and social media posts.
What is Anti- Bullying Week?
Anti-Bullying Week is an annual event held in the third week of November, which aims to raise awareness of bullying of children and young people, in schools and elsewhere, and to highlight ways of preventing and responding to it. Bullying can occur anywhere and in any age group or setting.
Best Practices for Students:
● Stay calm and walk away from the situation
● Tell an adult (parent, teacher, principal) who you trust about what happened or report it anonymously.
● Talk about it with your brothers or sisters, or with friends, so that you don’t feel you’re alone.
● Don’t just stand by; help students who are being bullied. Help by reporting it or reaching out to that student.
● If you’re the bystander intervene and stop the bully. Bullying stops in less than 10 seconds, 57% of the time when someone intervenes on behalf of the victim
Who is the Bystander?
A person who is present at the incident but they just watch and don’t do anything to help or perhaps they encourage the bully.
Who is the Victim?
A person is the target and may be harmed physically and/or mentally as a result of bullying
Who is the Bully?
A person who habitually seeks to harm or intimidate those whom they perceive as vulnerable
Be kind to one another. Be the reason someone smiles today.