I’m here in the eastern part of Toronto where I’ll be speaking to 4 middle schools and 2 high schools about how to become proactive in reducing bullying. What I like the most is how excited they are to implement our anti-bullying program. It is critical to have a follow-up after an assembly to keep the message going strong.
Our presentations focus on educating the students and teachers on what bullying really is and how to change the culture of the school by changing the thought process of bystanders in bullying situations. It’s great when a school board puts the effort into educating all the middle school and high schools but what they’re missing is the elementary schools???
Teach them early and see the huge impact it has on students and teachers. Teachers will receive better classroom attendance, fewer class disruptions and with better behavior comes a more motivated teacher. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.
I just saw a survey where they ask 100 teachers if they would intervene when witnessing bullying? 99% said “They would” which is great but remember less than 10% of bullying incidences are actually witnessed. 90% of bullying incident is when a student speaks up to an adult. Statistics show that less than 30% of teachers do anything about it when a student speaks up about bullying. They dismiss it as a conflict or don’t worry they be friends again.
Now I have the highest respect for teachers but we can’t ask teachers to reduce bullying if they are not trained properly. So as great as it is that the students are being educated I still think we missed the boat by not having the elementary schools done and teacher training for the entire school board.
Maybe they’ll change their minds after a blow them away with my assemblies.
I’ll get back to you after I’m done to see what their next move will be.
Author: Jim Jordan
Read More: Anti-bullying program in Barstow California
