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Taking a stand
Bullying awareness campaign
held at Bompas Elementary SchoolRoxanna Thompson Northern News Services Published Thursday, March 8, 2012 On Feb. 28, Bompas Elementary School held a Bullying Awareness Day. The event is part of the school's larger campaign to eliminate bullying.
"We're trying to take ownership of making our school a better place," said Nancy Noseworthy, the school's principal.
Hurtful words
Bompas hasn't had many cases of physical bullying; instead, bullying primarily takes the form of hurtful words, she said.
"Unfortunately we can't see those impacts in students physically but we know they are impacting them and so we need to make sure we're dealing with that," said Noseworthy.
Staff at the school developed the idea for the Bullying Awareness Day after the District Education Authority tasked Noseworthy with addressing the issue of bullying. There had been calls and letters from parents about instances of bullying as well as incidents with students, she said.
The day was created as a way to intentionally make everyone aware of bullying, said Noseworthy. In addition to the school's student body, the school invited parents and representatives from agencies in the village with whom students interact.
The lunch-hour event started with all of the students parading into the gym wearing matching pink shirts and carrying banners about bullying that each class had made. The students also chanted anti-bullying slogans.
RCMP Const. Glen Cameron talked to the students about his own experiences with being bullied. Noseworthy followed by introducing members of the community who were in the audience, including Mayor Sean Whelly, Chief Jim Antoine of Liidlii Kue First Nation and representatives from the Deh Cho Friendship Centre, John Tsetso Memorial Public Library and Dehcho Divisional Education Council.
"These people are here to tell us it's not OK to bully at school, it's not OK to bully at the Friendship Centre, it's not OK to bully at the library," Noseworthy told the students.
The audience then watched a cartoon that presented the response to bullying the school is promoting. In their classes, students have been learning what it means to be a bystander and how to instead support their friends and become actively involved in stopping bullying, said Noseworthy.
The event concluded with a luncheon served by teachers and staff at the school. Approximately 56 community members attended. Noseworthy said she was pleased with the turnout.
The school wants the community to recognize bullying isn't acceptable, particularly since it can take place outside of the school's grounds, she said.
The next steps in the campaign will include rewarding positive behavior amongst the students and continuing to reiterate bullying will not be accepted, said Noseworthy.
"I think it's a terrific thing they are doing," said Terry Jaffray, the superintendent of the Dehcho Divisional Education Council.
Social skills
Jaffray said teaching children social skills and how to get along with difficult people is a hidden but important part of schools' curricula. The lunch-hour event was well-planned, and getting community members to attend and support it was an important inclusion, she said.
"It helps when people in the community are giving the same lesson we are," said Jaffray.
She said other schools in the Deh Cho have voiced interest in creating similar bullying awareness initiatives and that the school councillors would be sharing the strategies Bompas has been using. Work is also underway in the Department of Education, Culture and Employment to develop a territory-wide initiative to address bullying so schools won't have to come up with their own plans, she said.
"It's good that we're actually tackling that now," said Jaffray.
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