The Rainy River District School Board has a message for those students who have made a living out of stealing lunch money and bolstering their self-esteem by belittling another’s.
Your days are numbered.
The public school board presented a sneak peek of the curriculum, which will be implemented by teachers beginning next month in an effort to curb bullying in its schools, to about 35 people last night in the FFHS library.
“We have what I think can be called an awesome program,” beamed trustee Ron McAlister.
“It’s never been viewed as a quick fix,” he added. “Realistically, it is a first step in a long journey.
A committee—made up of teachers and administrators from across the district—developed a board specific curriculum designed to teach students from JK to Grade 9 how to deal with bullying.
“There are a lot of wonderful resources out there on bullying,” said Gord McCabe, a vice-principal at Fort High and chair of the anti-bullying committee. “We didn’t need to re-invent the wheel, we just needed to get that wheel to fit our vehicle.”
The anti-bullying curriculum was developed by the anti-bullying committee, which was established by the school board in June, 2002 after McAlister returned from a conference with great ideas on bullying, explained McCabe.
But the curriculum’s roots date back to the creation of the local Safe Schools committee three years ago after the province established the Safe Schools Act.
“A heck of a lot of work has gone into [the curriculum],” McCabe noted, referring to the whole committee. “The fruits of their labour is what we strut in front of you tonight.”
The curriculum is a comprehensive, grade-by-grade approach to anti-bullying, explained Donna Kowalchuk.
“It’s interwoven through all grades,” she said, adding that what is learned in one grade is reinforced and built on in the next grade.
She told those on hand—mostly of teachers but also of an OPP member and community service groups like the Lions and Kiwanis clubs—that each grade has resources and teaching tools appropriate to the age level in an effort to teach kids about bullying.
For instance, the primary grades (JK/SK and Grades 1-3) will identify feelings associated with bullying, identifying bully behaviour, and work on strategies to reduce bullying.
Music and drama—in the form of a “NO BULLIES!” rap and role-playing—will be integrated into the primary grade instruction.
The junior grades (Grades 4-6) will begin to address bullying more head on by learning how to cope with bullies, give advice to friends who might be bullied, and eventually conflict resolution—which some schools have begun in the form of peer mediation.
There also will be more advanced work done in identifying feelings.
The intermediate grades (Grades 7-9) will deal with self-esteem and respect, communication skills, group intimidation, and gender issues. There also will be special work with Grade 9 students to help with the transition to high school.
The Grade 9 Teacher Advisor Program, or TAP, will help with this transition.
McCabe said it will be implemented in period one Grade 9 classes, which have a slightly longer class time. In six sessions, students will deal with the new environment and changing relationships as well as the responsibility of reporting bully behaviour.
In the end, McCabe added, each student will be encouraged to sign a contract vowing to avoid participating in bullying behaviour, confront bullies peacefully when they see others being bullied, to support victims, and report bullies to staff bullying helpers—staff members who also sign a contract to be supportive and protect the students’ privacy except in terms of immediate danger.
“We want them to be able to go to someone they’re comfortable with,” he explained.
“It’s wonderful we have the opportunity to bring this kind of curriculum to the board,” said Education Director Warren Hoshizaki. “I believe we truly can make a difference.
“We’re just going to build and build on this . . . to make it safer for all our students,” he added.
“The icing on the cake was the immediate commitment of the teachers to come on board,” added McAlister, who said that commitment was essential to establishing the curriculum—and will be essential to the program’s success.
Teachers will get an opportunity to see the entire curriculum Oct. 8-9 when they undergo training in their grade level. “We’ll start to implement as soon as that training is done,” said McCabe.
Over the past year, the board has revised its Code of Conduct to include a definition of bullying and the consequences for this behaviour—immediate suspension.
McCabe noted the definition of bullying stresses the keyword “repeatedly,” so that bullying behaviour isn’t confused with more minor incidents or teasing.
Fort Frances Times
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