Circle of Bullying

Last week in our Community Meeting, we talked about the Circle of Bullying. Bullying is more than the bully and the victim. There are often many by-standers that play a role in the on-going bullying situation.

Our lesson included a skit performed by students in the class. The volunteers received cards that identified and explained their roles. In the skit, our victim was one student was signaled out for the clothing she wore. Another role was a by-stander who knew it was wrong and didn't speak up. There was the bully. The person who instigated and did most of the speaking. There was the bully on-looker who was not involved, but wasn't bothered by the bullying. There was the bully on-looker who got involved and by giggling and sharing what was going on, and more.

Our message, if you witness bullying, it is your ROLE to get involved. At the very least, you need to tell an adult at home and an adult at school. Speaking up matters.

In our school, as staff, we continue to study the data. For every bullying incident, we fill out a bullying report. These reports are recorded and provide us with data. We look at the times of the day and location that bullying is occurring. We are looking at our specific needs and making adjustments to be proactive. We want our school to be a safe and welcoming learning environment. It means we all have a vested interest in making it our community school.