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ANTI BULLYING POLICY
Statement of Intent
Bay View Academy is committed to providing a caring, friendly and safe school environment for all of its pupils. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at our school. If bullying does occur, all pupils should be aware that incidents will be dealt with promptly and effectively.
What Is Bullying?
Bullying is a deliberate, hostile and repeated behaviour by one or more people, which is intended to harm or control others. It is the assertion of power through aggression and is not about anger nor is it a conflict to be resolved, but is about a powerful feeling of dislike toward someone considered to be worthless, inferior or undeserving of respect.
- Emotional: Being unfriendly, excluding, tormenting (e.g. hiding books, threatening gestures)
- Physical: Pushing, kicking, hitting, punching or any use of violence
- Racist: Racial taunts, graffiti, gestures
- Sexual: Unwanted physical contact or sexually abusive comments
- Homophobic: Because of, or focusing on the issue of sexuality
- Verbal: Name-calling, sarcasm, spreading rumors, teasing
- Cyber: All areas of internet misuse, such as email & internet chat room
- Technology: Mobile threats by text messaging and/or calls and misuse of associated technology , i.e. camera and video facilities
- All teaching and non-teaching staff, pupils and parents should have an understanding of what bullying is.
- All teaching and non-teaching staff should know what the school policy is on bullying, and follow it when bullying is reported.
- All pupils and parents should know what the school policy is on bullying, and what they should do if bullying arises.
- As a school we take bullying seriously. Pupils and parents should be assured that they will be supported when bullying is reported.
- Bullying will not be tolerated.
Recognizing the signs
A child may indicate by signs or behaviour that he or she is being bullied. Adults should be aware of these possible signs and that they should investigate if a child:
- is unwilling to go to school (school phobic)
- becomes withdrawn anxious, or lacking in confidence
- starts stammering
- cries themselves to sleep at night or has nightmares
- feels ill in the morning
- comes home with clothes torn or books damaged
- has possessions which are damaged or “go missing”
- has unexplained cuts or bruises
- becomes aggressive, disruptive or unreasonable
- is bullying other children or siblings
- stops eating
- is frightened to say what is wrong
- is nervous and jumpy when a cyber message is received
- is tardy/absent quite often
- has missing or incomplete school work, decreased success in class.
These signs and behaviours could indicate other problems, but bullying should be considered a possibility and should be investigated. Teach students to communicate. If an adult or a child is bullying them, they need to have the skills to persistently seek assistance.
Bullying hurts. No one deserves to be a victim of bullying. Everybody has the right to be treated with respect and to feel safe in school. Don’t put up with bullying in your school; it is NOT a “normal part of growing up”!
Bullying usually involves three individuals or groups: the bully, the victim and the bystander (other kids watching).
Students may think that, as long as they are not the bully, they are not hurting anyone, but this is not true – the bystander plays an important role in a bullying situation.
The following preventive methods will be taken:
- Creating a school wide policy on bullying which is accessible to all members of the school community
- Raising bullying awareness via discussions and presentations for students, teachers and other staff members
- Identify the reasons behind bullying and work proactively to reduce their impact
- Encouraging bystanders to have a united front against bullies
- Signing a behaviour contract
- Supervising students appropriately in the classroom and outside
- Applying the consequences for bullying consistently and appropriately.
For Pupils:
- Tell someone you trust
- remember you are not the one with the problem!
- if you can, ignore the bully, do not show that you are upset
- if possible, avoid being alone in the places bullying happens
- be assertive, if you can
- do not respond with violence, walk away quickly and confidently
- if you are different in some way, be proud of who you are.
For Friends:
- listen and talk it through
- try to be sensitive
- try not to leave them on their own
- persuade the person being bullied to talk to an adult.
For Bystanders:
- even if you do not take part in bullying but see it and walk away, you are ignoring your responsibilities
- get help
- be empathic towards the person being bullied.
For Students
- GET HELP: Talk to the school counselor or a teacher you trust – it is their job to stop the bullying
- If you are scared, then take a friend along
- Report what happened to you and what you did as well (be honest)
- Report who bullied you and who saw it happen
- Report where it happened and how often it has been happening
For Teachers
- Please refer to the guidelines on how to respond to bullying, if you are not sure, or are not comfortable with handling the situation discuss it with the school counsellor or administrator
- In cases of serious bullying, the incidents will be recorded by the teacher and brought to the attention of the an administrator and school counselor
- The bullying behaviour or threats of bullying will be investigated and the bullying must be stopped immediately
- An attempt will be made to help the bully (bullies) change their behaviour via regular counselling sessions
For Parents
- If a parents feels their child is being bullied they must not confront the other student(s) or his parents directly and must work through the school to resolve the problem
- If your child is in the Primary or Junior Section, please contact your child’s class teacher and discuss your concerns
- If your child is in the Senior Section, please discuss the situation with the student counselor or relevant administrator
Students involved in bullying could face the following consequences:
- The bully (bullies) may be required to attend mandatory counseling sessions.
- Detention during break or after school
- In serious cases, in-school suspension or even exclusion from certain areas of school premises
- Parents could be informed and an Incident Report will be placed in the student’s permanent file
- A comment may be included in the student’s report card
- After the incident / incidents have been investigated and dealt with, each case will be monitored to ensure repeated bullying does not take place
- In case of physical injury or persistent and repeated bullying a student may be asked to leave the school.
All serious incidents of bullying requiring more than detention will be referred to a discipline committee. This committee will compromise off the student’s teacher, the school counselor and either the Principal or Vice Principal of the relevant section. The Principal’s decision is final with regard to all discipline issues.