ST. PETERS:--- Bullying continues to be a major issue that schools have to contend with. The Helmich Snijders Hillside Christian School (St. Peters) is taking a very proactive approach to deal with this issue. In collaboration with the PEACE IS Foundation, the school organized an anti-bullying week which began on Monday, January 19, 2015 and ended on Monday, January 26, 2015. Using funds raised from the PEACE IS breakfast which was held on November 11, 2014, the school was able to purchase the materials that were used during the week. It was quite a challenge for the school to source materials in Dutch, which is the language of instruction at the school, but those challenges were overcome through the persistence of the school management team.
The week kicked off with a special assembly on Monday, January 19, which included performances and presentations focused on bullying. There were performances by the students, including a puppet show. Former student Ms. Julie Alcin also shared a poem and there was a brief presentation by PEACE IS.
Throughout the week there were activities and discussions around the issue of bullying. Some of the topics that were covered included: who is a bully, bullying vs. teasing, different types of bullying including cyber bullying, accepting others even if they are different, how bullying affects the victim and what they can do, and helping the victim rather than being a bystander. The activities included role plays, watching and discussion of videos, poetry, singing, drawing, essay writing, storytelling and going through workbooks on bullying.
On Friday the 23rd, the PEACE IS Foundation held separate 30 minute sessions with groups 5-8. The sessions featured short videos on anti-bullying followed by interactive discussions with the students. The focus of the sessions was "Say Something". Everyone was encouraged to speak up, whether they were the ones being bullied or the bystander who witnessed the bullying incident. Even those who may have the tendency to be bullies were encouraged to say something; in this case, to reach out for help.
One new initiative implemented at the school is a box where the students could inform school staff of bullying issues amongst children of the school, whether on or off campus. During the first week, at least 20 messages were dropped in the box, and the reported issues are being actively attended to by the school management and the teachers.
During the closing on Monday 26th during the morning assembly, each group/class did a presentation such as poetry, performing a skit, singing, and dancing, all aimed at encouraging each other to say positive things and to stop bullying.
