Anti-Bullying
The OCDSB believes that bullying is a serious issue that has far reaching consequences for both the entire school community and the community at large. Providing students with an opportunity to learn and develop in a safe and respectful society is a responsibility in which schools play an important role and as such, the OCDSB developed a Bullying Prevention and Intervention policy and procedure. In addition, the OCDSB provides numerous training courses and sessions in order to better equip staff to deal with bullying in their schools. To find out more about what you can do please keep reading.
What is Bullying?
Bullying is defined as a form of repeated, persistent and aggressive behaviour directed at an individual or individuals that is intended to cause (or should be known to cause) fear and distress and/or harm to another person's body, feelings, self-esteem or reputation. Bullying occurs in a context where there is a real or perceived power imbalance. (Source: Ministry of Education)
Different forms of bullying include:
- Physical – hitting, shoving, stealing or damaging property
- Verbal – name calling, mocking, or making sexist, racist or homophobic comments
- Social – excluding others from a group or spreading gossip or rumours about them
- Electronic (commonly known as cyberbullying) – spreading rumours and hurtful comments through the use of cellphones, e-mail, text messaging and social networking sites
School communities – this means, the school, at home and everywhere in between – need to be safe places so that students and staff can be relaxed enough to teach and learn in. In order for that to happen we need to work together to create a community of character that promotes positive characteristics/behaviours and stops negative ones.
What can you do?
It is important to know that everyone has the right to feel safe, accepted and valued. Make our school communities a better place by being respectful of others and standing up against bullying whenever it happens! Find out more about what you can do below!
