Anti-Bullying Policy -

PDIA ANTI-BULLYING POLICY

“On the specific issue of school boards and bullying policies, it is important to state that the laws and policies of both the federal and state governments on education and schools, which the various boards administer, have no specific provisions on the phenomenon of bullying in both primary and secondary levels of schooling in the country. This has been largely credited to a number of speculative reasons. One of such is the notion that the problem of bullying in schools is considered to be part of general disciplinary issues to be dealt with by individual school administrators and teachers. Another is the pragmatic reality that acts of bullying are generally regarded as necessary behaviours of a “stage,” which children in schools have to go through as part of “maturing” process and which has a dynamics of “turn by turn (Mordeke, 2012. P. 21)”.

Parents

Dear parents, the above position notwithstanding Progress Dynamic International Academy has an active anti-bullying policy. The aim of this policy document is to outline the academy’s position on bullying and to provide parents with a simple process to follow if they hear of, or see, an incident involving bullying.

WHAT IS BULLYING:

Bullying is an unwanted, aggressive behaviour among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behaviour is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumours, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose (Stopbullying.gov, 2017).

Bullying can be defined as: ‘repeated incidents involving a bigger, stronger or more powerful child on a smaller or weaker child or by a group of children on a single child’.

Forms of Bullying:

Physical: Such as hitting or kicking.

Verbal: Such as name-calling or spreading rumours.

Psychological: Such as exclusion or threatening gestures.

Power Imbalance: By a more powerful individual or group against an individual who is unable to effectively resist.

Cyber: Bullying which is carried out through an internet service such as email, chat room, discussion group or instant messaging. It can also include bullying through mobile phone technologies such as short messaging service (SMS).

PROGRESS DYNAMIC INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY

PDIA community is committed to making a safe school environment by developing authentic relationships between students, parents and staff based on care, mutual respect and open communication.

Bullying, in any form, is not tolerated at our school.

Students at PDIA have rights as individuals and are to be treated with kindness and respect. They also deserve to be in an environment where they feel safe and be given opportunities to achieve their personal goals.

Students, parents and teachers have the responsibility to respect the rights of others and to help make our school a ‘friendly place’ by being thoughtful, respectful and courteous to others.

They have a responsibility to:

Be observant to signs of bullying
Report incidents of bullying
Treat reports of bullying seriously and;
Follow the correct procedure in attempting to resolve conflict.

To address any bullying at PDIA:

Various processes and methods of intervention are used. Each of the following approaches is considered to be appropriate depending on the situation. (As adapted from Rigby 2010)
1. The traditional disciplinary approach: Consequences are applied to a person identified as having engaged in bullying someone.
2. Strengthening the victim: The person being targeted is instructed or trained so as to cope more effectively with bullying behaviour; for example, through assertiveness training.
3. Mediation. Individuals involved in bully/victim problems are invited to meet with a mediator (experienced teacher, non-teaching staff or a neutral parent) to explore ways of resolving the situation in a way that is acceptable to all parties.
4. Restorative practice. A meeting is arranged at which the person/s engaged in bullying are instructed to listen to how their ‘target’ feels about the treatment. They are required to reflect upon what has been happening and to act restoratively (e.g. by making an acceptable apology to those offended).
5. The support group method. The targeted person is interviewed and an account of the distress that has been experienced is communicated to those identified as the bullies. This is done at a meeting of the bullies attended also by selected students who are supportive of the target person. All present at the meeting are required to say how they will help to resolve the problem. The outcome is then carefully monitored.
6. The method of shared concern. The teacher / leader meets individually with the person/s suspected of the bullying and shares a concern over what has been happening to the target person. Each of the suspected perpetrators is asked to suggest ways in which they can help, and to agree to act accordingly. After discussing the situation with the target person, the teacher / leader convenes a meeting of all the suspected bullies to formulate an agreed plan to resolve the problem. At a final meeting, a solution is negotiated between the suspected bullies and the target person who has now been invited to join them.

PROCEDURE FOR REPORTING INCIDENTS

(A) When you hear of an incident, try to establish:

Where the incident took place?

(a) In the classroom (b) in the playground,

When the incident took place?

(a) During class times (b) during morning or lunch break (c) before or after school.

Who was involved?

(a) Single student (b) group of students – any names where possible.

Why it took place?

(a) Money ( b) equipment

Is this the first time it has taken place?

Pass on this information to:

the classroom teacher, if it happened during class time or you’re unsure of the time.
the administration, if it happened before or after school.
the playground duty teacher if it happened during the morning or lunch breaks.

(B) If you witness an incident:

Before or after school, report it to the administration.

During morning or lunch break, report it to the teacher on duty.

Reports will be logged on to an incident report form. When the matter has been resolved, an acknowledgement slip will be returned to the person filing the report.

Any incident that you think warrants attention can go through the same process.

Bullying Record Form

Date——————————————————————————————————-

Time——————————————————————————————————

Teacher—————————————————————————————————

Class——————————————————————————————————

Names of those involved———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Details of Incident—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————–

Action Taken (Warning, Agreement, Mediation, Sanctions, Referral, Other)—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Signed; Pupil ——————- Teacher——————————— Parent—————————————-

Suggestions for follow up———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-