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Put The Message Out
Putting consistent messages out to our kids is so important. We all know that mixed messages get inconsistent responses, and we try to be fairly transparent in terms of our expectations for our kids. And there are always exceptions to the rules and regulations, which are individual and personal. However, I was pulled up short by one of our grade 8 students the other day.
His questions was this, “Ms. Seddon, my friends and I were just wondering, how is it that you say we are a no bullying school, and still the prize you have for the Rock Band competition are two video games, both rated Mature, and one has pretend sex with aliens in it, while the other is called Assassin?”
I had no answer. I thanked him for letting me know about this and told him I’d look into it. As it turns out, both of these video games are quite disturbing, and for a school that is working towards a safer school climate and culture, we should not have been giving any such prize away. In then end, we got rid of the videos and gave away gift certificates.
But I should have known. I was delighted that one of our students came forward and complained about the mixed standard. I was proud of him, because LOTS of students really wanted to win those games. But I have to wonder how content such as this got passed our radar. Sometimes I think that we are desensitized to the point that we just miss some things. Anyway, we were able to change things up a bit. We will continue to work on our communications skills with the students, our community and each other. Consistency is such an important component. The questions should always be: do actions support the intention? Or, in other words, are we acting the way we say we need to act, in all facets of our lives.
In terms of a School Culture and Climate update: Our committee has now built lesson plans that focus on some of the concerning results of our bullying survey. The top 4 “unsafe” areas of the school have been identified to the students, as we are currently looking at what rights we have in those areas, and the corresponding responsibilities, for the three stakeholders groups that have access to those areas: Students, Teachers, and other adults in the building (support staff). For example, if I have a right to sit with my friends in the cafeteria, I have the corresponding responsibility to respect the privacy of others who are sitting with their friends in the cafeteria.
Delivering these lessons will take 4 weeks of 1-2 lessons per week. Then a group of staff and student will collate, and build the 4 statements that will describe the types of behaviors we will not accept, and the behaviors we expect to see. These will be published in each student’s school planner for next year, and we will teach lesson around those expectations. Our 4 pillars are: Respect, Learning, Inclusion and Safety. We plan to have statements that use those words when describing what behaviors we expect to have happen. If any readers would care for more details, please email me at Bully B’ware.
I’ll write to you again next month, as promised.
This month’s special offer: “Take Action Against Bullying”. Receive 10% off any workshop booked this month. Contact Sandra for details at info@bullybeware.com
