POLICE ASSOCIATION OF NOVA SCOTIA 173 sections on elementary and secondary strategies; and the section on professional development. Specific model documents include the School Board Code of Conduct; and the Parent Newsletter. Dealing with Bullying Incidents Each school board or district (or in some cases, individual school) has its own policies and procedures for dealing with discipline and violent incidents at school. These policies and procedures should be reviewed at the start of an anti-bullying program, in order to find out if adequate measures are in place for dealing with perpetrators of bullying and supporting victims. This should be done in addition to implementing school-wide prevention measures. Suggested Steps for Intervening in Bullying Situations • Intervene immediately: stop the bullying behaviour as soon as you see it or become aware of it. • Talk to the bully, and talk to the victim, separately. If more than one child is involved in perpetrating the bullying, talk to each of the perpetrators separately, in quick succession. • If a peer mediation program is in place, be very careful in referring cases where there is bullying, as the power imbalance will likely make this a very intimidating situation for the victim. The victim's communication and assertiveness skills may be very low, and will be further eroded by the fear resulting from past intimidation and fear of future retaliation. You may wish to exclude such cases from peer mediation. • Consult with administrator and other teachers, as well as staff, to get a wider reading on the problem, and to alert them to the problem. Get advice as to how this situation fits with school and board policies, and/or refer to written guidelines. • Expect that the perpetrator(s) will minimize and deny his/her/their actions and responsibility. Refer to school and class codes of conduct in telling the bully why their behaviour was unacceptable. Tell them what behaviour you do expect of them. Inform the bully(ies) of the sanctions which will be imposed and that their parents will be involved. • Reassure the victim that all possible steps will be taken to prevent a recurrence. • Inform the parents of the bully and of the victim as soon as possible. A quick call to the home the same day is preferable, followed by an appointment at school for the parents, if it is deemed necessary. Better results are obtained when parents are involved early in a bullying situation, before behaviour patterns are entrenched and extremely serious. • Involve parents in designing a creative plan of action, whenever possible. • For victims, involving them in groups and situations where they can make appropriate friends and develop their social skills and confidence is important. An example of this is a peer support group, new student orientation group, a co-operative learning group in class, or a special activity group or club. Parents can also arrange for these kinds of opportunities outside of school. The goals should be to develop the child's peer support network, social and other skills and confidence. Specific instruction in assertiveness skills may also be helpful. • For the bully(ies), specific re-education, as to his/her/their behaviour, is important, in addition to sanctions such as removal of privileges, detention, etc. Some schools have had good success with in-school detention situations where aggressive students must complete social skill modules designed to reduce aggressive behaviour and develop empathy for others. • Follow up in communicating with parents and with other teachers and administrators about the situation, until it is clearly resolved. • Monitor the behaviour of the bully and the safety of the victim on a school-wide basis. • If the bully(ies) will not change their behaviour, despite concerted efforts by school personnel, they, and not the victim, should be the ones who are removed from the class or school, or transferred to another program. Consequences for the perpetrators will be of considerable interest to all students, and will set the tone for future situations. Notes on Implementation of Anti-Bullying Measures Implementation is a process which usually takes time. Often teachers find that implementing measures such as increased supervision in the schoolyard and hallway can increase workload at first. More incidents are usually dealt with at first, because many incidents of aggression and bullying were previously ignored, or not acted on. When the threshold of what will be tolerated is increased, there are initially more incidents to deal with. However, after a few months of this increased vigilance and intervention, the pay-off for the increased effort becomes evident. Fewer incidents, especially fewer serious incidents, occur. The school climate becomes more positive, as everyone can feel safer and more relaxed at school. Better supervision of students, greater awareness and sensitivity among teachers, administrators, students and parents, and developing a positive, safe, and pro-social continued...
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