Let’s face it, bullying at school has been part of life since we can all remember. The difference is that now we realise that being bullied affects mental health. There can also be underlying reasons as to why the bully is bullying. This article will look at 5 ways to reduce bullying at school.
Therefore it is the duty of the school to look at every way possible to deal with bullying, help the persons being bullied and create a safer place for students to interact. Let’s take a look…
5 ways to reduce bullying at school
Every school needs to introduce these 5 ways to reduce bullying at school as a bare minimum. It is the school’s responsibility to ensure the safety of all people under its care and clear ways to handle anti-social behaviour. This includes all forms of bullying.
Record all mobile numbers.
Rather than banning phones at your school (which has been the failed way in the past at some schools), have every student record their phone number on a record card, signed by their parent as their only number. Keep this record in a secure place using local privacy laws for the storage of personal information. Also, record the numbers of all your staff. This way you can track cyberbullies.
Initiate private reporting systems
Initiate private reporting systems where students feel safe to speak up. Have reporting cards available or a safe number to report bullies to.
Policy to reduce bullying at scHool
Make it clear that bullies will not be tolerated. Set clear guidelines for school behaviour and state these policies regularly in newsletters, on your website as assemblies and on corridor walls.
expediency in dealing with bullying
Deal with it immediately. Have your system in place to deal with bullying and prioritise it above all others. The primary service of all schools should be the safety of the children in their care.
Create a student-initiated code of conduct and peer tribunal.
The bullying to be addressed here is between students. This means the person being bullied and the bully is a student. It makes sense to deal with this at a peer level and for students to make a stand again bullying without physical means.
It has to be shown by the students that the student body will not tolerate bullying and violence. This does not suggest kangaroo courts but simply the perpetrator coming face to face with a larger group that will not stand for their actions
We suggest one of the first means of questioning, after determining the validity of the situation, is to use the systems analysts’ ways to come to the root cause of the problem (this is discussed in detail in our “Bullying Prevention Pack“) by asking why the bully is actually bullying.
Ways in which to handle bullying are also suggested in our pack but here I can say it is best for an arrangement to come between school prefects and teaching staff as to the “punishments” (hint: make it more of a way to help the bully feel more inclusive in a friendly community and offer help and get them removed from their regular circle rather than actual punishment).
conclusion
All of these points and much more are covered in full in our BULLYING ELIMINATION AND PREVENTION KIT. Get your school’s copy now. Unlike a book, the contents of this kit can be copied, altered and handed out to ALL your staff for no extra cost!
If you know of other ways to prevent bullying, I encourage you to leave your comments below. We all have to help each other with this problem as bullying can lead to mental health problems on one side and crime on the other.
Other free articles to help you:
10 steps to reduce bullying in schools