Bullying can happen to anyone. As your child begins 'Big School', he/she now has to mingle with older children. Even though all schools have zero tolerance with respect to bullying, there can be instances where this might occur.
No child is bad; unfortunate circumstances and unwanted influences might cause them to behave adversely towards others. With your children moving from the environment of nursery, they will be exposed to children of all ages; intimidated, they will not be knowledgeable of the correct course of action to take if they find themselves in tricky situations. As the parent, you have to help and guide your children to be resilient to bullying behaviour, when and if it does happen.
Here are a few tips:
Stop and report: Teach your child that the moment he or she feels intimidated by someone or even sees another child being bullied, he/she should stop whatever they are doing and immediately report it to the teacher in charge. Teach them that it is okay to be the one who reports, rather than play victim or an innocent bystander.
Stand up for themselves: Threatening situations, without your support, are intense moments for your child. Enlighten him or her on how to stand up for themselves. For example, if your child is playing with the ball on the basketball pitch and another child comes and grabs it from him, teach him to say in a loud voice that he was playing and the other child could have a turn afterwards. Children who show confidence and are self-assertive are easily picked on less.
Teach children about bullying: Sometimes, children do not know that they are being bullies. We have to teach them the correct type of behaviour in social settings - being respectful to others, learning to accept others’ views, sharing toys and generally getting along with everyone.
Act quickly: Your child will come home from school and relate certain incidents, where they were pushed or called names. Do not ignore these little complaints, for bullies usually start with subtle forms of violence - name calling or teasing. Then, when the victim has not reported it, they could progress on to a more in-depth form of bullying. Listen to your child, encourage them to act fast.
Mrs. Hiranya Fernando, Principal of Methodist College had this to say about bullying,
“There should be a zero-tolerance policy for bullying in schools. I know that it happens in many schools; however authorities shouldn't be complacent and just accept that fact. I feel we need to take a firm stand and convey this message to the school body. ‘Bullying is not acceptable. Bullies are not welcome in this school.’ Even though it may start as ‘innocent’ teasing or riling among friends, things can escalate very quickly. Also, given that today's children have a tendency to be critical and harsh, there should be no room left within the school system for them to ostracise a peer based on appearance, speech, social background etc. We need to teach this to our children early.”
Expert Advice provided by Mrs. Hiranya Fernando, Principal, Methodist College
Mrs. Hiranya Fernando is a fifth generation old girl of Methodist College. Mrs. Fernando (nee Wickremesekera) graduated with a 1st Class, Special Degree in English from Miranda House, University of Delhi (2001) and obtained a Distinction Pass in the Post Graduate Diploma in Education, University of Colombo in 2006. She was the Chief Marking Examiner at the Advanced Level Examination for Advanced Level English in 2011 & 2012. Mrs. Fernando had a distinguished school career, being appointed Games Captain and winning the Ramanayake Challenge Cup for the Best All Round Student.
Written by Mayuri Jayasinghe based on an interview with Mrs. Hiranya Fernando, Principal, Methodist College
Comments (0)
Leave Comment