October is National Anti-Bullying Awareness Month

October 15, 2020 /

Bullying is a topic that necessarily has come to the forefront of the conversations connected to child and youth mental health. Bullying is something that has existed across generations, but I think it is safe to say that this generation of kids are facing a new frontier of bullying with the existence of the internet and the creation of social media.

One thing I like to remind parents is that bullying is a particular form of conflict: It is actions that are targeted and repeated over time. Often times parents or students are quick to call any conflict bullying, however, some conflict is a healthy part of growing up. Age appropriate challenges and conflict create opportunities to learn assertiveness and practice problem solving skills with their peers and helping adults. What we don’t want is for kids to keep quiet about the problems that they encounter in a day. When silence reigns, the learning opportunities are lost for all involved.

You might have concerns that your child is being bullied. There are great resources available to inform yourself. Committee for Children has created a two part series titled What Parents Should Know About Bullying: Part 1 and Part 2. Another option is the specific Elementary School Children and Bullying article from Prevnet (Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network).

At Gilmore Community School for October 2020, the school theme has been Courage. Each morning on the announcements, the school explores what bravery and courage means and learns about bullying, what to do if they are bullied, and what it means to be a bystander or ‘upstander’. We are halfway through the month and teachers have already reported having powerful conversations in their classrooms. It is important for students to have the opportunity to speak and share and to know that we are listening to them.

Committee for Children has also created a comic series centred around Captain Compassion. See this years comics below.