Our Anti-bullying ambassadors are again busy working to make sure that all BMS students feel safe. At present they are handing out Pledges to all the CDC groups. These will be displayed in LRC4

What does the Pledge mean?
It is a promise and a commitment to abide by the following statements;

“I pledge not to be a bully
I will treat others with kindness and respect
I will respect that we are all different
I vow to support my friends
I vow to help stop bullying”

Why would you want to become an anti – bullying ambassador ?

Alayna Chaudhry 08E
“I think being an anti-bullying ambassador is important to me because it’s something I have always wanted to do as a role and it’s something that has to be stopped around the world!”

“Being an anti bullying ambassador not only gave me the opportunity to get further into understanding the reasons and effects of bullying, but also given me the opportunity to actually help. Bullying is a widely known issue that unfortunately many people of all ages, genders and ethnicities experience. Knowing that action is taken on the matter, and that I am a part of it, is such a nice feeling. Being an anti-bullying ambassador was one of my best choices and I am looking forward to starting our activities for the new academic year.”

– Anonymous Student

Up and coming events:
Anti-bullying Week – November 16th – 20th
Cakes and Sweets on sale in LRC4 to raise Money for local charities

Some up to date statistics:

• One out of every five (20.2%) students report being bullied.
• A higher percentage of male than of female students report being physically bullied (6% vs. 4%), whereas a higher percentage of female than of male students reported being the subjects of rumours (18% vs. 9%) and being excluded from activities on purpose (7% vs. 4%) .
• 41% of students who reported being bullied at school indicated that they think the bullying would happen again.
• Of those students who reported being bullied, 13% were made fun of, called names, or insulted; 13% were the subject of rumours; 5% were pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on; and 5% were excluded from activities on purpose.
• A slightly higher portion of females than of male students report being bullied at school (24% vs. 17%).
• Bullied students reported that bullying occurred in the following places: the corridors at school (43%), inside the classroom (42%), in the cafeteria (27%), outside on school grounds (22%), online or by text (15%), in the toilets and (8%).
• 46% of bullied students report notifying an adult at school about the incident.
• School-based bullying prevention programs decrease bullying by up to 25%.
• The reasons for being bullied reported most often by students include physical appearance, race/ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, sexual orientation.
• Cyberbullying among students ages 12 – 18 who reported being bullied at school, 15% were bullied online or by text.
• The percentages of individuals who have experienced cyberbullying at some point in their lifetimes have more than doubled (18% to 37%) from 2007-2019.
• When students were asked about the specific types of cyberbullying they had experienced, mean and hurtful comments (25%) and rumours spread online (22%) were the most commonly-cited.
• The type of cyberbullying tends to differ by gender. Girls were more likely to say someone spread rumours about them online while boys were more likely to say that someone threatened to hurt them online.
• Those who are cyberbullied are also likely to be bullied offline.

Interventions
Bullied youth were most likely to report that actions that accessed support from others made a positive difference. Actions aimed at changing the behaviour of the bullying youth (fighting, getting back at them, telling them to stop, etc.) were rated as more likely to make things worse.
Students reported that the most helpful things teachers can do are: listen to the student, check in with them afterwards to see if the bullying stopped, and give the student advice.

Do not forget – In a world where you can be anything be Kind