Chapter 9: Bullying Prevention and Character and Citizenship Education

Bullying prevention is a major starting point in character and citizenship education that involves the students, teachers, and parents. Bullying is characterized by a power imbalance, an intent to harm, feelings of distress by the student who is bullied, and repetition over time. It is far more prevalent than many parents and teachers think; in some studies, only half of bullied students talked to parents or teachers about it. However, the impact on the bullied student is very damaging. Most often, students who observe bullying are more likely to be encouraged to participate in similar behavior, but students who try to intervene are usually successful.

An effective bullying prevention initiative:

• takes a jurisdiction- or schoolwide approach
• is a collaborative effort, involving students, teachers, administrators, support staff and parents
• links schools with communities
• creates a shared understanding about the nature and effects of bullying
• assesses the extent of the bullying behaviour prior to and after the implementation of jurisdiction- or schoolwide interventions
• helps teachers, students, parents and others to develop the knowledge, skills and language they need to respond to bullying
• focuses on prevention rather than punishment
• addresses jurisdiction- or schoolwide codes of conduct
• establishes links to curriculum (e.g., instruction in managing
• emotions, problem solving, conflict resolution, empathy training)
• includes strategies for implementing, monitoring and evaluating the initiative. (pg. 77)

The following are ways schools can involve parents in their bullying prevention initiatives:

• Survey parents regarding their concerns about bullying issues and their ideas for bullying-prevention initiatives.
• Encourage school councils to participate in planning committees for developing bullying-prevention initiatives.
• Provide parents with resources to help them recognize and prevent bullying (e.g., a fact sheet or tip sheet).
• Consider setting up a display of bullying-prevention resources for parents in the school library.
• Communicate the school’s procedure for informing parents when their children are involved in a bullying incident, as well as the procedure that parents should use to notify the school if their children report that bullying has occurred (pg. 80)