A whole-school approach to stop bullying brings everyone together — the Board, school staff, students, parents and whānau, and the broader community — to work on creating a safe, inclusive and accepting school environment where everyone feels a sense of belonging. For this to be successful we must first understand what bullying is and ways to prevent it from happening.

WHAT IS BULLYING?

• Bullying is deliberate - harming another person intentionally.
• Bullying involves a misuse of power in a relationship.
• Bullying is usually not a one-off - it is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated over time.
• Bullying involves behaviour that can cause harm - it is not a normal part of growing up.

WHAT IS NOT BULLYING?

• a one-off fight or argument, or difference of opinion between friends where there is no power imbalance and they can sort it out between themselves.
• not liking someone or a single act of social rejection.
• one-off acts of meanness or spite.
• isolated incidents of aggression, intimidation or violence.
• using racist or sexist terms but doesn’t mean to cause harm.
• theft: taking someone else’s things once is theft but not necessarily bullying.

This diagram shows the typical elements of teasing / hassling, aggression and bullying.

USEFUL WEBSITES:

• https://mentalhealth.org.nz/our-campaigns/pink-shirt-day
• https://sparklers.org.nz/activities/  
  
• https://www.pinkshirtday.org.nz/
• https://www.bullyingfree.nz/
• https://bullyingfree.nz/bullying-free-new-zealand-week/bullying-free-nz-week-2022/