This week is National Bullying-Free week. We would hope that every week is bully free however this week is designed to highlight what bullying is and to give children this information as well as strategies to deal with any potential bullying, both now and in the future. 

The following information has come from https://www.bullyingfree.nz/. This is a great website with loads of helpful information and resources.

We take bullying very seriously at school and have proactive systems in place to prevent it, and to deal with it when it occurs. If your child comes home from school and says they are being bullied please ask them what has happened and check that it fits with the below definition. Please ask if they have spoken to a teacher about it, and if so what had been done about it. Then if necessary please make a time to talk to the T group teacher.

Defining Bullying

Whether bullying is physical, verbal, or social (relational), four widely-accepted factors can be used to identify it:

• 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.

Bullying can happen anywhere, in person or online (cyberbullying), at any time, and can be verbal, physical or social (relational). It can be obvious or hidden.

Kids who bully use their power — such as physical strength, knowing something embarassing, or popularity — to control or harm others. Bullying is when one student (or a group of students) keeps picking on another student again and again to make them feel bad. They say or do things to upset them, make fun of them, stop them from joining in, or keep hitting or punching them.

What is not bullying?

Bullying is a word often used to describe behaviour that is not actually bullying — not all verbal or physical aggression is bullying. For example:

• 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 sexist or racist terms but doesn’t mean to cause harm
• theft: taking someone else’s things once is theft but not necessarily bullying.

These other behaviours may be just as upsetting and serious, but may need to be dealt with in a different way.