Waterpark College Anti-Bullying Policy
Rationale
This policy was formulated for the following reasons:
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To promote positive school behaviour and discipline.
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To allow the school to function in an orderly and harmonious way.
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To enhance the learning environment where children can make progress in all aspects of their development.
Aims
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We would hope that our anti bullying policy would first and foremost prevent bullying the school.
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This policy should also highlight the fact that all forms of bullying are unacceptable with school management, teaching and non-teaching staff, pupils and parents/guardians.
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To create a school ethos which encourages and supports children when disclosing and discussing incidents of bullying behaviour.
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To develop appropriate procedures for investigating and dealing with incidents of bullying.
Definition of Bullying
Bullying is repeated aggression, verbal, psychological or physical conducted by an individual or group against others.
Isolated incidents of aggressive behaviour, which should not be condoned, can scarcely be described as bullying. However, when the behaviour is systematic and ongoing it is bullying.
Types of Bullying
(a)Pupil Behaviour
Physical Aggression:
This behaviour includes pushing, shoving, punching, kicking, poking and tripping people up. While children commonly engage in ‘mess fights’, they can often be used as a disguise for physical harassment or inflicting pain.
Damage to Property:
Personal property can be the focus of attention for the bully; this may result in damage to clothing, school books and other learning material or interference with a pupil’s personal belongings. The contents of school bags and pencil cases may be scattered on the floor. Items of personal property may be defaced, broken stolen or hidden.
Intimidation:
Some bullying behaviour takes the form of intimidation: it is based on the use of very aggressive body language with the voice being used as a weapon. Particularly upsetting to victims can be the so-called ‘look’ – a facial expression which conveys aggression and/ or dislike.
Isolation:
This form of bullying behaviour is when a person is deliberately isolated, excluded or ignored by some or all of the class group. This practice is usually initiated by the person engaged in bullying behaviour. It may be accompanied by writing insulting remarks about the victim on blackboards or in public places, by passing around notes about or drawings of the victim or by whispering insults about them loud enough to be heard.
Name Calling:
Persistent name-calling directed at the same individual(s), which hurts, insults or humiliates should be regarded as a form of bullying behaviour; most name-calling of this type refers to physical appearance.
Slagging:
This behaviour usually refers to the good-natured banter which goes on as part of the normal social interchange between people. However, when this slagging extends to very personal remarks aimed again and again at the one individual about appearance, clothing, personal hygiene or involves references of an uncomplimentary nature to members of one’s family, then it assumes the form of bullying.
Bullying of School Personnel
Bullying of school personnel by means of physical assault, damage to property, verbal abuse, threats to people’s families etc.
(b) Adult Behaviour
This pertains to teaching and non-teaching staff, parents/guardians and school management.
An adult may, unwittingly or otherwise, engage in, instigate or reinforce bullying behaviour in a number of ways:
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Using sarcasm or other insulting or demeaning forms of language; making negative comments about appearance or background.
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Humiliating directly or indirectly, a pupil who is particularly academically weak or outstanding, or vulnerable in other ways.
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Using any gesture or expression of a threatening or intimidatory nature, or any form of degrading physical contact or exercise.
Effects of Bullying
People who are being bullied may develop feeling of insecurity and extreme anxiety and thus may become more vulnerable. Self-confidence may be damaged with a consequent lowering of their self-esteem. While they may not talk about what is happening to them, their suffering is indicated through changes in mood and behaviour. It is, important to be alert to changes in behaviour as early intervention is desirable.
Indications of Bullying/Behaviour – Signs and Symptoms
The following signs/symptoms may suggest that a pupil is being bullied:
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Anxiety about travelling to and from school – requesting parents to drive or collect them, changing route of travel, avoiding regular times for travelling to and from school;
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Unwillingness to go to school, refusal to attend;
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Deterioration in educational performance, loss of concentration and loss of enthusiasm and interest in school;
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Pattern of physical illness (e.g. headaches, stomach aches);
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Visible signs of anxiety or distress – stammering, withdrawing, nightmares, difficulty in sleeping, crying, not eating, vomiting, bedwetting;
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Spontaneous out-of-character comments about either pupils or teachers;
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Possessions missing or damaged;
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Increased requests for money or stealing money;
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Unexplained bruising or cuts or damaged clothing;
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Reluctance and/or refusal to say what is troubling him/her.
Those signs do not necessarily mean that a pupil is being bullied. If repeated or occurring in combination those signs do warrant investigation in order to establish what is affecting the pupil.
The Victim
Any pupil through no fault of their own may be bullied.
It is common in the course of normal play for pupils to tease or taunt each other. However, at a certain point, teasing and taunting may become forms of bullying behaviour. The pupils who are most at risk of becoming victims are those who react on a vulnerable and distressed manner. The seriousness and duration of the bullying behaviour is directly related to the pupil’s continuing response to the verbal, physical or psychological aggression.
The Bully
It is generally accepted that bullying is a learned behaviour.
Pupils who bully tend to display aggressive attitudes combined with a low level of self-discipline. They lack any sense of remorse; often they convince themselves that the victim deserves the treatment meted out.
Pupils who bully can also be attention seeking; often they set out to impress bystanders and enjoy the reaction their behaviour provokes. They tend to lack the ability to empathise. They are unaware or indifferent to the victim’s feelings. Others seem to enjoy inflicting pain. It is of note that many bullies suffer from a lack of confidence and have low self-esteem.
It is not uncommon to find that pupils who engage in bullying behaviour are also bullied. They tend to be easily provoked and frequently provoke others.