What we have to say
Changing curriculum to combat bullying and harassment
A primary school community has been learning about the role of power, the misuse of power, and what can be done about it.
Upper primary students
Annika: People who are really pretty and stuff tell us we have to look like this and act like that to be popular and accepted. They tease us and leave us out of things. It's good we are learning about why people do that. It helps us to understand.
Alyce: It teaches us how different we all are and that we don't have to be like all the popular magazine people and the people on TV. In magazines, they can change the way people look.
Steven: When we did that activity about who harasses
and why they do it, I was really surprised when one of my friends pointed
out that a lot of the people who were teasing others were the really popular
kids.
Parents
Rita: My son was very much on his own and alone. He found it hard to get into a group. Some days, he would come home and say he hadn't spoken to anyone because they hadn't spoken to him. With sport, he was in the basketball team but others came along who were better than him and he got dropped from the team. His basketball friends more or less excluded him from their groups. Physically, he's really fine, not broad shouldered. He doesn't look the typical muscly, masculine boy. He felt inferior to the others. He benefited a lot when his class started to talk about things like masculinity and femininity and to do some research about why people who aren't like the stereotyped view of boys get a hard time.
Cheryl: Education about harassment in schools is a great idea. I have been working in the classroom when the students have been discussing issues about different types of harassment. When my daughter (who's not at the school) came home upset about a situation with her friends, I saw that it was harassment and was able to talk to her about it. We were both able to understand what was going on a little better.
Administrators
Carmel: My belief is that to be really effective in dealing with bullying and other forms of violence, these issues that are relevant to the students' lives at school have to be brought out into the open. We need to create a safe and supportive climate where students can raise these issues and talk about what happens to them. They need to be comfortable to talk about things like race and gender and class, and to be supported in finding their own solutions.
Upper primary teachers and support staff
Jennie ASSPA (Aboriginal Student Support and Parent Awareness) committee member and teacher aide: Views have definitely changed in our Year 7 students over only a few months. Some started out with a fear of cultures they didn't know about. They've come to embracing the Aboriginal culture as we all painted our description of reconciliation. I've seen a wonderful change with a real respect given to what was once feared.
Colette (teacher): Working from the students' experiences really heightens their awareness of what is going on around them. It helps them see they are not alone. Their parents, other students and teachers share similar experiences in their lives.
If we don't see bullying and harassment as a global issue instead of something that 'just happens to me', we won't get anything else done at school.
Robyn: It gives every child a chance to be secure and happy. To feel safe.
Schools in Action:
Examining gender, race, class and power
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