Bullying.

It’s a word that should stir up many emotions in teenagers: maybe fear, hatred, or a determination to do something about it.

Or maybe it doesn’t stir any emotions at all.

Bullying is a problem at STA, yet some students seem uninterested in the issue.  According to one student, there is a problem, but it is “often disregarded as an issue.”  This could be because the bullying is “happening online where there are few, if any, witnesses.  The bullying that does take place in person goes under the radar.” The student pointed to last year’s cliques article in the school newspaper as an example. “The defensive nature of the school population…confirmed the existence of cliques…where there are cliques, there is exclusion and bullying.”

With anti-bullying week coming up soon, bullying is an issue that needs to move to the forefront of student’s minds.

Bullying is an imbalance of power.  It is a repeated activity, intended to cause harm the targeted victim.  There are four types of bullying: physical bullying (pushing, hitting), verbal bullying (name calling, gossiping), relational bullying (excluding, shunning), and cyber bullying (Facebook posts, MSN conversations).

Although bullying is often perceived as a problem in elementary schools but not high schools, this couldn’t be further from the truth.  Bullying affects people of all age groups, in all stages of life.  Indirect bullying (rumours, cyber bullying, shunning), however, is more common in older age groups.

Bullying remains an issue at STA.  According to Mrs. Lewis, St. Thomas Aquinas’ child and youth councillor, this is because we are throwing together a bunch of thirteen and fourteen year-olds into a new situation, with new people and new expectations.  It takes students a little while to get used to this, and students don’t always mesh well immediately.  However, she has seen some improvement.  “More students are stepping in now,” she observed, “bystanders are getting involved and bringing the problem to our attention.”  Mrs. Lewis has been working closely with Mr. Ieraci and the prefects to spread the message that bystanders can be the solution to bullying.

This year, one of the prefects’ initiatives is to combat bullying at Aquinas.  During bullying awarness week, from November 23-27, numerous activities are planned for implementation in the cafeteria during lunch, all run by the prefects.  This includes t-shirt graffiti contests (with an anti-bullying theme), a bullying quiz, anti-bullying slogans and labels, wristbands and the anti-bullying pledge form.  All of these activities are intended to raise awareness of bullying during this week and to inspire kids to take action.

But this alone isn’t enough.  For the message to take effect on the student body, we all have to step up to make a difference.  85% of bullying takes place in front of others, even though watching bullying upsets most people.  Bullying stops within ten seconds 57% of the time when peers intervene, yet, on average, peers intervene in only 11% of situations.  The message is clear, and it is one that the school has been trying to deliver for the past few years:  Don’t stand by, stand up, and you can make the school a better place.

Tweet This Post