To cap off Anti-Bullying Week, an Aberdeen school became one of the first in the country to receive a reward recognising their commitment to an anti-bullying culture on campus.
Respectme, Scotland’s anti-bullying service, sponsors the reward. They visited Bridge of Don’s Danestone Primary on Wednesday to deliver the good news about their recognition.
Part of the criteria for the reward involves completed a schoolwide assessment. A key feature of the approach is to keep children at the centre of anti-bullying efforts.
This creates a sense of safety for pupils and encourages them to talk to adults and classmates about bullying.
Danestone head teacher Elaine Page said she has seen big changes in her pupils since starting the initiative.
But don’t just take the adults’ word for it. Danestone’s pupils spoke about why people bully, how it feels, and what we can all do to help.
Respect, kindness and fairness
Pupil Keira described the goal of the reward programme.
“Anti-bullying means that you learn what bullying is and how to stop it. We have policies in school to help us know what to do.
“In class we learn what we can do to stop bullying behaviour and who to speak to. We should be respectful, kind and fair.”
Anti-bullying experts say that bullying should be approached and treated as a behaviour. Every act of bullying has its own roots.
“We should give people a second chance even if they have done something wrong before.”
-Dylan, Danestone Primary pupil
To get to the source and correct the behaviour, those involved need to look at each case individually.
Danestone pupil Nina had some insight into why someone might bully a classmate.
“I think that they bully because they want to feel stronger and make everyone else feel small.
“Sometimes when people bully they are trying to make other people laugh which will make them feel better about themselves.”
Regardless of the reason, every instance of bullying comes with a cost. According to Dylan, that normally means someone’s feelings will get hurt.
“It would feel horrible to be bullied, it would make you feel really sad and alone. You would feel a bit depressed and worried about everything.”
But hurt feelings doesn’t mean that you should forget about how the bully might feel, he added.
“We should also give people a second chance even if they have done something wrong before.”
More about Anti-Bullying Week 2022
The new ‘respectme reward’ helps schools review their anti-bullying policy. The national programme launches officially in early 2023.
Head teacher Elaine Page said that she has been proud of the changes a new anti-bullying approach has made at her school.
“The work we have done for the respectme reward has supported the school to reflect on the way we deal with bullying behaviour and how we support our pupils.
“We have developed systems to support restorative conversations with our pupils and involved them in any actions that are agreed. This has had a positive impact on the relationships between our pupils at Danestone.
“They are more willing to talk about how they are feeling and share their concerns with known adults.”
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