P M English Medium School is committed to working with students and parents to provide a learning environment that is secure and supportive so that all individuals can develop academically and socially free from fear of ridicule, harassment or physical threat. We aim to create an environment where all members of the school community feel safe, respected and valued. All children have an absolute right to be protected from others who may wish to harm, degrade or abuse them. Bullying of any kind is unacceptable at our school.
What is Bullying ?
Bullying is the deliberate intention to harm someone who does not have the power to stop it. Bullying, harassment or any form of discrimination, is immoral and can be unlawful because it interferes with the right of a person to feel safe and valued as a member of a community.
Bullying takes many forms. It can be :
Bullying is the deliberate intention to harm someone who does not have the power to stop it. Bullying, harassment or any form of discrimination, is immoral and can be unlawful because it interferes with the right of a person to feel safe and valued as a member of a community.
Done individually, such as a person mocking or teasing someone, AND It can be done as a group by such means as social exclusion.Behaviour such as teasing, taunting and threats based on another person's race.
The causing of hurt by traditional methods such as punching, kicking and spreading hurtful rumours, AND The causing of hurt by contemporary means such as cyber bullying, sexting, engaging in identity theft or by trashing someone on social networking sites
Cyber Bullying :
Bullying is the deliberate intention to harm someone who does not have the power to stop it. Bullying, harassment or any form of discrimination, is immoral and can be unlawful because it interferes with the right of a person to feel safe and valued as a member of a community.
Examples of Cyber bullying :
- Posting rude, explicit or embarrassing messages or pictures about someone on the Net.
- Stealing someone's identity in order to harm them in some way
- Outing' and disseminating confidential information about someone
- Using aliases and pseudonyms in chat rooms and on social networking sites in order to harass and upset
- Engaging in cyber-stalking and the invading of privacy
Bullying is totally against the mission and purpose of PMEMS. The School is committed to providing an educational environment in which students feel valued and secure. To achieve this end, the school seeks to create a school-wide culture that :
- Allows students to flourish free from discrimination, harassment or any form of bullying.
- Does not tolerate, condone or trivialise bullying behaviour.
- Is aware of what constitutes bullying behaviour.
- Provides support to the victims of bullying.
- Deals firmly with bullies so that they either stop their bullying or leave the School.
The methods used by the School to discourage bullying will vary from time-to-time, with new initiatives being introduced when thought appropriate. The measures that have been used to discourage bullying at PMEMS include, but are not limited to:
- Employing a suitable range of sanctions to deal with and discourage bullies. These sanctions include suspension and expulsion.
- Putting up signage about the School to promote a bully-free environment.
- Printing anti-bullying policies in student diaries and on the School's website.
- Training staff to detect bullying behaviour.
What should you do if you are being bullied ?
If you are being bullied, it is important that you talk to an adult who is in a position to help you. Some students may not want to report bullying because they feel it might only make matters worse. Again, this fear is understandable, but most teachers are trained in ways to help victims of bullying in a manner that protects the victim.
It can take courage to challenge the bully, to expose them for who they are and to play a part in improving our community by ridding it of bullying behaviour. PMEMS expects its students to show this courage and not tolerate bullying as a bystander or as a victim. If you are being bullied, you must tell a responsible adult who has the capacity to help. options include:
- Monitors, Prefects, House or School Captain
- Parents, guardian or adult relatives
- Teacher, Coach, Housemaster, Coordinator
- Principal, Vice principal
If you are being bullied, you are encouraged to do the RITE thing :
- R = RECOGNISE : you have the right to feel safe and to operate in an environment free of bullying.
- I = INFORM : The bullies that you want them to stop. Do this in a polite but firm way.
- T = TELL : A responsible adult about the bullying.
- E = EVALUATE : The situation. If it does not improve, seek further help.
Intervention strategies include:< /b>
- Counselling for those bullied and bullying
- Contacting parents to discuss strategies
- Consequences for bullies (including suspension for cyber bullying that occurs outside the school)
- Monitoring those bullied to ensure their continued safety and wellbeing