Is your child a bully? Have you talked to him or her lately about bullying? There is a serious problem at RSS regarding bullying. My child is called names and harassed every day. All year it has been disregarded beause it seems the schools ability to identify emotional and psychological abuse is almost nonexistant. Intimidation is bullying and emotionally abusive. Bullying is not always as obvious as a punch in the face. My child comes home from school daily telling me about kids in his work group at school who torment him into isolation. To the point that he cannot even laugh at a joke without someone whispering shut up and calling him a name. WE in Rossland like to think we are a nice community. but are we raising nice kids? do you know how your kids actually treat others at school? As a parent i should not feel forced to pull my child out of class because of daily harrasment from other children. Ask your kids tonight. Start the discussion at home. Do your children understand what happens when they verbally abuse another child every day? This has been the worst year ever at RSS for my child. No child should be bullied out of elementary school and no kid should come home crying that he or she cant take it anymore..
I'm sorry this is happening to your child. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time I've seen something like this posted on bhubble. I hope parents are having these discussions with their children - My children are not school age, but you can guarantee we will have the conversation when the time comes.
Bullying is a terrible thing.
If you have 17 minutes consider watching this video, it's a pretty powerful message and a possible (partial) solution to bullying. This video might not feel right for you, but it might feel right for someone else in a similar circumstance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8isR_Y-kfk
Our two boys go to Rossland BJJ (you can see the RosslandBJJ.com ad right here on Bhubble). Compared to other martial arts they did in the past, BJJ focuses on using control rather than using violence, which is a good thing.
There are approximately 15 kids in the Rossland BJJ Kids Program, they learn strategies to deal with bullying, they learn self-defence, fun human movement games, confidence, fitness, and the list goes on. As they learn BJJ, they also learn a lot more about themselves and interacting with others around them. When looking at BJJ as a whole, there are too many positives to list for kids and adults.
Visit the Rossland BJJ website, the owner/instructor is an amazing individual and quite honestly we are lucky to have him here in our community.
Shaun
This is heartbreaking. I speak with my children about bullying consistently. No child should be upset or scared to go to school. I really think as parents in this community that it is our responisbility to make sure our children understand what bullying is, or what it means to be a bully. Good luck, if there is any chance to do some type of workshop etc at the school I would be glad to help, so feel free to send me an email!
I think it's very important for us, as parents, to never assume that our child could never be a bully. People that I know, kind decent people who seem to be very good parents, have been stunned to find out that their child has been bullying. I think encountering some form of bullying, whether in observation or being directly involved, is as inevitable as encountering sexual feelings. Talk to your kids about sex, talk to them about bullying. Do it early and revisit the conversation every so often.
And think back to your own school days. Did you witness bullying? Were you bullied? Did you bully? What were your feelings about it? I remember being bullied a bit, not very badly, but it made me uncomfortable enough that I would skip out of school sometimes rather than face it. I didn't tell my parents about it; why not? Because it was over a boy and I didn't want to talk to them about having a crush on a boy. I wonder if I had access to an older mentor-type person, someone who wasn't a parent or a parent figure - would I have been more comfortable telling them?
I got to know someone later in life who went to school here too. He was bullied a lot. He moved away from Rossland as soon as he was out of school and has no desire to come back. The few times he's had to be here for family reasons, he says he has nothing but bad feelings about the place. Isn't that heartbreaking?
I witnessed bullying and stood by, not doing anything. It still makes me feel guilty. Why didn't I speak up? Because I was afraid the bullies would turn on me. At least one of the kids that was doing the bullying ended up becoming a pretty nice adult and someone I am friendly with. Why was he a bully in those days? I've never asked him but it would be a conversation worth having.
We need to be able to explore the causes of bullying and the silence that kids hold around it and we need to be able to do it with enough objectivity that our emotions don't get in the way of finding solutions.
I completely agree with Shaun regarding the benefits of learning a martial art in helping build the life skills that will prevent bullying from happening. I also agree that bullying starts in the home. This is supported by research. This means that the characteristics related to bullying and victimization are already present in kindergarten. I'm not going to discuss the home component here - I would like to focus on the school environment. I don't know the school here but have seen preventive practices that work in the classroom and school wide.
I completely agree with Shaun regarding the benefits of learning a martial art in helping build the life skills that will prevent bullying from happening. I also agree that bullying starts in the home. This is supported by research. This means that the characteristics related to bullying and victimization are already present in kindergarten. I'm not going to discuss the home component here - I would like to focus on the school environment. I don't know the school here but have seen preventive practices that develop that work in the classroom and school wide to develop the social skills that can facilitate prevention.
Classroom Meetings can work well. Here is a video that demonstrates it in use - https://youtu.be/GATMzpMCGOQ
Some schools don't think there is time to do meetings like this but these issues are important and the problem solving and processing taking place is every bit as functional as it is in the academics.
Peer mediation can also work - https://youtu.be/fd_iC_wf9QM
School wide school improvement planning around prevention can also help. There are some great processes around for facilitating it. They work best of all staff and parents are involved in the process.
Here is a school that has developed a school wide program with the anacronym "REACH" - Respect, Enthusiasm, Altruism, Commitment, Honesty - all of these are reinforced in many different ways across the school - https://youtu.be/44M7oWD4Apc
These are just some suggestions that can work but it really takes the whole school planning and deciding prevention to work. Lots of good social/emotional skills developed though so it can be worth it.
May be a heavy movie to watch but real! ..
https://m.facebook.com/agirllikehermovie
Yes, unfortunately bullying is a common problem at RSS. My daughter has asperger’s/autism and is a easy target because she's different and easy to upset. She is bullied by both girls and boys. Patrick and the teachers at RSS do try to minimize the bullying but it's really only going to stop when the parents of bullies pull their heads out of their .... and start teaching their kids the lost art of ( these days ) repect and kindness. I also recommend Greg at Rossland BJJ.
respect and kindness!! :)
I cant imagine your heartache!
Have you considered Seven Summits Centre for Learning? It is a much smaller school, and there is a wonderful sense of community there.
Just a thought-all the best for a summer of healing for your family.
Gwen