President High School in Goodwood is one step ahead with the anti-bullying campaign which was launched on 18 March, where all the Grade 8 learners pledged against bullying.
The school decided to make a poster stating President High is a bully-free school.
Nicola Adams, school counsellor and social worker, said “we are proud to see the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) is launching this campaign especially after the incident in Limpopo, where a video went viral on social media containing content of one learner assaulting another. This was the driving force behind the campaign.
At the launch they had a guest speaker, Desmolene Weavers, who is the district school social worker at the provincial education department’s Metro North in Parow.
Weavers shared relevant information with the learners regarding bullying. She especially stressed the point of by-standers, specifically looking at learners who make the videos and see the bullying happening, but do not report it to the teachers or relevant authorities at the school.
According to Adams the campaign is really doing good. “The campaign was individual classroom sessions by myself with the Grade 8 classes and ended up with a colourful pledge in our school main hall.”
The importance of the reporting process, resources available and causes of bullying was stressed to the learners and the feedback from the learners indicated that they grasped the message.
Adams also stated that their school has a strict code of conduct and takes bullying behaviour very seriously.
Stander, vision principal at the school, handles bullying cases and there is a manic process where statements are taken and the parents of learners are called in.
The intervention is holistic. “We believe in a restorative approach” and therefore refer learners for counselling sessions and look at options such as community involvement.
For example, learners will be asked to help out at the school’s community project where they have to share or offer food for the less privileged.
The school is currently planning a visit to a youth care centre with some of the learners to show them where they can end up should they continue on the path they are currently on.
When asked what Adams thinks parents and the community as a whole can do to prevent bullying, she made an emphasis of reporting. “Talk about it with a teacher, principal or counsellor at the school and together we can sit and look at possible solutions. That way, the bully can be addressed and the victim empowered with tools to overcome bullying behaviour.”
Different types of bullying was discussed with the learners with the emphasis on cyber-bullying, which is most prevalent nowadays, and the Popi Act was reiterated to the learners since teenagers love to share images and videos online.
Adams said there are so many learners struggling with bullying that leads to depression, self-harm and suicide attempts, hence the school feels it is so important to amplify this topic and support the provincial education department’s initiative full-heartedly.
Each school has a social worker who sits in the district office and bullying cases are seen as abuse and therefore has to be reported to them.
To report these cases, contact the Metro-North education department’s social workers on 021 938 3000/71.
