By Brady Lang

With school around the corner, bullying still an issue

Aug 30, 2018 | 10:10 AM

With school just around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about how students treat each other when they’re in class. 

Bullying is always a large issue in schools. With cyberbullying on the rise, the issue is always a good thing to look at when starting a new school year. Tonya Lehman, Superintendent of Learning for Living Sky School Division, told battlefordsNOW what they focus on when students enter the halls.

“We focus on having that welcoming and inclusive school for all of our students,” she said. “We want our buildings to be warm, welcoming and inviting spaces where people feel appreciated and accepted by all.”

Lehman says that when situations do arise of students not respecting one another, intervention comes into place. For the school division, they focus on creating that foundation of learning and continuing to build a place where students feel comfortable coming into school and talking about any issues they have.

“We treat each other with kindness and respect. When that isn’t happening, it takes some intervention and some work around that to make sure we’re following our philosophy and beliefs,” she said. 

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Students have a variety of different options to turn to when it comes to talking about bullying, Lehman said. It doesn’t just start and end with telling a teacher or someone in authority in the schools, and Lehman said help is always available. 

“We want our students to feel comfortable to talk to the adults in the building,” she said. “We want to give them the skills and ability to know who to talk to. As kids get older, sometimes friends, classmates and their teammates around them [are good outlets.] Also, talking to their parents, they’re great resources and a great voice.”

When it comes to the new forms of bullying, Lehman says it’s definitely harder to detect. It’s something that teachers and many parents didn’t have to deal with, but are trying their best to address issues in a positive way.

“We look at it in trying to be proactive in that,” she said. “In giving kids good skills ahead of time, so they understand the difference between bullying and what isn’t bullying. We do see (cyberbullying) on the increase and we want to continue to be addressing that.”

If students don’t feel comfortable in going through the different avenues, there is always help externally as well. The Kids Help Phone recently launched their text line, and all students need to do is text “CONNECT” to 686868. 

brady.lang@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @BradyLangCJNB