Working together to address symptoms of bullying
Joanne Charron
Given that this edition of Inspirations focuses on bullying, I thought it would be a good opportunity to share my thoughts. While I am not a mental health professional, my involvement as a parent in my children’s schools and as a past commissioner of special needs students on the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) has given me insight into some of the creative ways schools can address this important issue.
As we know, bullying starts at a very young age. We do know that teaching and prevention is key and should begin at home, although that is not always the case and sometimes might be the cause. Is the act of bullying an outward symptom of what someone is dealing with internally or in their home environment? Is it a cry for help? This is why it is so important that schools have implemented initiatives to guide, support and model proper behaviour. Once an incident has happened there are consequences for the perpetrator, but they must be accompanied by support to get to the root cause.
There must be support for both the bully and the bullied otherwise intervention will be in vain. This is why mental health support is so much in need, especially in today’s times.
While my kids were students at the EMSB, I appreciated the board’s initiatives to address issues of bullying through anti-bullying campaigns, school assemblies, mentoring programs including some that paired older students with younger students, class discussions and more. The board also has programs that shed light on our special needs community, such as reverse integration programs, satellite classes, integration and volunteering for our special needs students.
We should continue to involve the children more in combatting issues like bullying. Sometimes they have the best ideas. We should have them more involved in the decision-making process, for example with more seats on our governing boards, roles as anti-bullying reps in our schools or even on council as a student commissioner.
As adults we need to address these issues for the well-being of our children and our society. We are creating the next generation: We have to be what we want to see. If bullying is symptomatic of other underlying issues, maybe we need to address that.
There needs to be more professional involvement and guidance. Unfortunately, we do not have enough professionals to go around; the waiting lists for care for in the public sphere are too long and not all families can afford private care. We could, however, look into other ways such as partnering with universities for student interns, reaching out to retirees in the field, elders and professionals willing to volunteer some of their time.
As a parent to three children who all attended EMSB schools, I appreciated the way they handled these and other issues and know that they are always willing to meet and work with me as a parent. I always felt safe and secure that my children were in those schools, and that if anything arose, we could work together to solve it. And we did.
This as a parent was a great comfort. It goes to show that if we work together, we can do anything because our goal is the same: the education, health and welfare of our children.
Joanne Charron is president of The C.A.R.E. Centre and president of the Comité des usagers of the Lethbridge-Layton-Mackay Rehabilitation Centre Users' Committee. She is a special advisor to Inspirations. Contact her at charronjoanne@gmail.com.
