‘ERASE Bullying’ Strategy Welcomed, But Details Not Inked Either
The Premier announces 10-point anti-bullying strategy in Surrey courtesy BC Gov Photos
Prince George, BC – Premier Christy Clark has announced a new strategy called ‘ERASE Bullying’, aimed at ensuring every child in the province feels safe and accepted, regardless of their gender, race, culture or sexual orientation…
"It looks good on paper," says Prince George District Teachers Association First Vice-President, Tina Cousins. "Anytime the provincial government is going to tackle bullying, it’s a good thing."
But specific details of just how the program will roll out in School District 57 and the province’s other 59 school districts are not yet available. In fact, a dollar figure for the program was not given until a Q-and-A session after the Premier’s announcement in Surrey on Friday – it’s $2-million-dollars.
The plan will begin during the 2012-13 school year and includes:
- a five-year, multi-level training program for educators and community partners to help them proactively identify and address threats
- dedicated safe school coordinators in every school district
- stronger codes of conduct for schools
- focusing one of the existing six provincial teacher professional development days on anti-bullying
- a provincial advisory committee with representatives from police, school and social agency partners
According to a Ministry of Education spokesperson no local community organizations are yet involved. The rep for the PGDTA says bullying is something local educators have been trying to deal with at a district-level. Tina Cousins says the local association was unaware the province was working on this strategy and she’s not sure who was consulted. Cousin wonders, "Why are we doing duplicate work?"
She also has concerns about allocating one pro-D day as part of the strategy, saying one of the six is already set aside to deal with ministerial orders. Speaking at Friday’s news conference, Education Minister, George Abbott, said the idea had been run by the BC Teachers Federation, but whether they’d be "wholeheartedly accepting it" has been an object of discussion.
For its part, the BCTF is welcoming the strategy, but is calling on the government to follow through on the promises it contains. First Vice-President, Jim Iker, says, "So far the only movement has come from individual districts, thanks to the work of youth, teachers, some trustees and community members, not because of provincial government action."
Iker notes a 2003-04 Safe Schools Task Force found discrimination and bullying were substantial issues in all districts. He says, "The BCTF has been calling on the province to take action specifically on racism that Aboriginal and cultural minority youth face, as well as the toxic school climate facing LGBTQ youth."
"We’ve been concerned that the existing standards have been too weak and the government has not enforced them consistently around the province," says Iker. "Now we expect that the legal framework should be tightened and enforced province-wide."
Comments
Good efforts I guess. IMO we will never stop bullying. It takes place in many different forms.
I would think “self esteem” classes for the young people in our school system that are being bullied. Helping them to appear more self confidant may help to prevent them from becoming targets.
All of my kids were targets of bullying at one point or another. One in particular got it the worse. She never mentioned a word to me while it was happening, but now she is older I here of threats made to her and her family and bullying during class time that was not noticed by the teacher and bullying in the parking lot etc.
I do recall trying to find self esteem classes through the College around that time (1999) and came up empty handed. Bill Beesley was no longer teaching those classes.
On first glance this seems like a great program. On the other hand, it seems like the Province’s way of taking credit for what is already happening at the grass-roots level voluntarily. No consultation before the program was launched? A 5-year training program? Dedicated coordinators? I doubt these people will eb paid for their time. The program seems to rely on volunteer labour…wait what is the BCTF strike all about? The government expecting teachers to put in voluntary labour to fulfill the services expected of them.
This reeks of poor planning.
Don’t forget the money going to the development of a “smart phone” app for victims of bullying to be able to report incidents anomously. I understand the world is very smart phone friendly, but really? A form on a website would have the exact same effect, and would be available to every student, not just the ones with smartphones.
wth: “I would think “self esteem” classes for the young people in our school system that are being bullied.”
Excellent point. Bullies need victims, and when people refuse to be victims, bullies are powerless.
Comments for this article are closed.