New school programme aims to beat the bullies

Lifestyle –  Judy Murphy hears how one Galway school is spearheading an initiative geared towards eliminating bullying

With Spring in the air, March is an ideal time for an anti-bullying campaign, according to principal of the City’s Claddagh National School, Michael Gallagher, referring to the campaign being run by the Irish Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

The ISPCC has designated March as Anti-bullying Month, and taking part invigorates staff and pupils, and gets parents involved in school life, while raising awareness about how to combat this insidious activity, says Michael.

Claddagh NS was one of the first schools in Galway to embrace Anti-Bullying Month, an initiative that has been run by ISPCC since 2012, explains Sandy Duong, an Advocacy Volunteer with the group.

Bullying can take several forms, according to Sandy – physical, verbal and exclusion – and it’s important to be alert for all three.

As part of this, Childline representatives are visiting schools throughout March, giving talks and ensuring their bullying policies are up to date.

The organisation also has a toolkit for schools and sports and social groups to help them ensure their bullying policies are up to national standards.

The ISPCC Shield Programme provides schools and community groups with an evaluation process, allowing an organisation to assess its strengths and weaknesses in dealing with bullying.  Once that’s done, there’s a plan of action.

Claddagh National School is open to initiatives such as this. It’s a racially and culturally diverse institution, with some 350 students from 280 families from 42 different nationalities – of all religious persuasions and none.

Principal Michael Gallagher says that giving the children a sense of ownership of the ISPCC anti-bullying programme has been crucial to its success.

And while he cautions that bullying is an ongoing issue, the ISPCC project is helping address the problem.

Last year, to ensure the children’s involvement, staff incorporated the anti-bullying initiative into a school literacy programme, entitled First Steps. This offered a way of getting the pupils’ opinions on a difficult subject.

Children were asked reflective questions, which they took home and discussed with their parents. These included ‘what’s your definition of bullying? What should you do if bullying happens at school? How would you go about telling an adult that it’s happening?

One of the most fascinating findings was the impact of bullying on bystanders, says Michael.

“It’s not only the bullied child who is affected; it’s those around them too.”

Bystanders can experience different emotions – ranging from sympathy towards the person being bullied, to feeling complicit in what’s happening because of staying quiet about it. Acknowledging these emotions helps change behaviour, says Michael.

When the school first took on the ISPCC Shield project last February, it was initially geared at fourth and fifth classes. But “it grew legs”, says Michael, and subsequently involved pupils from second to sixth class. It incorporated other initiatives such as ‘Friendship Week’ where pupils drew a picture of a hand, and listed their friends on it. The sixth-class pupils made two radio programmes on bullying and the ISPCC initiative, which were broadcast in the school and are available online.

Because of these various projects “everyone in the school was aware there was a big, inclusive drive against bullying,” observes Michael. He points out that campaigns like this need to be ongoing to be effective, but says they work.

In addition to the ISPCC’s Shield Programme, Claddagh NS was also selected for a project, run by the international social entrepreneurs’ group Ashoka, which is designed to give children leadership skills. That, too, helps combat bullying.

Not every child will grow up to become a leader, says Michael, but by teaching them communicate with parents, teachers and Special Needs Assistants, you go a long way to addressing issues around bullying.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.