By Tia Goldenberg
When he was a kid, Brett Popplewell stood by as others were bullied.
He wasn’t a bully, but he calls himself a major part of the problem of bullying: silent bystanders perpetuate bullying through their inaction.
Then, after a near riot broke out at his high school, Popplewell decided to take a stand and use his voice to help eradicate bullying.
“The problem with schools is that there’s always this code of silence. No kid wants to be a rat,” he says. “We tried to get rid of that whole idea that you had to stay quiet and not sell out to teachers.”
He began speaking tours of schools in the Ottawa area and, at 22, continues doing so. To reach the elementary school age bracket, he created “The MISadventures of Bully-Boy and Gossip-Girl,” a comic book that tries to show youth how they can prevent bullying.
Popplewell’s actions are exactly what Premier Dalton McGuinty encourages in his new safe schools plan.
In March, McGuinty announced he would invest $9 million in a province-wide program that will fund an anti-bullying hotline as well as identify successful anti-bullying programs.
This is a step in the right direction. McGuinty is acknowledging that the burden to eradicate bullying lies with the schools, but the biggest challenge remains — he must ensure administrators know how to wipe out bullying.
“School is the primary place of contact outside the home. That’s the place to intervene,” says William McKee, a professor of educational psychology at the University of British Columbia.
He says each school’s administrators must realize they have a large role to play in the social development of children.
“They are critical players in creating an environment where there is respect for others and respect for diversity.”
Bullying still happens in schools because society has minimized its effects and therefore implied it’s a normal part of childhood development, says David Millen, executive director of Child and Youth Friendly Ottawa, a not-for-profit youth organization. He agrees that this environment must be changed within the school.
“We need to create the right kind of school culture. (In this culture), when kids step across the threshold and go to school, if something happens we need to ensure they feel they can talk comfortably about it. There’s a level of trust. Staff are well trained. Staff aren’t saying ‘Oh, he deserved it or she deserved it,’” Millen says.
Gossip is another side of bullying that is often overlooked because it is less dramatic. According to research, gossip or exclusion is equally or even more detrimental to children as more violent forms of bullying, says Faye Mishna, a social work professor at the University of Toronto.
“People have to recognize that it is a form of bullying and it has to be addressed because it has just as harmful effects,” including anxiety, depression and social isolation, she says.
Teachers must be able to deal with this form of bullying as much as any other. And rather than telling kids to ignore teasing or gossiping, Mishna says teachers must encourage students to stand up to it.
Popplewell deals directly with the students when he visits schools. He says they have the power to remove bullying from the realm of taboo by telling someone about it.
“They haven’t been taught that you don’t stand for these sorts of things,” he adds.
If McGuinty aims to assuage bullying, he must ensure teachers know how to deal with it.
Wendy Craig, a psychology professor at Queen’s University says only a systemic approach can address the problem.
“It’s just not enough to deal with individual children who bully or those who are victimized but you need to look at the peer group as well. You need to provide teachers with support in addressing the problem and have a consistent response across the staff in addressing the problems.”
Millen stresses that the key to eliminating bullying is to make sure anti-bullying initiatives are part of the curriculum.
He acknowledges that teachers are already overburdened with a set of courses that forces them to teach everything from values, to drug awareness to geography. He suggests weaving in anti-bullying messages to other courses like history, or English.
Too often, schools will invite a speaker to discuss a certain issue at an assembly and then drop the subject entirely, Millen says. He says this needs to change for McGuinty’s initiatives to make a difference.
“If the commitment is there at the administrative level then, yes, (they) can work,” Millen says.
“The government has to convince (educators) that they do have a role to play.”
Safety audits are now underway and the initiatives in McGuinty’s safe schools plan begin this fall.