The Ottawa Carleton District School Board is taking steps to reduce bullying in its schools by adopting the WITS program, which stands for Walk away, Ignore, Talk it out and Seek Help.
The program is currently in place at 40 schools across the board, including Cambridge Street Public School in Centretown.
WITS was originally developed in British Columbia in 1993, and teaches youngsters from kindergarten to Grade 6 conflict resolution strategies and the consequences of bullying. The program itself has gained attention for its focus on using family and the community to help prevent instances of bullying.
In recent years, bullying has become a prominent issue in Canada, most notably reflected in the teen suicides of Amanda Todd, a British Columbia teen who was blackmailed and bullied after a topless photograph was distributed online and Jamie Hubley, a Kanata high school student who was bullied for being gay.
Caroline Teske, WITS Ontario site program co-ordinator, says the use of community members, such as police officers and firefighters, to convey messages about bullying is important for children to understand the full consequences of their actions.
“We know from research literature that those are the most effective types of programs that are out there for bullying prevention,” she says.
“Having programs that help reinforce and integrate strategies into a variety of different environments that kids live in really helps to bring the message home.”
Teske adds that the emphasis on younger children is influential to reducing amounts of bullying because kids need to be taught before it becomes a problem in older grades.
“We really try to encourage and teach strategies at younger ages, and for the adults that work and live with them, as well, to help prevent these types of behaviour and experiences so that it doesn’t become a chronic experience later in life,” she says.
“We know from research that there are strong associations with future mental health concerns, things like anxiety, depression, and aggression. We want to prevent those type of behaviour from happening.”
Teske says classroom learning is very important in teaching these lessons and using materials that deal with bullying is what the program prides itself on.
“Teachers would use literature components, so they use books and different lesson plans with the students to bring up the conversation about bullying and victimization and what kids can do.”
Jennifer McKenzie, school board chair and trustee for Somerset and Kitchissippi, says the WITS program helps children identify certain problems as well as how it is OK to talk about their problems with adults.
“It lets the kids know what they can do when they find themselves in a particular situation,” she says. “They learn to let adults know if that is the best way to handle the situation so they are not afraid to speak out.”
Ernie Gibbs, a mental health counsellor at the Centretown Community Health Centre, deals with issues surrounding LGBTQ youth and says new federal and provincial legislation has helped. But creating laws does not go all the way in changing society, he adds.
“We need to have the people who help reinforce social norms, we need to help at being proactive as well as responsive,” he says. “Responsive, is someone who is being bullying and victimized and we respond by sanctioning the person who did it.”
Gibbs says it is important to make sure the person who is being victimized gets the support they need to talk through their feelings. “This reduces the long-term impact of bullying.”