THURSDAY, February 13, 2014 • 19
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Premier Christy Clark announced a new provincewide 10-point anti-bullying strategy that will help ensure all children feel safe, accepted and respected, regardless of their gender, race, culture, religion, or sexual orientation. “We all want our kids to be safe, especially at school. That’s why when I became Premier, I promised to address bullying in our school system as a high priority for my government,” said Premier Clark. “I am so proud to announce ERASE Bullying, a nation-leading strategy that will ensure every child in our province feels safe, accepted and respected.” ERASE Bullying (Expect Respect And a Safe Education) is a comprehensive strategy that will make British Columbia a leader in addressing bullying and harmful behaviours. The 10 elements of the plan will begin in the 2012/13 school year and include: • A five-year, multi-level training program for educators and community partners to help them proactively identify and address threats. • New online tools, including a smartphone app, for kids to report bullying anonymously. • Dedicated safe school co-ordinators in every school district. • Stronger codes of conduct for schools. • Provincial guidelines for threat assessments. • New online resources for parents. • Formal protocols to guide and co-ordinate the work of school and community partners. • A provincial advisory committee with representatives from police, school and social agency partners. • Focusing one of the existing six provincial teacher professional development days on anti-bullying. • Anti-bullying and threat assessment training for pre-service teachers. “With this strategy, the British Columbia government has firmly placed itself as the national leader in supporting the development of anti-bullying and threat assessment protocols,” said international expert Kevin Cameron, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Threat Assessment and Trauma Response. This strategy will help prevent, identify and stop harmful behaviours by children and adults — whether online, at school, or in the community. It ensures consistent policies and practices across all 60 school districts, backed by strong community partnerships. “I’m very proud to be bringing in the first provincewide co-ordinated anti-bullying strategy,” said Minister of Education George Abbott. “Over the next five years, we’ll deliver specialized training to over 15,000 educators and community partners. We already have some great programs for elementary kids such as WITS and Roots of Empathy, which teach them about respect and the importance of reporting bullying. What we’re doing now is making sure we have consistent policies and procedures in place that help educators and other partners take action to address bullying and harmful behaviours.” Today’s announcement builds on the Premier’s expansion in 2011 of the Seeds of Empathy (preschoolers) and Roots of Empathy (elementary) programs. The two programs reach 359 elementary school classrooms and 22 preschools or child-care settings, teaching young children about empathy, trust and support of others.
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SCHOOL DISTRICT 58 STRATEGY As a district, we value student achievement, effective relationships and effective instruction. In order to maintain the core values of our district, we endeavour to cultivate an atmosphere that promotes confident, caring individuals who see themselves as important members of the school and community. Our district encourages the involvement of all school and community partners to treat each other with respect and act in a manner that is worthy of the respect of others. The district has implemented the ERASE Bullying Strategy, a fiveyear multi-level training program for educators and community partners, WorkSafe BC Harassment Policy, and Safe Caring Orderly Schools program. The schools in our district are planning many activities specific to Anti-Bullying Week from art projects to classroom events, assemblies with special guests, student drama productions, and school decorations in support of Anti-Bullying Week. The Anti-Bullying campaign is a yearly event to raise awareness of bullying and is also a reminder that we can all make a difference every day. We strive to inspire curiosity and the desire to learn, celebrating our diversities in an environment that is welcoming, safe and respectful.