On this last entry in my Lovestruck series, it is quite telling that this blog is all about love, or how the lack of it, can affect others. It is this omission that leads to the most cruel behaviour in our society: Bullying.
Whether you are a child, youth, teen or adult, bullying plays a role in nearly aspect of your life, unfortunately. It can pop up in an office or a seniors' home as easily as it can on a playground and in a classroom; it can cause just as much stress and anxiety to a 13-year-old as it does to an 83-year-old. In short, bullying is brutal.
It sets the stage for what is acceptable and what is expected and, if unchecked, it will govern how we, as a society, treat others within our society, leading to racism, alienation, depression, and suicide. In fact, if you look at how we treat the lest in our society, it gives you a window into the soul of our network: Do we choose kindness or do we choose unkindness? Much like bullying, kindness has a ripple effect that is long-lasting: It helps grow our perceptions of who we are, our role in society, and how that role governs our growth as a people and as a nation.
With a word, a phrase, a nickname, a tease, bullies can bring down the tallest, the strongest, the most talented among us. They can zero in on our insecurities, our fears and highlight the small aspects of our personalities, our appearances and make them appear huge for all to see.
So, what do we do? How do we stop bullying?
First, we bring it out of the shadows and put that jagged little pill that we've been struggling to swallow under the microscope. Like any nasty underbelly to a society, exposing it doesn't stop it from happening — you actually need to take action; stand up for alternative messaging. It wasn't until we had a dedicated day to draw attention to bullying, for example, that anti-bullying messaging became mainstream. That alternative messaging didn't originate from a committee, a board, a working group — it came from the empathy shown by two Grade 12 students at a high school in Halifax. Their actions have reverberated around the globe, spreading the message of kindness to nations worldwide, all because they empathized with a male Grade 9 student who was bullied for wearing pink.
They saw an injustice and they acted by engaging the alternative message, one of empathy, inclusion, and above all, kindness.
So never think one act of kindness goes unnoticed. It does, and that is one ripple effect I would get behind 100 per cent!
Pink Shirt Day
This year, Pink Shirt Day will be held Wednesday, Feb. 24. The origin of the day dates back to 2007, when two Nova Scotia high-school students — David Shepherd and Travis Price — began an organized high-school protest, with the help of their friends, to show solidarity towards a Grade 9 boy who was being bullied for wearing a pink shirt.
The group showed up at school wearing pink and this one act of kindness and peaceful protest against hate harassment began a movement that caught on in other schools, other provinces, other countries around the globe. In fact, through the kind actions of Shepherd and Price sprung the International Day of Pink, marked each year in April (this year, April 14). The international movement zeroed in on the cause of the pink-shirt bullying: homophobia, transphobia, transmisogyny, and all other forms of bullying and propelled that protest further with information campaigns around bullying and discrimination, especially discrimination based on gender affiliation.
Discrimination and bullying based on race, age, abilities, gender or sexuality is of growing concern in our society, so the International Day of Pink has ambassadors promoting the Think Pink messaging not only in Canada but in countries all over the world.
Thinking Pink at TMC
Close to home, Twelve Mile Coulee School will be encouraging all staff and students to wear pink to symbolize an intolerance to bullying. In recent years, I have also diversified our Learning Commons collection to include many LGBTQ+ titles in our collection — both non-fiction and fiction. These books are excellent ways to normalize varying genders and to share that kindness, that love to others, whether they fall within the mainstream or not.
It's not by accident that Twelve Mile Coulee's school motto is Work Hard, Learn Tons, Be Kind. It's our way of thinking pink EVERY day.
- Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall. Suggested Reading Level: PrS-Grade 3
- I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings. Suggested Reading Level: K-Grade 3
- Hazel's Theory of Evolution by Lisa Jenn Bigelow. Winner of the Lambda Literary Award: Suggested Reading Level Grade 3-7
- George by Alex Gino. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 3-7
- The Best at It by Maulik Pancholy. Stonwall Honor Book. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 3-7
- The Other Boy by M.G. Hennessey. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 5-7
- Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 5-8
- Heartstopper: Volume 1 by Alice Oseman. (graphic novel). Suggested Reading Level: Grade 7-12
- When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore. (Winner of 2016 Tiptree Award; long-listed for the 2016 National Book Award for Young People's Literature; Stonewall Book Award Honor; Kirkus Best Book of 2016 and A Booklist Editor's Choice). Suggested Reading Level: Grade 7-12
- As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman (graphic novel). Suggested Reading Level: Grade 8-12
- Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 9-12
- What if It's Us by Becky Albertalli. New York Times bestseller. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 9-12
- Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo. ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults Award; Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book Award; Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 9-12
- The Book of Pride by Mason Funk. (Non-fiction)
- Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kuklin (Non-fiction)
- Sex Discrimination by Peggy Parks (Non-fiction)
- Is Gender Fluid? A Primer for the 21st Century by Sally Hines (Non-fiction)
- Teens and Gender Dysphoria by Don Nardo (Non-fiction)
- Gender Equality by Sean Connolly (Non-fiction)
Purchased (soon to be delivered/added):
- King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender (2020 National Book Award Winner). Suggested Reading Level: Grade 3-7
- The Fabulous Zed Watson by Kevin Sylvester. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 3-7
- Birdie and Me by J.M.M. Nuanez. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 5-9
- Spin with Me by Ami Polonsky. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 5-8
- Always Human by Ari North. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 7-12
- Pet by Akwaeke Emezi. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 7-12
- The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (graphic novel). Suggested Reading Level Grade 7-12
- Like a Love Story by Abdi Nazemian. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 8-12
- Mask of Shadows fantasy series by Linsey Miller. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 9-12
- 19 Love Songs by David Levithan (short-story collection). Suggested Reading Level: Grade 9-12
- Break in Case of Emergency by Brian Francis. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 9-12
- We Set the Dark on Fire series by Tehlor Kay Mejia. Suggested Reading Level: Grade 9-12
- The Black Flamingo (novel in verse). Suggested Reading Level: Grade 9-12
- Flamer by Mike Curato (graphic novel). Suggested Reading Level: Grade 9-12
- Proud to Play: Canadian LGBTQ+ Athletes Who Made History by Erin Silver. (Non-fiction)
Bullying Facts
Alberta bullying statistics from the Alberta Civil Liberties Centre:- 1 in 3 adolescent students report being bullied in the past three months.
- Bullying peaks for boys in Grade 9 (37 per cent) and for girls in grades 8 and 9 (28 per cent).
- In a 2006 study, 39 per cent of students reported they were bullied, and 20 per cent reported both bullying and being themselves.
- On a national scale, Canada ranks 26th and 27th among 35 countries on the bullying and victimization scales, respectively, among 13-year-old students.
"Bullying is a repeated and hostile or demeaning behaviour intended to cause harm, fear or distress, including psychological harm or harm to a person's reputation. It often involves an imbalance of social or physical power." Alberta Education
Alberta Education identifies bullying behaviours as a form of aggression and can be:
- Physical, such as poking, elbowing, hitting
- Verbal, such as name-calling, insults, racist, sexist or homophobic comments, put-downs or threats
- Social, such as gossiping, spreading rumours, excluding someone from the group, isolating, ganging up
- Cyber, such as social or verbal bullying through the use of email, text messages or social media posts
- Bullying is "very much a group phenomenon," states Alberta Education's website for educators, noting 85 per cent of bullying takes place in the presence of others. This is why the department has introduced several initiatives to address bulling in schools, including the Respect in School online training program to prevent abuse, bullying, harassment and discrimination in schools.
Bullying Prevention
Literary Resources
Red: A Crayon's Story by Michael Hall read-along with Miss Winnie, PBS Kids:
I am Jazz by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings read-along by Jazz Jennings:
Q&A with Ami Polonsky on her book Gracefully Grayson
Other Digital Resources
Edmonton Police Service Cyber Bullying Prevention Video:
On Nov. 17, 2011, 150 students and staff from St. Albert Catholic Schools joined then Alberta Education Minister Thomas Lukaszuk and CTV's Josh Classen in a flash mob at Kingsway Mall in Edmonton to stand up to bullying:
No comments:
Post a Comment