Safe Schools 5434S

1. Safe Schools 5434S Claire Crooks, Ph.d., C.Psych.

2. Safe Schools 5434SJan-March 2011Claire Crooks ccrooks@uwo.caAssociate Director, CAMH Centre for Prevention ScienceDevelopers and ConsultantsPeter Jaffe Professor, Faculty of EducationAcademic Director, Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women & ChildrenRay Hughes National Coordinator 4thRCentre for Prevention Science, CAMHTA – Kara Brooks kbrooks5@uwo.ca

3. Safe Schools 5434Q Course Outline Readings Assignments Expectations

4. Introduction to Violence in the schools Lecture 1 ~ January 4, 2011

5. Why Have a Safe School Course?

6. Why Else? • Kids need to be safe to learn • Guaranteed under UN Convention on the Rights of the Child • School board ethical and legal responsibilities • Internationally, our ranking is slipping

7. A MIND MAP A graphic representation of a complex concept through words and pictures that help define and clarify connections, pathways and/or relationships.

13. Points of Resistance • Not my job “I didn’t go to teachers’ college to become a social worker” • No time “I have limited time to cover the curriculum” • No energy “I can’t solve all the world’s problems” • No hope “I can’t make a difference”

14. Findings from the Health Behaviour In School-Aged Children Survey - 2002 • 1 in 7 Grade 9 & 10 students indicate that they don’t feel safe in school. • 53% of Grade 9 students believe teachers care about students as individuals • 60% agreed that teachers treat students with respect • 54% said students treat each other with respect and fairness.

15. Elementary School Student Experiences of Bullying • 6% of children, grades 1-8, admit bullying more than once in the past six weeks. • Boys report more physical forms of bullying, while girls report more indirect forms, such as gossiping and excluding. • Children 11-12 years old report bullying more than younger (9-10) or older (13-14) children. • On surveys, 2% of children who bully others say they are also victims of bullying. In contrast, our schoolyard observations show that almost half of children who bully are targeted by others and vice versa.

16. Student Experiences of Bullying Bullying Vicitimization 71% - no victimization in past few months 8-16% - victimized once or twice 2-4% - victimized once or twice a month 2-9% - victimized daily or weekly • Common Types of Bullying • 57-81% - verbal/social bullying • 39%-55% - sexual bullying • 18%-43% - physical bullying • 7%-18% - bullying based on racism

17. Newspaper Headlines: • Bullies cited in suicide: Joshua Melo killed himself last Friday. His father blames bullying • Internet played a part in teen's suicide • Bullied to death: Friends, family grieve loss of sensitive teen

18. TVDSB Response: An example of a comprehensive approach • Conducted system-wide audit to look at experiences of bullying • Focus on understanding why youth do not report or seek help • Adopted as a regular undertaking

19. Perceptions of safety

20. Respect

21. Students’ Knowledge of and Roles in bullying

22. Incidents of bullying

23. Barriers to reporting

24. Student ideas for Addressing Bullying

25. Student Beliefs about Safe schools strategies

26. TVDSB Safe Schools surveyComparison of 2005-2008 Results • Comparisons between the 2005 and 2008 survey items showed small changes – generally less than a tenth of a point on a 5 point scale (e.g., 3.3 to 3.4) • Increase (2005 to 2008) in student perception of safety, respect, role and knowledge (App H – pg 1-2) • Students reported greater feelings of safety in all school locations in 2008 compared to 2005 (pg 3)

27. TVDSB Safe Schools survey Comparison of 2005-2008 Results • Student reports of bullying increased 2005 to 2008 (pg 3) • approximate 1% or less increase for ‘Daily’ bullying • approximate 2% or less decrease for ‘Never’ bullied • largest increase in bullying is ‘Over the Internet’ • Increased likelihood of interventions (from 2005 to 2008) if a fellow student was being bullied (pg 4)

28. TVDSB Elementary Survey Comparison of 2006-2009 Results • Student views of why bullying is not reported showed an overall similar pattern or order of responses in 2009 as seen in 2006 • In 2009 grades 4 to 6 students were: • less likely to agree that staff will not do anything, that bullying cannot be stopped and that complaints are not taken seriously • more likely to agree that they are nervous to report on their own and are embarrassed to have been bullied • In 2009 grades 7 to 8 students were: • less likely to agree that bullying cannot be stopped, that they do not want to be known as a rat and that bullying will get worse • more likely to agree that they can handle it on their own and that the report will not be kept anonymous

29. Safe Schools Changes2006 – 2009(as a result of 2006 Elementary Survey) School Action Plan Annual Reflection Safe Schools Committee Bullying Prevention Ministry Funding Bullying Prevention $$ per school

30. Maintaining safe schools is a challenge 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week……… The work is never done………………..

31. Boys’ Death raises spectre of bullying London Free Press - May 12, 2010 (Jennifer O’Brien) Visitors to a Facebook tribute page say he was a victim of bullies at school St Thomas -- The brutality of bullying has surfaced, with the grieving family of a 13-year-old St. Thomas, Ont., boy directing memorial donations to an anti-bullying group. Bryten Brown -- who played baseball, enjoyed golfing and was in Grade 8 at Locke public school -- died Saturday. It was the day before Mother's Day. His devastated family mourned Bryten in an obituary that requested memorial donations be made to the London Anti-Bullying Coalition. Officials with the Thames Valley District school board declined to comment on the Facebook group, the obituary request or discuss whether Bryten had been bullied.