Week against bullying: tips for teachers
Bullying gets attention, but it is not eradicated. As a teacher you are sometimes in a difficult position. Parents speak to you about it. Children think you are partial or don't feel well in your class. While much of the bullying takes place outside of the classroom and through social media. What to do?
Image: Evangelische Omroep (EO)
The Week Against Bullying, an annual initiative of the School and Safety Foundation, focuses this year on parents and on the internet. But the starting point is the school and of course the teacher.
Know where you stand
The people behind the Week Against Bullying have one test especially for teachers developed. That is where your teaching style comes in. And therefore the best way for you to work on social safety in the classroom. Fill it in and you will also receive tools to involve parents in the problem.
Immerse yourself
Do you find bullying a difficult topic because it happened to you as a child? Read the interviews with fellow sufferers, this spring in the Education Magazine. The EO airs five new episodes of the Anti-Pest Club. Presenter Anne-Mar Zwart visits a class every day (groups 5 to 8 are discussed) somewhere in the Netherlands where one or more children are being bullied. She comes to solve the problem, from hurtful nicknames to guys being bullied for not being as "tough" as their peers. You can watch an episode with your students, but also at home this series offers insight into what is going on with the children and gives ideas to stop the bullying.
Dive into online bullying
Today and tomorrow (Monday September 18 and Tuesday September 19) you can still join the KRO-NCRV game We are LIT, a story that unfolds via Whatsapp. As a participant you will receive a number of text messages from a group app for five days in a row, sometimes you will also be asked to answer. The characters in the group app are fictional, they are virtual characters based on real children's stories. The storyline is influenced by your reactions and can therefore run differently. Initially, the game is intended for students, but as a teacher you get a good idea of how online bullying works, including sexting.
Discuss it in class
Also on Monday mornings, ask, "How was your social media experience this weekend?" instead of just "How was the weekend?". You may receive some surprised looks at first, but anything to open the conversation. Remco Pijpers of Kennisnet wrote a for Mijnkindonline.nl list of 25 questions that parents can use to start the conversation about internet use. He did the same on the Kennisnet website for teachers. It is striking that the list for parents is only positive (what is the funniest thing you have read on Whatsapp? Who should I follow on Instagram?), While the list for teachers especially about risks and negative internet experiences. A combination of both probably works best for the conversation in class.
