Social and emotional development plays a significant role in children reaching their potential and bullying is one experience that can have a significant negative impact on a child’s well being on this journey. According to a 2021 study more than 58% of South African scholars had encountered some form of bullying, including cyberbullying, which has become increasingly common. It is always our responsibility, as schools and parents to educate and prevent scholars from being victims or perpetrators of bullying.
Recently, various SPARK scholars wore green and rallied with plaque cards to stand up against bullying. On the day, teachers held care circles with their scholars and engaged in meaningful conversations with the scholars about bullying and how to stop it. “SPARK’s emphasis on its core values teaches scholars to share their feelings and concerns with their parents, guardians, teachers, and other SPARK scholars to develop a sense of community support ,” said Nkazimulo Zitha.
Below are some images of how the day proceeded at various SPARK Schools around Gauteng.
SPARK Ferndale: SPARK Ferndale scholars displaying plaque cards carrying SPARK school’s core values
SPARK Turffontein scholars line up with boards displaying their anti-bullying messages.
SPARK Rynfield: During the anti-bullying presentation, SPARK Rynfield scholars wore matching green outfits.
SPARK Centurion: To fight bullying in schools, SPARK Centurion scholars are pictured marking their thumbprints as a pledge against bullying.
“SPARK schools does not tolerate bullying in any form, and all staff members are committed to promoting a safe and caring environment for all scholars” said Zitha.
Zitha shares four ways schools can help to reduce bullying:
• Have a clear definition and shared understanding of bullying with scholars, parents and families – Every school needs to have the same language within all its networks of schools in order to reduce bullying.
• To start, the schools need to have a common definition of bullying – Bullying is “any form of aggressive behaviour or harassment by an individual or a group, repeated over time, which intentionally hurts another individual or group either physically or emotionally and is generally based on an imbalance in power. Bullying can be physical or non-physical in nature”
• Bullying is often a repeated offense. Talking to the victim about what happened and whether there have been past occurrences is very important.
• Children are visual beings. The use of storytelling and the arts to create context can be a powerful tool for helping young people see situations from different perspectives as this method serves as a vehicle for conversation, and educators can help students understand the negative impact of bullying.
• Instil kindness and empathy – One of our student experience strands is belonging which encourages kids to value uniqueness in all of us. When scholars are able to approach ideas and problems from multiple perspectives, they’re less likely to bully others. Every day, scholars repeat the SPARK Schools Creed, a daily promise that summarises these core values and reminds them that they are SPARK Scholars at all times. They treat themselves and others with respect and dignity. They are generous and value their relationships with peers and teachers alike. Our core values are essential to setting our scholars on a path of learning and personal success at SPARK and beyond!
• Teach social and emotional learning – Provide children with tools to help them manage social situations that they may face at school and beyond their time at school. This encourages children to be confident, independent and to take responsibility for their own actions. These tools are shared with parents should they wish to incorporate them into their home life.
SPARK Schools teaches its foundation phase scholars to manage their emotions and strengthen their relationships through a programme called TOOLBOX, by Dovetail Learning. The 12 tools in the TOOLBOX become valuable personal skills and strategies for self-awareness, self-management, and relationship-building, which, in turn, foster responsible decision-making. Because the techniques are simple and the language is shared, children adopt the tools and master them quickly. (see attached)
