An Educator’s Guide for Helping Students and Parents End Bullying By Anna Andersen, guest writer for Ability Online

Bullying has always been a problem in schools all over the world. With the emergence of cyberbullying, the problem has become even worse and can extend outside the walls of the school. Children can be very cruel to one another, and the harassment that sometimes even includes physical violence can leave a lasting negative impact on kids who are regularly bullied. 

Intervening in bullying situations is important, but it can be difficult to know how to approach the problem. If you’re a teacher worried about the well-being of kids in your care due to bullying, here’s what you need to know about how bullying affects kids and what you can do to end it in your classroom and school. 

Bullying and Mental Health 

Childhood and adolescence are often challenging periods in a person’s life. Kids have to learn an immense number of life skills and get through school while navigating relationships and discovering who they are. It’s a formative period that can have a lasting impact on a students mental healthif negative experiences, like bullying, occur. 

Research has shown that there is a strong link between bullying and mental health, putting bullied children at greater risk for developing psychiatric disorders both during childhood and later in life. Young adults who were bullied as children are more likely to develop anxiety or depression, and bullying can even make victims more likely to commit suicide. A few comments might seem harmless enough, but ridicule and bullying can have lasting negative implications, and it’s not something kids should be left to deal with on their own. 

Why Teachers Need to Step In

When it comes to some issues their students face, teachers shouldn’t necessarily get involved. Kids can often work out minor disputes between friends on their own, while in other situations a parent or school counselor may be a more appropriate resource for a child. When it comes to other issues, like bullying, however, educators need to step in and intervene. This is not only to help end the bullying itself, but to demonstrate what healthy relationships between peers looks like and to teach students to speak up on behalf of others. 

Teachers spend more time with students than anyone but their parents or guardians in most cases. Since many kids don’t report bullyingor even recognize it, educators have a unique opportunity to witness social bullying, which is more likely to take place in front of a teacher than physical bullying. Teachers need to be an advocate and support system for students, intervening as necessary and acting as a role model for appropriate behavior. 

How Teachers Can Help

So how can you intervene in a way that actually stops bullying, rather than just pushing it out of your view? Bullies who are simply punished might just continue their bullying out of educators’ earshot or even online, where it’s harder to detect. 

Your first step should be to get very familiar with your school and school district’s policies on bullying. If your district doesn’t offer resources, talk with your principle and colleagues and discuss a bullying prevention plan to help you educate and support your students while providing appropriate discipline when necessary. 

Set Clear Expectations

It’s also important to establish your classroom as a place of respect. Make it clear that there is no room for any kind of bullying, from physical violence to maliciously leaving someone out. Establishing these ground rules up front will allow you to intervene immediately if you witness bullying and will show students when intervention should occur. Doing activities as a classroom and providing ongoing education on the subject of bullying will help to keep the issue top of mind. 

Involve the Students

Lots of kids have bullied someone and many more have stood by and watched it happen. Empowering your students to regulate one another’s behavior and stand up for their peers can be very effective. 70.6% of students have seen bullying at school, but incidents of bullying stop within 10 seconds 57% of the time when someone speaks up and intervenes. You can’t be everywhere at all times, so you need to clearly teach your students what’s right, what’s wrong, and when they should step in. 

In the end, it’s all about supporting the kids. Listen to them, find out what they need, and work with them to end bullying in your classroom for good. 

I want to find a job - by Sarah Evans

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about getting a job. I would really like to work. I volunteer doing a number of different things. Although I know my efforts are really appreciated and I enjoy what I do, it feels a bit different than having a job. A part of me would like to be able to support myself because it is something that I am sure I could do.

There are a number of things that I do as volunteer work that I’m sure I could find a job in. I like to write and transcribe. I recently discovered my love of digital scrapbooking, which could be a fun small business.

One of the things that I used to think would be a barrier to working is the fact that sometimes I get tired easily and I have to keep a flexible schedule because of my attendant care. But these days, many people work from home and therefore, can set there own schedules.

A big thing that I feel is a barrier to working is the Ontario Disability Support Program - ODSP. While I really appreciate the financial support from the government, there are restrictions about how much one is allowed to earn before that support would be affected. In addition, the amount of rent I pay is based on my income. I don't know exactly how all this would be affected if I were to earn money, but sometimes it is a difficult to feel motivated when I know I would have to deal with all this red tape.

Smarten Up Institute open Toronto Stock Exchange, August 29, 2018

Finding Motivation

Finding Motivation - By Ability Online Blogger, Sarah Evans

I used to love when it was time to go back to school. I was one of those kids who got bored easily, even though I had fun at summer day camp. Even today, I really miss the excitement of going back to school in September.

I think one of the reasons that I loved going back to school is that it provided structure and challenge.

Working from home, sometimes it is difficult to structure my time. Even when I have things that I want or have to do, I sometimes feel like I only have myself to figure out how to get motivated and if I am on the right track with my work. But recently I reached out to a friend to discuss my frustrations. I realized that I am blessed to have people who support me and can hold me accountable. 

I am also motivated by work that is intellectually stimulating.  I realize that work can't be exciting all the time  - that's not just the way it works. Growing up, I saw people who I considered to have exciting careers.  They always seemed to be involved in so many exciting things.  I wanted to have an exciting career like them.  I don't know what this means or looks like for me. I have to take into account personal factors like my disability and energy level.  Still, I have heard that people who are in my generation can expect to change careers a number of times, so I am hopeful about what opportunities I may have in the future. In the meantime,  I try to enjoy what I am doing in the present. 

Advice to my Mother by Sarah Evans

I was blessed growing up. I was very close to my mother and always felt extremely loved and nurtured. This is not to say that I agree with all of the choices she made. One piece of advice that I would give to my mother and other people with disabilities is to not be too overprotective. 

My mother encouraged me to try many new opportunities, but she over protected me when it came to issues and problems that were going on in our family. My sister, who is two years older than I am, was not overprotected in the same way that I was. It was about not telling me what was going on. I am sure my mom had her reasons. She believed I had enough to worry about related to my disability. She thought I would obsess about issues - yes, I tend to do this quite a bit.

But I believe this experience left me ill prepared to deal with challenges in my later life. I had unrealistic expectations in relationships and in life in general. I believed that I could magically make everything wonderful and great and problems would never come. But, of course, they did come. And because I had no coping skills, I would get really upset and be unable to control myself. I struggled with serious mental heath challenges for a number of years. I am not saying that the only reason for this was that I was overprotected as a child, but I do believe it was a factor.

Disclosing anything to kids or letting them try new things requires wisdom and knowing the individual. But a lot of people mistakenly believe that kids with disabilities need to be protected physically or emotionally from the world around them because they have their own problems to deal with. But kids with disabilities turn into adults and, just like other kids, need to be as prepared as possible to deal with the world around them.

People in Motion 2018 by Sarah Evans

Last weekend was the annual People in Motion show in Toronto. This large exhibition for people with disabilities was held at a new venue this year, Variety Village, a sports and life skills facility.

Overall, I liked the change of venue. The displays in the main area were a bit closer together but there was still plenty of room to move around and everything was easy to get to. 

Volunteering at the Ability Online display, I met a lot of people, including a few people who said they were members at the beginning of Ability Online. This year, we shared our booth with Pathways for All, a private advocacy business to support children with disabilities in the school system. We spoke to a number of family members of individuals with disabilities who were struggling to receive the services they need and I hope we were at least able to offer them some tips.

Personally, I am always looking for social and recreational opportunities and I did find a few. One therapist is organizing social events for youth with disabilities. Although I am too old for these, maybe there is some way that I can help or help to get something else started. Another display that I was inspired by is ParaSport Ontario. Earlier this year I started playing tennis and would consider trying another sport.

May I have a straw in my drink please? By Sarah Evans

Lately I have been hearing a lot about cities thinking about banning plastic straws. The reasons they want to do this are commendable: plastic straws are bad for the environment because they don't easily decompose. As well, this issue heated up because of an online video that went viral of researchers pulling a plastic straw out of the nostril of a turtle.

But for people with disabilities like myself, plastic straws are as essential as the cup itself. I have used straws for as long as I can remember and I know that I am not the only one. On Facebook, I have seen the posts of friends with disabilities who need to use straws and are concerned.

My family and friends have bought me those plastic cups with a large reusable straw. Unfortunately, I find that it is difficult for me to get my lips around these big straws. Also, one time I accidentally bit off part of the plastic, which scared me.

While I am all for being environmentally friendly and helping animals, I question whether a complete ban on straws is the way to go. I think that educating people about the issues and concerns is the right thing to do, but ultimately I think that it should be left up to the person whether or not they want to use a plastic straw.