The garrison, schools, and Child, Youth and School Services recently joined together in agreement on a common language when speaking about bullying and bully prevention.
One of the goals of our bully prevention framework is to raise awareness and understanding of this common language, not only in the schools and CYS Services, but also in the community as a whole.
Our definition of bullying, for example, is “a mean and one-sided activity intended to harm where those doing the bullying get pleasure from a targeted child’s pain and/or misery.”
This is especially important when we discuss with our children and students the difference between teasing and taunting, and when sometimes age-appropriate behavior becomes bullying.
Teasing is not intended to harm, the teaser and teased often swap roles, and teasing stops when the child teased becomes upset. Taunting, however, is intended to harm, is based on an imbalance of power, and continues when the targeted child becomes upset.
Bully prevention requires a community-wide effort, and we encourage you to contact us and get involved in learning more and contributing to our strong, compassionate community culture.
The School Liaison Office has copies of bullying expert Barbara Coloroso’s books, DVDs and CDs for checkout.
