Last Updated on October 28, 2021, 8:27 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Basseterre: Bullying is harmful to children on both sides of the exchange and causes physical and emotional harm and even triggers the mental illness. Glennika Richardson-Govia, a student at Verchilds High School (VHS) highlighted several ways that schools can help prevent any form of bullying.
One such approach is to create a positive school climate, as the success of a school depends largely on the positive energy that teachers and students adapt.
“They can start from scratch. They can begin to build a community where they are rewarded for their good behavior and not just for their academic and sports-related skills,” said Richardson-Govia during her appearance in the October 27 issue of Working for You. “They should use the Internet in lesson plans to bring classmates together as one and use them in a positive way. It doesn’t even have to be related to school work, but show them that there are other things they could do in the media that are positive because for me the trends in the media are mostly negative.”
Tracey Wattley, Guidance Counselor for Cayon High School, said a lot is being done educationally to help people who are bullied and who bully, as well as to prevent further bullying.
“There is a policy in terms of dealing with bullying and, by extension, cyberbullying from the Ministry [of Education], and within each school they also have their own policy on how to deal with it,” Wattley said.
Wattley noted that in the past cyberbullying was not that noticeable, but that due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increased online learning, it has become more pronounced than before.
“Before this year, what would have happened to us is that we focused a lot on different forms of bullying instead of cyberbullying because we weren’t online as much as we are now,” she said. “So most of our lives would have gone online and because of that, we have seen that cyberbullying would have increased within schools, society and [in general].”
The guidance counselor noted that students should report any form of bullying to the school counselor, a teacher, or the administration when they recognize it is happening. Once reported, the matter will be dealt with accordingly. He said cases should be investigated because it is important to know the facts when it comes to bullying.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
