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Discipline Policy Guide for Staff

For a PDF of this document click here.

If you need to file an Incident Report concerning violence or bullying, please follow this link: Incident Report, fill out the form, save it, and then forward it to the Behaviour Technician, either by email or photocopy. If you do not know how to fill out a section, just leave it blank.

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At Ste-Foy Elementary, we are constantly working to ensure quality teaching and learning in a safe and caring environment. This mission is stated in Orientation 4 of our school’s Management Educational Success Agreement (MESA): Encouraging a Safe and Healthy School Environment.

We work to achieve this through

• Staff training

• Prevention workshops

• Our School (Tell Them From Me) surveys

• Collecting and tracking school incident report data through programs such as SWIS

Remember

• Anyone in a situation involving violence or bullying can always talk to an adult in confidence.

• Anyone who sees an incident of violence or bullying must speak up and become an active witness to be part of the solution.

• We are committed to fast action to resolve situations as soon as possible.

Our goal is to continue to build a safe and caring culture within our school community, where students, staff, and parents encourage, value, and support one another; and where abuse, bullying, and discrimination are never accepted.

A Definition of Bullying

"Any behaviour, spoken word, act or gesture, whether deliberate or not and of a repetitive character, expressed directly or indirectly, including in cyberspace, in a context characterized by a disparity in the balance of power between the concerned persons, having the effect of engendering feelings of distress, injury, hurt, oppression or of being ostracized; " Art. 13, LIP 2012

Bullying occurs when someone

• is a target of repeated negative actions over time.

• is victimized and feels that they cannot defend himself/herself against someone more powerful.

• feels embarrassed, hurt, scared, and/or angry because of being targeted.

Bullying can take place anywhere, anytime and for many reasons. Like other forms of violence, bullying must not be tolerated and requires immediate intervention.

Bullying is a form of aggression with an imbalance of power. It does not have to be a physical fight.

A conflict is a quarrel or clash that may happen between two individuals, two groups, or an individual and a group because of a contrast in their interests, objectives, values, roles, ideas or way of doing things. A jostle, fight, insult or other threat between individuals on an equal power footing may not necessarily be bullying.

Normal Conflicts

Bullying

- Equal power between friends

- Happens occasionally

- Accidental

- Not serious

- Equal emotional reaction

- Not seeking power of attention

- Not trying to get something from the situation

- Sense of remorse

- Sense of responsibility

- Effort to solve the problem

- Imbalance of power

- Repeated negative actions

- Purposeful

- Serious – threat of physical harm or emotional or psychological hurt

- Strong, emotional reaction on part of the victim

- Seeking power and/or control

- Trying to gain material things or power

- No remorse – bully blames the victim

- No effort to solve the problem

Different Types of Bullying

• Name‐calling, derisive laughter, humiliation, threats, making sexist or racist comments.

• Hitting, kicking, shoving, spitting, punching, stealing or damaging property.

• Excluding someone from the group or isolating someone socially, gossiping or spreading rumours, mocking, ending friendships.

• Use of email, texting, cell phones or social media to threaten, harass, embarrass, spread rumours,

exclude from the group, or damage a reputation or friendship.

• Homophobia

• Racism

Indirect Bullying

Often difficult to perceive, indirect bullying usually happens within a group with the intent of belittling the social status or the exclusion of a targeted person from the group (e.g. making someone less popular, isolating an individual).

Some examples include:

• Gossiping

• Spreading rumors

• Slandering

• Telling secrets

• Criticizing

• Talking behind someone’s back

• Writing slurs (graffiti, email, etc.)

• Making a fool of someone

• Suggesting someone be excluded from a group

• Using non‐verbal language (e.g. turning one’s back, mumbling, or rolling eyes)

Bullying Versus Intimidation

Bullying is a form of intimidation which is repetitive.

Bullying: the act of repeated, aggressive behavior intended to hurt another person, physically or mentally.

Intimidation: the act of forcing a weaker person to do something

Cyberbullying

• Occurs whenever and from wherever on the Internet

• Can include many people thereby allowing the immediate, unlimited and irreversible distribution of posted words and images.

• Usually takes place behind the backs of parents, teachers and other responsible adults.

• Encourages irresponsibility: the perpetrator can deny the facts and not acknowledge his/her actions. Without being able to easily prove the actions, any fear of reprisal diminishes.

• Promotes depersonalization and lack of empathy: the perpetrator cannot see the effects of his or her actions and shows less restraint than if he/she was face‐to‐face with the victim

Examples of Cyberbullying

• Threats

• Insults

• Rumors

• Identity stealing

• Harassment

• Discrimination

• Denigration

• Defamation

• Filtering or online blocking

• ‘Flaming’ (provocative messaging)

• ‘Happy slapping’ (posting fights, incidents, on YouTube)

• Inappropriate messages or photos

• Incitement to ‘out’ one or other persons

The Cyberbully

• Thinks he or she can remain anonymous.

• Can pretend to be another person.

• Can react spontaneously without taking the time to reflect

• Shows less restraint than if he or she was face‐to‐face with the victim.

Characteristics of Children Who are Victimized

Passive Victims

(The most common type of victims. They are usually easy to identify.)

• May lack social skills

• Might cry easily

• May lack the ability to use humor to defuse a conflict

• May be lonely and depressed

• May yield easily to bullying

• May be anxious and insecure

• May be unable to defend himself/herself

• Might not want to come to school

• Might not want to take the bus

Provocative Victims

(A much smaller group who are often difficult to recognize as victims)

• May be restless children who irritate and tease others and don’t know how and when to stop.

• Might fight back in bullying situations, but end up losing becoming frustrated and distressed

• May be diagnosed with ADHD

• Tend to make you feel as if they deserve it

Reactive Children

• Sometimes misinterpret social clues and see problems where problems do not exist.

• Easily slip into fight or flight mode.

• Very unpredictable and therefore not liked by peers.

• Have remorse and guilt after one of their outbursts even if they are involved in a conflict, most of these students.are NOT bullies.

Bystanders

• Are often afraid to be a victim

• Feel anxious and insecure

• Feel guilty

• Experience similar effects to the victim in the long term

School Staff

If you have witnessed an incident involving bullying or violence you take immediate action.

1. Stop the violence in 5 steps

2. Fill in the Incident Report Form and hand it in to the Behaviour Technician

The school will follow‐up with you to

• Advise you of initiatives taken to evaluate the situation (e.g. persons contacted, whether bullying is involved, response and collaboration of parents).

• Verify if the understanding of the situation corresponds to what you have observed

• Inform you about actions undertaken or planned regarding the perpetrator(s) and witness(es) as well as planned support for the victim

• Discuss any future actions and your continued role, if applicable.

Stopping Violence in 5 Steps

1. Stop the behaviour

2. Figure out what is going on

3. Steer students towards the expected behaviour

4. Take care of targeted student(s)

5. Fill out the Incident Report form and inform the Behaviour

Technician or Administration

1. Stop the Behaviour

• Demand an end to this type of behaviour by personalizing the intervention. For example, "Dylan, this very bad behaviour is not accepted in our school and I want you to stop it immediately."

• Make sure that any student witnesses take note of the intervention. Whether they are involved in the incident or not, all students are protected and can feel safe at our school.

2. Figure Out What is Going On

• Name the type of intimidation observed. For example, "Your comments are a form of verbal violence of a discriminatory nature."

• Emphasize the school’s values, code of conduct and safety measures. For example, "At our school, we reject hostile or unfriendly behaviour."

• Point out the possible ramifications of such bullying upon individuals. For example, "This kind of comment can be very hurtful."

• Make sure you denounce the behaviour and not the student who committed the intimidation. For example, “This kind of comment is unacceptable”. Avoid speaking about the victim as if he or she were defenseless and avoid any reference to being a member of a minority group (e.g. in case of racial discrimination).

3. Steer Students Towards the Expected Behaviour

• Ask the perpetrator for a change in behaviour. For example, "Here, at our school, we respect people. This is what we expect from both our staff and our students."

• Take the victim aside and confirm that an adult will stay in touch with him/her to ensure the situation doesn’t happen again.

• Ask the witnesses to leave the area and to return to their regular activities.

• Per the situation, inform the student responsible for the violence or intimidation that there will be a follow‐up concerning the aggressive behaviour at another time and place. For example, "This is neither the time nor the place, but I’m going to make sure that there is a follow‐up to what has just taken place."

• Ask the perpetrator to leave the area.

4. Take Care of Targeted Students

• Ask the student victim of violence or intimidation to briefly sum up the situation and use the relevant information gleaned to fill in the report form. Remind the victim that he or she is entitled to the right to safety. For example, "Everybody must be able to feel safe at school."

• Tell the student that an adult will be following‐up on this matter. For example, "This looks like an incident of intimidation, I’m going to refer to you to…"

• Assure the student of protective measures. For example, "Do you think you’ll be OK for the rest of the day? Do you want me to contact a family friend or your parents? Do you want to meet with a counsellor to find out ways you can feel safe?"

• Invite the student to come and see you again or to use the school’s reporting mechanisms should the situation repeat itself.

• If you think that the student’s safety and well‐being is being threatened or if he/she has been a victim of a criminal act, the school administration must be informed as soon as possible.

5. Fill Out the Incident Report Form and Inform the Behaviour Technician or Administration

• Report the situation by filling in the incident report designed for this purpose.

• Hand in the form to the school behaviour technician.