Be Bold. Be Kind. Speak Up.

Bullying No Way Week is upon us again, running from August 11-15, with this year's theme acting as a call to action for all who witness bullying behaviour: Be Bold. Be Kind. Speak Up.

Bullying No Way Week is Australia's key bullying prevention initiative for schools. It provides an opportunity for schools to create a shared understanding about bullying behaviours and share their bullying prevention policies and strategies.

The national week of action unites school communities across the country as they participate in Australia's key bullying prevention initiative to implement evidence-informed positive and proactive solutions to prevent and address bullying.

From the Bullying No Way website:

It takes courage to spark change.

Bullying is everyone's responsibility. It takes a community to be brave and address bullying behaviours, within and beyond the school gate.

Students can be bold, kind and take a stand to support others being bullied. While parents and teachers are there to support children and young people learn how to behave in a positive way.

In our community and in our school, we want a place where everyone can belong, a place that celebrates everyone, and where bullying is never accepted.

This Bullying No Way Week, we're asking students, schools, families and communities to be bold and say something, be kind and support someone, and be proud to take a stand against bullying.

This national week-long initiative highlights the importance and urgency of ensuring Australia’s students are equipped with the skills necessary to prevent bullying and to stand up against bullying behaviour.

At Positive Pieces Education, we believe that Social Emotional Learning (SEL) provides the crucial foundational skills that empower students to stand up against bullying, and we also recognise that specific interventions can be necessary in addressing bullying behaviours.

Effective bullying prevention requires a multi-pronged effort. School staff need to have appropriate policies and procedures in place and need to know the right way to work with students involved in bullying. But another critically important part of tackling the problem is focusing on developing the social-emotional skills of children. These skills enable children to be socially competent citizens within the school environment and help build an overall positive climate within the school. Attention to these skills will support the development of healthier, happier children who are ready to learn and contribute to a safer environment.

The Second Step® Bullying Prevention Unit used in conjunction with the Second Step Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Program is a comprehensive solution for students and all staff to prevent bullying. 

The Second Step SEL Program is an evidence-based universal curriculum designed to increase student school success and decrease challenging behaviours by promoting social-emotional competence and self-regulation.  It teaches skills that strengthen students’ ability to learn, to have empathy, to manage emotions and to solve problems.

It includes easy-to-teach classroom lessons for Early Learning through to Grade 8 that enhance students’ social-emotional competence through a focus on building SEL skills. Second Step® SEL focuses on core social-emotional skills that are particularly important for bullying prevention, including empathy, emotion management, and social problem solving. In addition, embedded within these lessons are topics such as friendship building and how to be assertive, which are also key skills in bullying prevention.  The program targets key risk and protective factors linked to a range of problem behaviours, including bullying.  Equipping students with these skills creates a safer, more respectful learning environment that promotes school success for all. 

In addition to SEL, bullying prevention requires addressing the school and classroom environment, educating students and staff about bullying, teaching students and staff how to respond effectively to bullying, and changing student and staff norms about bullying.

To address these elements, we also offer the Second Step® Bullying Prevention Unit, a research-based, comprehensive resource that builds upon the SEL skills taught in the Second Step program, and includes:

• Robust role-based training for ALL staff, how to implement adequate polices and procedures around bullying, as well as how to recognise and respond to incidents of bullying

• Lessons that explicitly teach students to recognise, refuse, and report bullying behaviour, and empower bystanders to stand up against bullying

• Family resources that extend beyond the lesson and help families distinguish between peer conflict and bullying

  
  

Watch our webinar below to learn more about the Second Step Bullying Prevention Unit:

Whether you're a parent, teacher, student or member of the broader community, everyone has a role to play in preventing bullying. So be bold, be kind, and speak up.

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Positive Pieces Education is the Australian and New Zealand publisher of the Second Step social-emotional learning program. Learn more