Ontario College of Teachers issues report on dimensions of bullying, how to prevent it

The Ontario College of Teachers  is offering some professional guidance, in the form of an advisory report, to its 238,000 members about how to recognize and respond to bullying and cyberbullying, and create a safer school environment. 

The licensing body for Ontario teachers says its research shows bullying remains a problem at schools across the province. 

According to figures from the college:

•  58 per cent of students are victims of bullying
•  30 per cent bully others
•  78 per cent have witnessed bullying, but fewer than half of those have intervened
•  12 per cent report being bullied once or more per week 
•  20 per cent of students in grades 7 to 12 report being cyberbullied at least once in the past year

A key takeaway from the report is that intervening quickly can make a huge difference, says Joe Jamieson, the college's deputy registrar.

Bullying is 'insidious, secretive'

"Our statistics would show that if someone intervenes within 10 seconds, the incidents of bullying dramatically decreases with that early intervention because of course silence obviously, in many cases, is arguably consent [condoning the behaviour]", he said.

The new document helps teachers reflect on what they're seeing in their classroom and provides more guidance on how to recognize bullying, said Jamieson.

"Sometimes it can be quite insidious and it can be quite secretive how its happening," said Jamieson, adding that the report recommends teachers ask themselves a series of reflective questions.

They include:

1. How do I detect bullying?
2. How do I recognize power imbalances among students of all ages that might lead to bullying?
3. How do I spot behaviour occurring outside the classroom or online that affects students?
4. How do I respond to smaller, subtle acts such as verbal slights, use of derogatory language and cutting humour that may lead to more harmful behaviour?
5. How do I encourage students to safely disclose bullying behaviour?

'Act of bravery' to stand up to bullying

Often victims "carry the shame of weakness" and must deal with the "culture of if you come forward and tell, you're a snitch," said Jamieson.

He said the report strives to help teachers share the message that "someone who is bullied has nothing to be ashamed about and standing up to bullying is not an act of weakness or cowardice, but an act of bravery."

The report also encourages educators to lead by example, and model positive, inclusive and respectful behaviour in the class and online.

Although the report deals with students bullying other students, Jamieson said if parents feel their child has been bullied by a teacher, the college does have a mandate to receive and investigate complaints.

Jamieson joined representatives from the four schools boards in Thunder Bay, along with local police officers, and experts from the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and the Canadian Safe School Network for a discussion about the advisory report on Thursday in the northwestern Ontario city.