Category Archives: cyber-bullying assemblies

Cyber-Bullying, Respect and Responsibility Assembly in Toronto area Catholic School

Cyber-bullying programs at St. Julia Billiart Catholic School in Toronto’s Markham area Tuesday May 6, 2014 made an impact on staff and students. The message was about Responsibility and Respect and how Cyber-bullying would not exist if we all took the responsibility for our own actions and made up our minds to live with complete respect. Of course we’re all human, but I like to look at the positive side.

St. Julia students and staff proved to me they are already incredibly respectful and responsible. That’s probably why our cyber-bullying prevention message was so well received. They were interactive and totally tuned into the songs about respect and cyber-safety. They were wide-eyed as they watched the videos. Discussion about bullying and cyber-bullying revealed that Continue reading →

Parent Reaching Out Grants for Bullying Prevention Programs

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Government subsidies can help with bullying prevention. Parent Reaching Out (PRO) Grants for Ontario School Councils are available for 2012 to help increase parent involvement in support of student achievement and well-being. Be sure to apply for 2013 funding once the applications are released, so that you can use your funds for a good cause within your school. Many school councils choose to fund bullying prevention programs as well as purchase anti-bullying books and resources for their school libraries. We have delivered many bullying prevention programs in schools, made possible with the funding from the Ontario Government’s Parent Reaching Out grants.

Great feedback has been received from parents, teachers, principals and students. Here are some comments:

“Bruce Langford’s Stand Up Now programs were excellent, filled with valuable content of benefit to our students. I would gladly endorse this program.”
Ms. Marika Boshyk, Principal St. Demetrius Catholic School Toronto Toronto Catholic District School Board

“I was impressed with how each presentation was tailored to the needs and interest level of each division. The presentations were creative and interactive and they certainly captured the attention of the students. Thank you again for addressing such an important topic in such an engaging manner.”
Ms. Kim Moses, Teacher Trillium Woods Public School, Richmond Hill York Region District School Board

“Bruce, we loved your interactive approach with the audience during your presentations, giving our students an opportunity to voice their concerns around bullying through the question and answer portion of the assembly. Your presentation fostered a comfort level with the students that encourage them to be open and honest during the assembly, qualities that tend to be lost when dealing with issues of bullying.”
Claudio Moschella (Acting VP) Earnscliffe Senior Public School, Bramption Peel District School Board

Bruce Langford offers bullying prevention presentations for schools and parent groups
www.standupagainstbullying.com Phone 905-233-2102

Simcoe County District School Board School Welcomes Anti-Bullying Speaker, Bruce Langford

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West Bayfield Elementary School in Barrie was our destination today, where we presented ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ and ‘Cyberbullying – Got 2 Go’ assemblies to all students from JK to grade 8. Students were passionate about the topic. They were eager to learn as much as they could about the internet and the dangers of cyberspace. They told stories and acted out scenarios. The Simcoe County District School Board has raised awareness that dangers lurk in cyberspace. Students just wanted to learn the details.

We talked about how GPS encoding is embedded in photographs taken on many cell phones and how it can reveal exactly when the photo was taken. One student told us a story about how his facebook account had been hacked into and the violator set up another facebook account which was an exact duplicate of his own. The student had good news about the outcome. He was actually able to have the offending site removed, because he was able to get into it himself and have it deleted.

We were impressed when we arrived at the school, because students had posted visual artwork on the topic of ‘Caring’ and ‘Stand Up’ and how we can all stand together to trump bullying. I’ve included some of the photos here along with a short video.

Students, teachers and administrators told us how pleased they were with the three contrasting assemblies.

“Presentations were entertaining, insightful, and age appropriate. They were thoroughly enjoyed by all of our students and they learned a great from them. I would highly recommend Bruce’s presentations for any school.”
Mike Geer, Principal, West Bayfield Elementary School, Barrie Ontario

Bruce Langford, Anti-bullying advocate and international speaker presenter: www.brucelangford.ca

Safe Schools Concert Assembly for Toronto Elementary Students

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Just visited Grenoble Public School near Toronto, where we performed a Safe Schools Concert before a whole gym full of enthusiastic students. We sang about ways to support and encourage each other in every-day situations.
Students learned real life examples about how to encourage others and end up having a safer school. Cyber-safety and the internet was one of the concert themes as well. The song ‘Stay Safe’ explains that computers connected to the internet need to be in a central place in your home, like a kitchen or family room where everyone goes. It also teaches that personal information should not be published on-line. Here are some of the song lyrics:

Stay Safe ©Written by Bruce Langford

Your address is personal information, stay safe, stay safe;
Your phone number and your school name too.
Do not share personal information.
Not in on-line conversation.
Keep things private, no hesitation,
Stay safe, stay safe, just some friendly advice.

At home play computer in a central place, stay safe, stay safe;
A kitchen or a family room where everyone goes.
Share what you’re doing with your family.
Work at the screen where all can see.
Then you will have help when a problem comes up,
Stay safe, Stay safe, just some friendly advice.

Remember to work together and do the right things to make your school a safer place.

School Character Education Assemblies Feature Anti-Bullying Advice

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“Walk with confidence and build a group of friends you can count on.”

This is part of the advice given by Benny DL (Bruce Langford) during a recent assembly near London, Ontario. Students rushed to the front to ask their own questions and meet the presenter. They crowded around, not leaving until teachers finally cleared the gym.
“That was a terrific assembly”, a grade eight student commented. “I really learned a lot of stuff from what he said.”

Cyber-bullying and internet safety was part of the topic along with how to deal with sticky situations without ending up in trouble.
Here is one more piece of advice: Think twice before you pass on information that might be sensitive. I recently was nearly lured into telling something that I fully believed to be true. After finding out the facts, I was totally glad I hadn’t spoken up and shared this information that actually turned out to be sensitive. Just remember, Stand Up – Cyberbullying’s Got 2 Go!
Book assemblies for your school at www.standupagainstbullying.com

Can facebook lead to depression, suicide, murder?

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A study in the American Academy of Pediatrics says when teens spend hours on social networking sites they can start comparing themselves to others. That can lead to depression in certain

: Girls comparing friends lists on Facebook

personalities. The study states: “The intensity of the online world may be a factor leading to depression in some adolescents.”

I recently visited a school where 25 of 27 students in a grade 5 class were active on facebook.

Children that young don’t have the skills to deal with complex relational issues which can arise on social networking sites like facebook.
Parents need to be aware of what children are doing on-line. If you are a parent and are allowing your young children to be active on social networking, at least be on their friend list so you can keep tabs on what is happening.
Some children become devastated as a result of social networking incidents. That can lead to depression, suicide, bullycide or even murder.

Monday, we presented our ‘Cyberbullying – Got To Go’ assemblies at St. Bernadette Catholic School in Toronto (Mississauga). Those children have learned how to stay safe on-line and have received practical tips and advice on cyber-safety.
For information about our programs, visit www.brucelangford.ca