Tag Archives: stand up against bullying

Bullying Prevention Assemblies with Religious Faith Content in Dufferin Peel Catholic Schools

Virtues at St. Andrew School

Empathy, conscience, hope, respect, acceptance, kindness, self-control and fairness are all virtues honoured at St. Andrew Catholic School in Orangeville Ontario. We presented our ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ assemblies at the school yesterday and were wowed by the amazing reception from students, staff and administration. It was our second visit, after presenting ‘Cyberbullying – Got 2 Go’ during our last visit hosted by Mr. Gregory Krar.

This time, the students were just as respectful and showed even more excitement, since most of them

Mrs. Hageman's Display Case

remembered us from our last visit. We put a lot of effort into the rehearsal of the role-plays with pre-selected students from St. Andrew. The volunteer students who did the acting were just excellent at their parts and really made a strong statement with the audiences.

Mrs. Hageman is the teacher-librarian at the school. She arranged all the details of our visit

The Stand Up Against Bullying Vow

and was a very gracious hostess representing St. Andrew. She watched all three assemblies and was most appreciative of what she saw.

Principal, Mrs. Cindy Young, described the assemblies with great enthusiasm: “Each assembly was right on the mark! You hit on all the important aspects of what we want our St. Andrew students to live by. I really liked how you changed your assemblies for each age group!”

St. Andrew Banner

(Mrs. Cindy Young, Principal at St. Andrew Catholic School)

This school has left a very powerful impression! The students were genuine in their appreciation of the topic. They want to be positive role models and do their part to reduce bullying. The staff was supportive and on board with the topic. We will remember our day at St. Andrew Catholic School in Orangeville (Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board DPCDSB) for a long time!

St. Andrew School Painting on Ceramic

Student Bystanders Show Assembly Audience How to Stand Up Against Bullying

Redstone DiversityWe spent the day today with the students at Redstone Public School in Greater Toronto (Richmond Hill). We talked about the character trait of the month, which for January is optimism. We talked about bullying, the bystander, and how to deal with real-life bullying situations. The students learned by watching scenarios acted out by grade 7 and 8 students. We watched videos and listened to music. The students clapped and cheered at appropriate times and then later were silent when someone was left out of a game during a role-play. The students had empathy for that one person not picked for the team.

Redstone Public School Says No To BullyingObviously, the teachers and students care about the right things at Redstone School. They care about treating each other with respect and dignity. The Redstone Creed is called their Touchstone. Read it here. What do you think?

 The Redstone Public School Touchstone
At Redstone Public School, we respect ourselves, others and our environment. We are responsible for what we say and what we do. We speak up for ourselves, and others and and we include everyone in all activities.
We treat all people equally and we help others without being asked. We never give up, no matter how difficult the task. At Redstone, everything is possible.
Optimism Quotes:
Optimism is the tendency to take a favourable or hopeful view.
Oxford English Dictionary

 The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how you use them.
Unknown

What seems to us as bitter trials, are often blessings in disguise.
Oscar Wilde

 A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
Winston Churchill

 Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
Helen Keller

Redstone Public School Building

Catholic Faith School Assemblies Promote Respect – Respect Stamps Out Bullying

The fact that increased respect can reduce bullying was emphasized at St. David Catholic School in Maple yesterday as speaker/presenter Bruce Langford delivered three Character Assemblies called ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’.

St. David in Foyer

Respect is a way of life at St. David Catholic School in Maple. (York Catholic District School Board YCDSB)
Principal Ms. Angel Hayes and Vice-Principal Mr. Peter Morone encourage respectful behaviour on a daily basis at St. David School. Teachers are looked up to and older students understand they are role models for the younger children.

Respect Tip # 1: Treat people right even when no one is looking.
Some people think respect just means appearing respectful or looking and acting respectful. The truth is, respect even relates to your innermost thoughts.  People who only act appropriately when they think someone that matters is watching, are missing the point.

Respect Tip # 2: Choose positive thoughts and you will grow respect.
We can all control our thoughts. Keep your thoughts respectful and your character will start to blossom. Eliminate profanity, put-downs and nasty comments from your thoughts and lips. This will help you to be a more respectful person.

These above ideas are part of our philosophy and part of what we shared in our character building assemblies at St. David Catholic School yesterday. Principal Ms. Angel Hayes and VP Mr. Peter Morone both readily agreed to be references for the ‘Stand Up Now’ assemblies letting us know they had received great feedback from staff and students.

To arrange assemblies for your school, visit our website at www.standupagainstbullying.com or call 1-800-901-8831

Ottawa students stamp out bullying at Farley Mowat School (OCDSB)

Farley Mowat Public School SignFarley Mowat Public School in Ottawa is a place where we met passionate students who are totally set to stamp out bullying. Here are some of their comments:
“Thanks for helping us learn more about bullying and how to STOP it. We can STOP it!”
Grade 4 student

Farley Mowat Public School Building, Ottawa“Awesome show – really enjoyed the music video and the songs. It helped me understand what I can do.”
Grade 5 student

“The play was really good. This would make a bully think, why would I do this. And it would help reduce bullying for sure.”
Grade 5 student

 

Famous Farley Mowat School Wolf Mascot

Famous Farley Mowat School Wolf Mascot

“It will help people realize how a bullied person would feel.”
Gr 4 student

Princpal, Ms. Judy-Anne Brush complimented the program and Vice-Principal, Ms. Anna Lyall said she would definitely recommend the ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ assemblies to other schools.
To arrange to have Bruce Langford present assemblies at your school, call 1-800-901-8831 or visit the website at www.standupnow.ca

Farley Mowat

Students at Farley Mowat Public School, Ottawa (OCDSB) are determined to:

* Speak Up when they see bullying behaviour.

* Be positive role-models around the school and community

* Use positive language that will stop bullies in their tracks

* Ignore people who say bullying will always exist

These students are an inspiration!

Pink Shirt Stop Bullying Day at Alloa School in Brampton

Stand Up Against Bullying Day at Alloa School

It was a sea of pink at Alloa Public School in Brampton today as Bruce Langford presented Stand Up Against Bullying Assemblies to the students. Pink shirts, pink bracelets, pink hair, pink socks, pink sweaters hats and pants all helped get the point across to Stand Up Against Bullying.  Role-plays about how bystanders can change to make a difference helped the students realize that even ONE PERSON can help to reduce bullying. That ONE PERSON can be YOU. Principal, Mrs. Margret Lane is passionate about helping all Alloa students understand how to deal with bullying and how to help stop it. Yes, ONE PERSON CAN help reduce bullying and that ONE PERSON can be YOU!
Contact Bruce Langford of Stand Up Now Productions to present assemblies at your school on bullying, respect or cyberbullying. 1-800-901-8831 or visit the website at www.standupnow.ca

York Region Bullying Bullying Awareness & Prevention Week

Poplar Bank Public School students and staff were totally on board with their determination to conquer bullying on Friday. Teacher/Presenter, Bruce Langford offered three different assemblies to the students with videos, songs and role-plays by Poplar Bank’s own students. Vice-Principal Jennifer Diceman expressed her satisfaction with all that she saw and heard in the assemblies.Poplar Bank Public School Picture
“Speak up, tell an adult”, one student said when commenting about bullying. Another talked about helping her friend in a bullying situation. “We can all make a difference, if we really try!”, claimed one grade 7 student. Many students were extra pumped because they remembered DJ Benny DL from a previous visit last year when they remembered the ‘Cyberbullying – Got 2 Go’ assembly. “Will you sing that same song about passwords again?” one student asked before the show. 

Poplar Bank Bell

We learned a little history about Poplar Bank as well. The original Poplar Bank School was built of logs and was located at Yonge Street and Poplar Bank Sideroad. It was replaced in 1862 and used until 1965.  Poplar Bank

Old Poplar Bank School Building

has some of it’s history on display including the bell from the old school house.
Contact Bruce Langford at ‘Stand Up Now Productions’ 1-800-901-8831 to book assemblies for your school.

Bullying Prevention Bystander Message in Kitchener Waterloo Area School

Ayr Public School was the setting yesterday for a Parent Council Sponsored Bullying Prevention Talk for Parents and Children by speaker/presenter Bruce Langford of Stand Up Now Productions. (Stand Up Against Bullying student assemblies took place during the day.)
The school takes pride in the respectful reputation it has under the direction of principal Ms. Nancy Thorsen. The students showed keen interest in the topic of bullying as they watched their peers act in the student role-plays. The music and videos gave impact to the presentation as well. Every family who attended the parent talk was given a free music CD with 14 bullying prevention songs. The songs cover everything from telling and

Ayr Public School's Bully Box

tattling to empathy.
Here you can see that Ayr Public School really takes bullying prevention seriously. They have this Bully Box in the office so that students can write down bullying related problems and drop the information in the bullying box for confidential assistance. Principal Nancy Thorsen says that with the bully box and also  weekly class meetings, student difficulties get resolved quite quickly.
Try the bully box idea in your school. It can make an effective difference!

Front Hall Mural at Ayr School

Ayr PS Front Hall Mural


Bystander couldn’t bear to walk away from the bullied victim at Toronto School

Anti-bullying in Toronto Middle School

John G. Althouse Middle School in Toronto is the setting. The students are acting out a role-play in front of the other grade 7 students. It was rehearsed, but we pull four more students from the audience who are supposed to just walk away from the victim with all the others. Then we plan to replay the role-play again showing what should have happened. One or more of the bystanders could have done something to help the victim.
But this time things were different. One of the girls, who had come up from the audience, just couldn’t bear to walk away from the victim, even though she was being urged by the other actors to do so.

Stand Up Now in Toronto District School Board School

That really showed that girl’s inner spirit and integrity. She just hung back like a magnet was pulling her to do something to help the victimized girl. The audience cheered. We went on to talk about what every person can do to help, who sees bullying behaviour. That girl made the point crystal clear to an audience of nearly two hundred. That girl made my day!

 John G. Althouse Vice-Principal, Jennifer Newby was impressed with the Stand Up Now assemblies.
“Great strategies with the students, good interaction and effective role-plays. We were very pleased with the Stand Up Against Bullying intermediate assemblies!”  

Contact Bruce Langford at Stand Up Now Productions at 1-800-901-8831 or visit the website at www.standupnow.ca

Cyberbullying taken seriously at Coledale School where meanness is not tolerated

Coledale Public School Cyberbullying Program

Cyberbullying Program at Coledale Public School

The 7 steps to Cyber-safety were talked about and taken seriously by students and staff at Coledale Public School in Toronto (Markham) on Friday.

Step # 4: Never meet people you have met on the web.

The above cyber-safety/internet tip was highlighted in a role-play where two girls arranged to meet someone at the mall. This was no stranger. After all, one of the girls had been chatting on-line with ‘Georgina’ for three months. Suddenly she was in town for a swim meet and offered to meet in the food court at the local mall. Gasps could be heard from the audience when it turned out ‘Georgina’ was not a 13 year old girl at all, but in fact a 43 year old man.
Police became involved and the potential victims were protected from the close call.

Following the assembly, we talked personally with some staff members who commented:
“The role-plays really drove home the points about misrepresentation on the internet and I loved your songs as well. We were very pleased with the Stand Up Now assemblies at Coledale!”
Donna McGann, Principal, Coledale Public School, Markham Ontario, York Region District School Board

“Bruce Langford tapped into the multiple intelligences with his dynamic, clear, engaging way of reaching the audience. This was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen at all the schools I’ve been at!”
Karen Monteith, Teacher, Coledale Public School, Markham Ontario.

Bruce Langford of Stand Up Now Productions can be contacted at 1-800-901-8831 or through the website at www.standupnow.ca

How Can Bullied Children Learn From Role-Plays and Video Clips?

The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing and the country air is fresh and clean. A bullied child would not notice these things. That child would be wondering how to deal with the next put-down. It is sad that in our society,  children must deal with bullies far too often. Bullying must stop and as adults we must work toward that goal.

We are near Glencoe, Ontario at Mosa Central Public School, where we’ve just finished presenting three ‘Stand Up Against Bullying assemblies. Mosa Principal, Paul Cordick gave Bruce Langford top marks for his delivery of the bullying prevention programs. Students and teachers also appreciated the assemblies which effectively use role-plays and video clips to teach children to deal with bullying.

Mosa Central is a school with under two hundred students where respect is

Mosa Central Public School

taught and practiced daily. The grade 7,8 students took the messages from the ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ assembly seriously and got involved in the discussion which was part of their assembly. Younger children enjoyed the interactive format of Benny DL’s live ATFM broadcast.

The spirit of community came across loud and clear at Mosa Central. No matter how large or small your school is, remember to keep the spirit of community alive and well by being a positive role model and to stand up against bullying whenever it is safe to do so.
www.standupnow.ca  Contact Bruce Langford at 1-800-901-8831 to arrange assemblies for your school.