Tag Archives: TDSB

Earth Day reminds us to consider what matters around us

Be willing to speak up in support of maintaining nature’s systems that make our earth so magnificent. Treat the earth with consideration.
Do your part every day to make the earth a better place.

EARTH DAY is a day to consider the gift our earth gives us
including clean air to breathe and fresh water to enjoy.

We must preserve these gifts by all working together to maintain the natural resources the earth provides.

We must also work together to keep our relationships on track and
to maintain feelings of appreciation and thoughtfulness. Speak up when
something needs to be said. See a little of yourself in others and you will be
more understanding and sensitive to their needs. Doing these things will help to
keep your relationships filled with respect. Bit by bit the concept of bullying will become even more abhorrent than it already is. Beat bullying by building respect and living it everyday just as we celebrate Earth Day by showing respect to our planet.

Bruce Langford, bullying prevention advocate www.brucelangford.ca

Monitoring software alternative will reduce cyber-bullying in school children

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Monitor children's web time

Cyber-bullying has become such a concern with parents that many are looking for ways to monitor their children’s activities while on-line.
I recommend limiting the amount of time your children are on the web, and stay nearby while they are surfing. Show interest in what they are doing and encourage them to ask questions if they are not sure about something. Keep their on-line experience positive.
Be supportive and upbeat about the internet. It has tremendous potential as a tool for learning as well as powerful social benefits.
If you still feel it is necessary to use software monitoring, here are some suggestions:
SpytechSpyagent.com
WebWatcher.com
SpectorPro.com Learn about the above monitoring products before purchasing them. Read some reviews and understand that these tools have the potential to be misused. Use them with care and realize the best parental monitoring is simply being there.

www.StandUpForRespect.com
Bruce Langford is an anti-bullying advocate who presents talks and presentations on bullying and cyber-bullying

Assemblies Motivate Students to Stand Up Against Bullying

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Bullying – It takes hard work and determination to prevent bullying. Bullying Prevention starts with one word – RESPECT.

Treat others with respect and you will usually be treated with respect in return. But how do you know how to be respectful in the first place?

There are some basics to follow when it comes to respect:

Be honest. Tell the truth even if you are the only one who could possible know the difference. You see, honesty is part of who you are, deep down.
Be considerate. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Sometimes you really have to stop and think how you would feel if you were in the other person’s shoes. That’s called empathy.
Help others. That means, don’t just stand by and do nothing if someone is being treated badly. There are usually a few different things you can do to help like; speak up when the meanness is happening, talk to the person later and tell them you care, tell an adult you trust. Reaching out to offer your friendship is one of the greatest things you can do.

But what if you do these things and you still feel like you are being bullied? That’s a tough question. The fact is, this happens too many times. Hang in there. Realize things will get better. Change things in your life. Hang around different people. Spend time in different locations. Find people to be friends who really make you feel good and are not being mean, even in a teasing kind of way. Believe that things will improve and then go about changing things you can change. Like your attitude about life. That doesn’t mean the bullying is your fault. It just means if you start by changing what you can change in your life, sometimes good things will happen.

Maybe you sometimes bully other people. Make up your mind to stop doing that. It might not be easy, but you can do it. Keep reminding yourself that you want to change and use your determination. This really works for most people. You will find that your own life will improve if you stop being mean to others.

Most of all, don’t give up. Believe that things can be different and make the effort to make it happen. Be motivated by others. You can learn from them. Learn tips from assemblies or from people you admire. We can be inspired by others and learn how to improve our own lives. Who knows, you may end up inspiring others!

www.standupagainstbullying.com

Keep Your Focus and Believe the Bullying Will Stop

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I often talk to people about their own experiences with bullying. I was at a school recently where I talked to someone about her own personal experiences. She said bullying had been part of her life for years. She had told people about the meanness and about specific hurtful examples. She explained how she sometimes spoke up and asked the bully to stop. She tried to stay confident. She read as much about bullying as she could. She talked to friends about her frustrations. She asked her parents for advice. She said there were times when she felt discouraged, but she never gave up. She was determined that the bullying would stop and she just kept imagining a day when people would not pick on her.

When she was going into grade 6, she tried even harder to stay focused on her vision of no bullying. She said, as the year progressed, she noticed the bullying started to decrease. More people were nice to her. People would sometimes stick up for her. After Easter she realized that the bullying had actually stopped completely. She never forgot her struggles though. They remained vividly etched in her mind.

This is the kind of good-news story that can help everyone realize that bullying can be conquered! Now that she is a grade six teacher herself, she was able to tell me her story with clarity and focus. Even though it was a tough struggle, she is a shining example for her students today, and she has empathy when students talk to her about their own challenges with bullying.

Bullying prevention is the focus in our School Assemblies. Visit www.atfm.ca or www.brucelangford.ca for more information

Be an Upstander, Not a Bystander

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Garden Avenue Junior School, Toronto

Garden Avenue Public School, Toronto is a respectful school filled with great kids who understand the meaning of community. These students look out for each other and encourage each other. They understand the importance of speaking up. They know a bystander is a person who sees or hears mean things, but does nothing about it. Don’t be a bystander, do something if you see meanness. Talk to the person later, tell a teacher or encourage your friends to do the right thing.

The majority of Garden Avenue Junior School students know to …

Be an Upstander, not a bystander!

A story from an anonomous contributor:

It happened nearly twenty years ago.

I saw him do it. I witnessed it with my own eyes.

He knew I saw him, but then afterwards, I swore I saw nothing.

I was afraid. I thought I should keep quiet. I thought that would support my friend.

I was wrong.

Living a lie is never the right thing to do.

I could have quietly gone to a trusted adult and reported what I saw.

It would have been the right thing to do. It would have been the responsible, respectable thing to do.

We shared a story with the Garden Avenue students today. The story was about a girl who felt terrible about someone she had bullied at a past school. She decided to do something about it. She decided to share her message with the world, about how awful a person can feel who has actually bullied someone.

Garden Avenue students obviously felt empathy for the girl as we shared the story.

Be caring. Be sensitive. Be empathetic. Be an upstander, not a bystander!

Stand Up Against Bullying, whenever you can.

Garden Avenue Junior Public School Principal, Ms. Martha Peterson constantly encourages her students to show respect, make the right choices, and be ‘upstanding’ citizens. Be inspired by Garden Avenue; be an upstander!

Toronto Middle School Welcomes Cyberbullying Guest Speaker, Bruce Langford at their Annual Safe And Caring Schools Student Conference

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Willowdale Middle School in Toronto featured their Annual Safe and Caring Schools Student Conference today. Bruce Langford started the day by presenting a session to grade 6 and 7 students called ‘Cyberbullying – Got 2 Go’. The presentation was about how to stand up against cyberbullying. The Children’s Peace Theatre presented a hands-on workshop at the same time with grade 8 students. Willowdale Middle School students did a skit about how some kids feel pressured to have lots and lots of ‘friends’ on social network sites like Facebook. The girl in the skit told her friend to ‘just add random people so you don’t look like a loser’. She did decide to add someone she didn’t know, and was taking the risk that it could turn out to be an internet predator. In another skit, the police got involved when someone turned out to be posing as someone else online. Students were tuned in to the role-plays and commented about their effectiveness.

Willowdale Principal, Mrs. Angela Caccamo said: “Bruce Langford’s Cyberbullying – Got 2 Go’ assemblies were excellent. I will spread the word to my colleagues.”

The point was made that every middle school student can do something to make sure that cyberbullying does not exist and grow in a school environment. We can all agree; Cyberbullying’s Got 2 Go! Contact Bruce Langford at 1-800-901-8831 (www.atfm.ca) for more information.

How friends can reduce cyber-bullying at Howard Public School, Toronto

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Students at Howard Public School in Toronto have their own ideas about how to stand up against bullying. They believe that their friends can help them and that people should stand by their friends. We talked about ways that people can support each other and how you sometimes need to talk with a teacher, a parent or another trusted adult. We saw a role-play about how bystanders can help. We talked about a video that encouraged empathy.

Howard Public School Outdoor Mosaic Mural

Principal, Mrs. Rosanna Sardella spoke highly of our ‘Cyberbullying – Got 2 Go’ assemblies and said she would encourage other schools to host the assemblies.
Bruce Langford’s school assemblies are available for students from kindergarten to grade 8. www.standupagainstbullying.com

Remember, friends can stand up for each other. That can help reduce bullying!