Anti-Bullying Week takes place next week from Monday October 19th to Friday October 23rd.
The Anti-Bullying Team feel this week is important in reminding students of our Anti-Bullying message and encouraging them to speak up if they are getting a hard time or if they see bullying going on around them.
The Theme this year is Be Kind – Be Sound.We are appealing to students this year especially to Be Kind to each other. Therefore we are incorporating the school Soundeffects programme into this years theme, encouraging students to Be Sound to each other.
As always tutor time will be extended on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Below are the different activities, videos for each day.
DAY 1 – MONDAY OCTOBER 19TH
Below is a video link from THIS MORNING on UTV encouraging students to be kind to each other. Included are two stories from parents who have lost children to suicide because of bullying. If you could have a chat with your class after watching this it would be great to develop a conversation around bullying.
DAY 2 – WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 21ST
Below is an article about cyber bullying and the effects it has on Irish students from the Independent newspaper. Please read the article with your class and watch the short video that accompanies it. This is centred around the launch of Watch This Space, a website devoted to young people who are victims of online bullying.
https://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/education/stop-cyber-bullying/irish-children-suffer-effects-of-bullying-more-than-eu-counterparts-29049704.html
DAY 3 – FRIDAY OCTOBER 23RD
Today remind students of the school Soundeffects initiative and read the details of the programme below to all classes. Encourage students to write down one Sound gesture someone else has shown them or one sound thing another person has done for them. This only needs to be a couple of lines long and can be anonymous. Hand up these to their tutor at the end of class. I have provided a box in the staffroom teachers can put these into once collected
#Soundeffects
The idea for #Soundeffects was launched by Bressie and his mental health awareness campaign “Lust for life” some years ago. We adapted the initiative to fit our school context. We are fortunate in this school to have so many well behaved, respectful, mannerly and
courteous young men and equally fortunate to have over the years built up a culture of respect between teacher, student and vice versa. While we do recognise, acknowledge and appraise a lot of this good behaviour we feel that we could always be doing more to accentuate and celebrate all of the good behaviour that we observe. This is where #Soundeffects comes in!!
In a world that can often amplify fear and negativity we believe deep down that most people and the majority of our boys are in fact “Sound”. The word sound is a word that is often used both by adults and by the students. It is a slang word.To be sound is a state of existence. It usually refers to someone who willingly does a favour, asked or not, although usually unexpected. Also “sound” can be used as an adjective to describe a genuine nice person. Someone who is decent and kind and an overall good human being.
In the context of an alarming increase in mental ill health in Ireland and an urgency around how we are going to tackle the real pain faced by many people including some of our own boys, we need to focus our energies on “Being Sound” and promoting overall well- being which is at the core of positive mental health.
Stay Safe & Kind Regards
The Anti-Bullying Team