The fifth National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence will be held on Friday, 20 March 2015.
According to the website, this annual Day of Action 'provides a focus for all schools to say Bullying. No Way! and to strengthen their existing everyday messages that bullying and violence at school are not okay at any time'.
The website includes resources for schools, students and parents about bullying and activities and ideas to promote the Day of Action and get all members of the school community involved in understanding the different types of bullying and how to educate students on the dangers of bullying and what to do if they need help.
School Governance has written many articles about the various types of bullying, including cyber-bullying, that can threaten the health and safety of students.
We've also written about the various tools and options that may assist schools to educate their students on bullying and how to help students cope with the stress and anxiety that may result from the use of social media.
The increase in social awareness of bullying and its potential to cause serious harm to young people, including mental health issues, has lead to increased expectations of schools to help students who are being bullied and handle those that are bullying.
A school's duty of care to protect its students includes responding to online incidents as soon as they know about them, especially if the perpetrator is a member of the school community. While a school can't control what happens online 24 hours a day, it does have the authority to discipline students who bully other students if they are enrolled at the same school.
As part of its duty to educate students and provide pastoral care, including ensuring their well-being, schools should also be educating the school community on bullying and offering a support system to those affected.
The following statistics on bullying are provided on the Day of Action website:
The following facts on cyber safety are also provided:
As the above facts on cyber safety demonstrate, the safety of students online is a serious issue and one which becomes more serious as the popularity of social media grows. We previously reported on the Federal Government's initiative to introduce a Children's e-Safety Commissioner. Recently, the legislation needed to establish this Commissioner, the Enhancing Online Safety for Children Bill 2014 (Bill) was passed by the Senate. Once the Bill receives Royal Assent it will become law.
The Hon Paul Fletcher MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Communications, issued a press release about this important development (the press release was issued the day prior to the Bill being passed by the House of Representatives) in which he stated that:
Will your school be promoting the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence?