The Lambton-Kent District School Board is raising awareness about bullying this week.
Superintendent Gary Girardi says the board is committed to ensuring positive, safe and inclusive learning and working environments for students, staff and the community. Girardi says students will learn more about bullying and its impact on the school community and will participate in acts of kindness in schools and the community.
"There's always an opportunity for us to improve relationships and these are things that are true for any kind of environment where we bring people together," says Girardi.
Bullying is a form of repeated, persistent, and aggressive physical, verbal, social and electronic behaviour that happens in an imbalance of power between individuals.
Many schools will be displaying positive messaging in classrooms and public spaces and hosting assemblies on anti-bullying.
Girardi says bullying compromises the overall school climate because it has a negative impact on a student’s well-being and their ability to learn.
"Every second year we do a climate survey where we try and assess where our students feel they're at in terms of their environment and the majority of those students indicate they feel safe at school," Girardi says.
Girardi says schools will be participating in a variety of activities to promote bullying awareness and prevention.
"There's always areas for improvement and part of it is to bring awareness and understanding about what bullying is, how we can prevent it and how we can find pathways for people to have a conversation about it," says Girardi.
