High schools join together for anti-bullying play

By Jennifer Bowman

(Trenton, Nov. 16, 2011) High school students from throughout Hastings County worked together to script and perform a play on bullying at Trenton High School for anti-bullying week. Photo by Jennifer Bowman

Life hasn’t always been easy for Katie Chamilliard.

The Grade 12 student at Quinte Secondary School, like many others, has been a victim of bullying.

“It was pretty bad, I mean I had been spat on a couple times, and I had a wonderful nickname,” said Chamilliard.

Chamilliard recently participated in a play at Trenton High School about bullying. The play involved students from seven high schools throughout Hastings County and was part of anti-bullying week.

Julie Pohlman-Brogee, supervisor for the child and youth counselor team for the Prince Edward Hastings School Board, said the attitude behind bullying is, “I have the right to hurt you because I believe I can, that you are lesser than me.”

Bullying is not anger or conflict, she said. It’s an intolerance toward differences with an intent to hurt someone. It’s about a real or perceived imbalance of power.

According to Kid’s Help Phone, they help kids through phone calls and online consultations more than 4,300 times each week. Six per cent of those calls are about bullying. Most of those calls come from youths between the ages of six and nineteen.

Gayle Brown, a counselor for Kid’s Help Phone, said more kids are reaching out for help with bullying now, and that’s because of the publicity bullying has been getting.

“I think there is definitely an increase in talking about bullying and taking it more seriously,” she said.

Counsellors at Kids Help Phone are learning how to deal with bullying calls.

Recently there have been stories such as Mitchell Wilson, an 11-year-old Pickering boy, and Jamie Hubley, a 15-year-old Ottawa teen, who have committed suicide. Both were linked to bullying.

Bullying had a different effect on Chamilliard. She took her bullying experience and turned it into something positive.

“I’m actually running an anti-bullying campaign and a diversity club at our school,” she said.

Chamilliard said she had to take a stand against bullies somehow.

“If you’re bullied and you don’t do anything about it, it’s just going to keep happening,” she said. “And if you know what it feels like, you should do everything in your power to stop it from happening to other people.”

Pohlman-Brogee said young people need to stand up, not only when they are being bullied, but also when they see bullying.

“It’s a silent message when people don’t stand up to bullying,” she said.

If someone is being bullied and bystanders don’t do anything, it gives the message that what the bully is doing is ok, she said. That leaves the person being bullied feeling very alone, making it harder for them to reach out for help.

The Ontario Ministry of Education has introduced character traits into the curriculum to teach positive behaviours at a young age. These include respect, caring, and cooperation, among others. The Prince Edward Hastings School Board is also teaching teachers how to deal with bullying, educating them on how to work with both the bullied and the bully.

At the same time, the number of educational assistants in schools is decreasing. That means there is less help and fewer resources for children who need extra help in the classroom. That puts more responsibility on the teacher.

“People are being asked to do more with less, not just in education, everywhere,” said Brogee. “(This) results in people needing to be more vigilant – in education, as parents, within community agencies, within businesses.”

Brown said a lot of education about bullying goes back to the parents.

“Behaviour is behaviour,” she said.

If brothers and sisters are bullying each other, parents can address that, she said. The best thing they can do is talk to their kids about it and keep the lines of communication open, whether the child is being bullied or is the bully.

Brown said bullying is  everywhere.

“We have a lot of bullying in our society, from children right up to adults,  (including) the CEO in the company.”

Excerpt from full interview with Julie Pohlman-Brogee, supervisor for the child and youth counselor team for the Prince Edward Hastings School Board

Sidebar story: Reading the signs of bullying