Olweus Bullying Prevention

Dear Parents/Guardians,

Mecca Glen School cares about the safety and well-being of all our students.  We want to make sure our school is a good place for students to learn.  To do this, in the 2014-15 school year, we implemented the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.  

 The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program is one of the best-known bullying prevention programs and has been proven to prevent or reduce bullying.

The goals of this program are to reduce existing bullying problems and prevent new bullying problems from happening.  The program also works to make relationships better among students.  Olweus is for all students, not just those who are bullied or who are bullying others.  

Parents and Guardians play a key role in this program.  Your child will be asked to tell an adult at school and at home if he or she is bullied or sees bullying happen at school.  It will be very important that you take any bullying seriously and tell our school staff.  Our school staff are trained to deal with bullying situations when we are told about them.  

Bullying should not be seen as "kids being kids" or something that kids need to just deal with.  Having a safe school experience is something all students should be able to enjoy.  

Sincerely,

Mecca Glen Olweus Committee 

1. We will not bully others.

2. We will try to help students who are bullied.

3. We will try to include students who are left out.

4. If we know that somebody is being bullied, we will tell an adult at school and an adult at home.

Bullying is when a student or a group of students engages in any gesture or written, verbal, or physical or electronically transmitted act, or threat that: 

•  1) Will have the effect of physically harming a student, damaging a student’s property or reputation, or placing a student in reasonable fear of harm; or 
•  2) is sufficiently severe, persistent or pervasive that the action or threat creates an intimidating, threatening, or abusive educational environment for a student. 

In short, “Bullying is when someone repeatedly and on purpose says or does mean or hurtful things to another person who has a hard time defending himself or herself.”

• Involves unwelcomed aggressive, mean,  rude behavior. 
• Typically involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time. (However, on act alone may constitute bullying behavior if the intent is there to intimidate another.)
• Involves an imbalance of power.