Students write charter against bullying

Oilfields junior/high school principal Scott Carey has been given direction on how to handle bullying and he is listening.

The most important people in his school wrote its anti-bullying charter— the students.

“Our whole class wrote ideas down and then we got together as a group to brainstorm and chose the best ones,” said Grade 7 student A.J. Hinman. “It’s a charter that isn’t too hard to do. Sometimes you can shoot for too big of goals.”

Hinman and Dakota Barkley are members of Kate Henkel’s Grade 7 class, which participated in a bullying video-conference with six other classes from across Canada on Nov. 17 — Nova Scotia, Labrador, Vancouver Island, Manitoba, Nunavut and Alberta — as part of the #RCMPTalks program.

“We got to hear what they had to say about bullying and it put a different perspective on our charter,” Hinman said. “We got some new ideas from them.”

It didn’t matter whether the students were from the far reaches of Nunavut or sunny Vancouver Island, the message was similar, according to Barkley.

“We all kind of worded it differently, but it was all basically the same,” Barkley said. “But it was interesting to hear some of the different ways they handle bullying.”

The common theme was to treat one another with respect and with a large dose of the golden rule.

Barkley summed up the charter in a few words: “Be nice to people and don’t bully them.”

The guest speaker of the video-conference was Molly Burke, a We Day speaker, who was bullied when she began losing her eyesight in high school.

“She said she didn’t tell anybody that her vision was going and she started getting bullied,” Hinman said. “She said that was a mistake —that you have to talk to people.”

The Oilfields class was selected through the work of the Turner Valley RCMP detachment.

“We were asked if we were interested and the RCMP here submitted an application to Ottawa and we got chosen,” said Turner Valley RCMP Cpl. Tiffany McGregor. “It was a fantastic opportunity. We are trying to catch the kids as they come into the school for their first year. We want to give them the information so they can carry it on with them for their entire school career.”

She said the video chat was effective because the students related to each other.

“They were dealing with the same issues,” she said. “It helps them feel like they are part of a bigger issue.”

McGregor did a follow-up session with the students regarding the law and bullying on Thursday.

Now the charter dealing with the big issues has been passed on to Mr. Big — Carey.

He plans to post the charter and have the message permeate through the halls, for both students and staff to study.

“One of the statements in the charter was: ‘All students can expect to be helped when they ask for it,’” Carey said.

“That is for everybody, but that’s obviously pointed at the adults. That’s great because we always tell kids that if they need help, find a significant other who can help you. To get something like that in writing from the students is incredible.”

Carey is hoping the charter won’t go the way of the mood ring, disco or kale.

“The short answer is only time will tell whether it will be shelved or not,” Carey said. “But we want to keep pushing forward. This falls in the category of the safe and a respectful learning environment.

“We want to seize the opportunity of the #RCMPTalks event. It’s (the charter) a very concrete document created by the students.”

Carey admitted that anti-bullying campaigns are like anti-smoking ones — there are a lot of them and have been going on for years.

“It is like smoking, all we can do is keep trying and it is great that we have such a good relationship with the RCMP,” he said. “We keep getting new students and it needs to be a fundamental part of education and to be in the forefront. I’m blessed to be at a school that is so respectful.”