It’s Anti-Bullying Week across Ontario and in St. Clair Catholic schools across the district, the focus is on ‘kindness.’ New research at Stanford University encourages
teachers to take on an ‘empathetic mindset’ when addressing student discipline. The study has found that the number of students who were suspended across the academic year was reduced by half. According to a 2019 report in Psychology Today, children and adolescents learn about kindness by ‘feeling it’ which encourages them to want to reproduce it.
Many traditional anti-bullying programs focus on the negative actions that cause anxiety in children. When students are instead taught how to change their thoughts and actions by learning about kindness and compassion, it fosters the positive behaviour that’s expected. Promoting this ‘psychological opposite’ is key in reducing bullying to create
warm and inclusive school environments.
Each school has received a Wellness Kit, which includes announcements, classroom and school-wide activities, which focus on kindness.
For more information go to www.st-clair.net
