Cape Town - Pupils at Riverside College, in Burgundy Estate, tied blue ribbons to a school fence as a pledge against bullying. October is bullying awareness month.
To raise awareness, pupils from Burgundy Estate’s high, primary and pre-primary schools hosted an event which ended with them forming a “stop bullying” human message on the school grounds.
Principal Dave Swart said it was important to teach children to be tolerant, accept change and be part of the bigger picture.
undefined“We don’t have a problem with bullying as such at the moment, but when you listen to the media and speak to other people at other schools it’s a huge problem.
“We thought its rather we prevent it than cure it.”
The event started with the pupils forming the message “stop bullying” with their bodies on the grass.
Then a group of pupils recited a poem called ‘I am’, which shared some of the feelings felt by those who are being bullied.
Senior pupils sang Faith Evans’s ‘Hopeful’.
To end the day, the pupils wrote their names and messages on ribbons which were then tied to the school fence, and signed the anti-bullying pledge committing themselves to being “advocates of a non-bullying society”.
“Many bullies suffer from anger or frustration due to their circumstances at home, some do it to look good and assert themselves.
“In some cases bullies often aren’t even aware they are being bullies,” the pupils recited.
Grade 1 pupil Lesego Mohlale, 6, said she understood the concept of bullying: “Bullying is when you hurt their feelings. I want to tell bullies to stop; it is not right.”
Tara Africa, 15, a Grade 9 pupil said she was bullied and in turn became a bully: “I would come home and cry because other children were isolating me.
“They would talk about me in my presence and intimidate me, pretending to be joking.”
Tara said she started developing the same mannerisms and would act out her anger on others.
“I would give people a taste of their own medicine.”
She said she understood that bullying was wrong and that she was against it.
“I don’t agree with it and making this pledge was a way of changing myself and others.”
Mia Goodwin, 12, a Grade 6 pupil said she was bullied at home by her sister.
“I hate bullying because I know how it feels; my sister calls me ugly and says that I am never going to have friends, she also hits me at time.
“It makes me feel like I don’t have someone to talk to.”
Swart said the school had established a programme where a few pupils were selected to counsel victims of bullying.
“The pupils can easily go to the pupil counsellors if they don’t want to talk to teachers about bullying.
“Also, we have a box where children can write notes on an anonymous basis. Teachers will investigate it and consult with parents.”
Every three weeks the school hosts anti-bullying talks, a platform to share feelings.
“We don’t want children to fail because of what happened to them years ago. Bullying leads to depression, anxiety and suicide.”
Cape Argus