Bullying in NZ Schools
Why do you think NZ has one of the worst rates of bullying statistics around the world? Over the last few years, people have been using technology a lot more and that has increased the amount of cyberbullying in New Zealand. Also there is jealousy, which has always been a problem. Schools are competitive, there are always heaps of competitions on offer and sometimes competitions get a bit too competitive.
How big an issue was bullying at your primary school? It was pretty bad. Because it was a small school, (only 30 in each year) all the students knew each other and so if one person was bullied, a lot of the c]school knew about it. You might think that this a good thing, but when given the choice to stand up for the bullying victim or to join the bully, most people go and join the bully, thinking that it will make them look cool.
WALT - We are learning to become critical thinkers and to analyse the bias of authors.
Read the 3 reports about bullying in NZ and deconstruct the main idea. (Summarising).
- What is common between all three reports? All three reports talk about the percentages of the bullying in NZ. They also talk about what kind of bullying is happening, e.g. verbal, cyber etc.
- Why is bullying such a big issue in NZ schools? Technology is being used more and more in NZ schools. Competitivity is also increasing with many competitions available for kids to enter. Being competitive is great as long as it stays in class, not escaping into the playground or lunch area where it will probably cause some kind of argument. NZ is also going through a massive housing crisis and some kids are living in vans in free camping grounds. This can cause a HUGE impact on people’s behaviour and how they treat others.
- What should be included in Education programmes and within school cultures to inform students that bullying has a detrimental impact? At HNI we are really lucky to have a fabulous principle who talks about bullying and the impact it has on people at assemblies. I think that the government should encourage this to all NZ schools because it will help kids feel motivated to stand up against bullying.
- Have you seen cases where bullying has stopped because of bystanders and/or the victim standing up to the bully? Occasionally there is one kid who stands up and says “this is not OK” or “Stop it guys” but often kids are too scared to stand up to the bully and say “NO”. When the bully is bullying someone, it often makes them feel powerful and strong, which makes it hard for other kids to stand up to that bully.
- If you were the Prime Minister of NZ for one day, what would be the first action you would take to help reduce the bullying statistics within NZ schools? I would visit schools around me and talk about bullying and the impact it has on us. I would also send teachers all around NZ a survey asking if their school is really affected by bullying. But sometimes teachers don’t know ht is going on outside of their classroom, so I would send another survey to NZ students asking if they are victims of bullying. I would also state in the survey that it is anonymous and private, so that the students wouldn’t feel pressured to lie in their survey.
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