During my practicum, there were several bullying incidents reported inside locker rooms of the gymnasium.

Teachers on our team investigated into the matter. We were each responsible for our class. We surveyed the class by asking students to answer the following questions: “What negative behaviours have you seen?”, “Who is responsible for the most of it?” and “What can you do to help the situation?”

Students wrote their names down on their surveys and their replies were kept confidential. That way, students can have a chance to let us know if they were bullied, or if had witnessed bullying incidents.

Students are sometimes afraid to speak up, and I thought this survey was a very useful tool to help students communicate with teachers. The team teachers and I discussed our findings and found the source of the bullying. We then chatted with a few identified students and the problem seemed to be resolved.

It is important to promptly address those reported bullying issues as that will affect students’ social and physical development. Students need to feel safe in their learning environment.

As teachers, we need to have ZERO tolerance for bullying. Any form of bullying should be addressed and dealt with as promptly as possible, so that students can have a safe environment to thrive emotionally, intellectually and socially.