Anti-bullying lessons for Cairns' Catholic schools
Anti-bully lessons will be taught in Cairns Catholic schools. Do you think kids are wrapped in cotton woo nowadays? Or do they need all the help they can get?
Amid growing concerns about increasing schoolyard bullying in Australia, Cairns will be only the second Catholic diocese in the nation to "bully proof" their students through relationship education and emotional learning.
"You can get straight As, but fail in life," Catholic Education Services Cairns Diocese officer Kerry Bird said yesterday.
"It's as important as teaching religious education or maths or English."
Workshops will focus on emotional, physical and cyber-bullying, how to confront the issue, the role of parents, and the support services that are available.
Ms Bird said social and emotional learning, which will be taught across the curriculum, would ensure the well-being of students.
She said the initiative should stop students from becoming disengaged from school and prevent bullying.
"There is so much in the news at the moment about bullying," she said.
"This is teaching kids how to get along and get on with kids that they don't see eye-to-eye with."
One-off workshops about bullying and behaviour management models were insufficient and schools needed to make emotional and social learning a "core business", Ms Bird said.
Parents would also be asked to play a key role.
St Mary's Catholic College at Woree is among schools holding workshops.
An information session on bullying reduction program, Shared Responsibility, will be held at St Mary's tomorrow from 5pm to 7pm.
Program creator Ian Findley will look at how schools can create a safe educational environment for all students and the event is open for anyone to attend.
St Mary's principal Pat Jones said her school had been introducing ways to improve students' emotional and social well-being for the past five years.
"We're starting to see school as more than a place of academic learning. It's a place of learning for life," she said.
The Cairns diocese has developed a master's unit to help teachers instruct children about relationships education, decision-making skills and self-awareness.
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Valuable lessons: Anti-bully lessons will be taught in Cairns Catholic schools.
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