Bullying has long plagued schools, says minister
(CNS): As students return to school after the summer break, the Education Ministry has launched a National Anti-bullying Campaign to ensure that they learn in a welcoming and safe environment without the fear of being bullied. Officials said the goal is to raise awareness about recent changes to the Education Act, including the introduction of anti-bullying regulations, and how these legislative changes will impact them.
The new policy replaces the 2020 National Anti-bullying Policy, enhancing the role and responsibilities of school leaders and stressing the need for measures to tackle cyber-bullying in schools as well as disciplinary action for making false reports of bullying.
“The issue of bullying has long plagued our schools,” said Education Minister Juliana O’Connor-Connolly in a press release about the campaign.
“We hope that through the passage of the Anti-Bullying legislation and the launch of this campaign we can highlight the measures, including the response mechanisms that schools have implemented to enhance the safety of the learning environment and also ensure that children who are victims of bullying and those who have witnessed bullying in school will feel comfortable enough to report these incidences,” she added.
The first phase of the campaign, which started last week, will culminate on 14 October and will feature video, audio and social media messaging targeting children, parents and educators.
See the Anti-Bullying (Schools) Regulations, 2022 and the Cayman Islands Anti-Bullying (Schools) Policy, 2023 in the CNS Library.
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Category: Education, Local News
My daughter was bullied mercilessly in Prep 5 years ago. Homeschooled ever since and much happier for it.
The bullying is insanity. I’ve been called a ba**y man so many times I’d be rich by now if I got a penny for all the times I’ve been called it, (I try not to let it get to me anymore as I’ve realized the people saying it are visibly not the best and brightest; very bottom of the barrel faction of society). It’s the religious fanaticism that’s plagued the Caribbean for so long. People use God as a way to be cruel to others and it needs to stop.
Management and civil service are the worse at staff abuses of all types. Emotional sexual financial career.
So too the hypocrisy about gender prote.
Anyone at the Credit Union AGM recently should have been offended and left after seeing the top official on stage repeatedly comment sexually on a staff members shape and outfit.
And yes it was a female on the mike deriding a young male.
No one objected to the repeated “funny” comments.
Sick bunch in cayman now.
Was it recorded? or online somewhere.
So has force fed religion.
Isn’t this the same Minister who tried to get the public to protest (read bully) a wedding they didn’t agree with?
Same dog puppy
Believe it or not. A lot of the bullying comes from the teachers.
Signed,
Former bullied student by a teacher
That should be
“Former student, bullied by a teacher”…
Grammar, grammar..!
Reintroduce the kids of wealthy foreigners into the public school system, and this problem will disappear in no time flat.
Unfortunately, the public system here is so broken those of us who pay for private school will not stop doing so. They can throw all the money at the schools but the quality of teachers and the lack of parent involvement for way too many children attending public school has ruined it almost beyond repair.
Obviously you know nothing about the public schools. Good parents are systematically prevented from contributing or participating.
They and their children are then labeled and vilified throughout their school years!!
I find that to be a cop out on parenting. Try to get between me helping my children learn…. your comment sounds very suspicious.
Roy and Truman wanted “Caribbeanisation”. They got it. Good luck.
Truman most certainly did NOT want Caribbeanisation!! That’s the last thing he wanted. Roy yes and before that Oswell Rankine.
All Lodge. Surprise!
Bullying in the private schools is also rampant and in some cases is worse – this has to stop and it starts at home with parents. The number of kids who are depressed, full of anxiety and on medication because of what happens to them at school is shocking! Kids can be so mean to each other and it is not just a Cayman issue it happens everywhere. Something has to be done to protect the kids who are afraid to speak up out of fear and for those kids who are doing the bullying there needs to be repercussions!
Clifton Hunter has been in for less that 2 weeks and my daughter has already been threatened by another female for no reason whatsoever. Told her she is going to “beat her ass”. We need a 0 tolerance policy. Throw one lick and you are out and your parents have to find the money for private school or home schooling.
Why don’t you get the police involved if a threat was made?
Who says they didnt ?
Problem is that teachers on work permits, are scared of Caymanian parents who have influence, or access to influence.
The recent National Drug Council survey found ” In Bodden Town, over 40% of students had experienced violence in their homes.” The speaker of our parliament assaults a waitress, on camera, and keeps his job! There’s bullying in schools? Can’t imagine why.
The MP for Bodden Town had a violent encounter some years back, nuh true? The one that “Doctor” Steve McField defended him for and came up with the famous “sacred vessel” defense. So violence not new in Little Kingston aka Bodden Town.
You not see nuttin!
I hope this also highlights the bullying done by teachers! My son had a teacher that was the biggest bully I’ve even seen, ganging the kids up against each other and leading the charge on hate.
and God help us kids, who don’t believe in supernatural beings, or our sexual minorities!
Isn’t it strange that somehow, the kids that don’t believe in some mystical sky faerie that nobody can ever see, are somehow the ones belittled? I mean, that is our natural state. We are born not knowing anything about religion, or any made-up deities, until we are indoctrinated into our regionally-appropriate cults. Yet somehow those of us that stop and think to ourselves, “now hol’up, wait a minute – somethin’ ain’t right” are the ones who are told we are crazy. Religion is wild, and it’s insane that the zealot cultists are accepted over people who question what BS they’re being spoonfed before they decide it’s safe to eat.
Amen!
And work. All areas
I still remember being called “white poke” across the school yard. I took it as a term of endearment.
But tell that to the youth of today and they won’t believe you.
You never heard of Gun Square in BT, also known as Dallas back in the day for the weekend road fights!
“But tell that to the youth of today and they won’t believe you.”
Instead of “cracker” or “white poke”, these days it’s “yt people”. No, seriously. Very creative.
Cut and paste same shit every year.
What has she actually done about out? Sweet F.A.
https://www.dcs.gov.ky/frc/family-resource-center-stood-up
https://cnslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/National-Anti-bullying-Policy-for-school-students-approved-November-2020.pdf
Biblical bullying in particular.
The root cause of why we have people chanting “battiman fi ded” in our schools.
Teaching hatred instead of peace – hypocrites. My boy got ganged up in the bathroom and thrown against the wall just because he looks feminine but hasn’t said he’s gay.
I call BS.
found the bully enabling fool….
@11:53 AM, definitely not BS, you dont realise how homophobic our society is.
I am against homosexuality, but I have no phobia of them. Disagreement does not equal phobia. It is a form of bigotry when I don’t agree with your views, for you to attach ‘phobia’ to it. I don’t care what homosexuals do, or if they get married or whatever, but my opinion is mine to have.
CNS: A phobia is an overwhelming fear of something. Homophobia is dislike or prejudice against gay people. The words have the same root but homophobia does not mean “a phobia of gay people”.
The circular argument that it is bullying to call out bullies does not get less silly the more it’s used. However, you are right that it is within your rights to be prejudiced within the bounds of the law. But children raised with these views might well take them to school and this might result in bullying, physical or verbal. This is likely to be devastating to the victim and the bully should be disciplined.
Homophobes should consider a little self-reflection, suggests a new scientific study finding those individuals who are most hostile toward gays and hold strong anti-gay views may themselves have same-sex desires… Come on out!
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/homophobes-might-be-hidden-homosexuals/
Homosexuality is a sin! Let’s get that straight. However it’s not an excuse to bully or exorcise someone. Live and let live but also respect my Christian views please! If I want to believe in what you call the “tooth fairy” that is my right. At some point we will find out who was right. But that said, homosexuals are sinners just like the rest of us and should be treated fairly and not victimized for their sexuality. These are our own young people and we must love them equally.
As is the love of money over God, but we forget this here.
Same with greed, lust, envy, usury etc
Lets not cherry pick our sins.
“Homosexuality is a sin” because it says so in a book.
How about I write a book that says “Homosexuality is NOT a sin.”
Will that fix it for you..?
The tone of these islands is set by the hierarchy within government and the civil service.
When you have a civil service that pays lip service to their anti racist, anti-bullying and sexual harassment policies and treating their employees with total contempt and disdain whilst covering up for the true bullies amongst their managers, why chance have the kids got?
True thing. Some operate like dictators still in this day and age.
Nah, dictators usually get their comeuppance. These get put out to pasture on full salary, or gold plated early retirement, IF anything gets done at all.
‘’A toxic manager is someone you pay to watch your top talent walk away’.
You only have to look at departments within government that have had an exodus of staff leaving. The question is why? Invariably it’s the supervision who drive the staff away.
There isn’t any mechanism for staff to air their grievance without fear of repercussions particularly when staff are on short term contracts and their existence on the islands rests in the hands of bad managers.
What results is toxic managers acting with impunity, treating staff like dirt and driving down performance.
Every year, I have reported on a survey from HR that, as a teacher, I am getting bullied by a teacher in a position of authority (even signing off on performance management). Nothing has changed – not even lip service when the results of these surveys come out!