Flags from 68 nations represented at the school.
By Sarah Schwager
YEAR seven and eight Hampton Park students have elected to stamp out bullying at their school.
The Hampton Park Secondary College students last Friday signed an anti-bullying pledge as part of National Safe Schools Week.
The event was part of a longer course by the junior students and conversations with senior VCAL students about bullying and its effects.
Leading teacher John McLoughlin said he saw an opportunity to run the program through a Federal Government grant, distributed through the State Government, of $3000.
Mr McLoughlin said with more than 70 nationalities represented at the school, some coming from very difficult circumstances, there were a number of issues around bullying and it was time to address them with a positive and proactive approach.
He said the bullying course was a peer driven program where the junior kids completed an online Let’s Stamp Out Bullying program under the guidance of teachers and year 11 VCAL students doing a Personal Development Course.
Mr McLoughlin said the signing of the pledge in front of the VCAL students, parents, representatives from the Police Multicultural Unit and City of Casey Youth Services was a culmination of what the students had learnt over the week.
“There was a very positive feeling in the gym. They were very excited about contributing their name to the pledge,” he said.
“It will still have to pan out about how it works but it really supports the work we do. These things play out over time.”
There were 68 flags hung in the gym at the time and students were also given a Let’s Stamp Out Bullying wristband and a Safe Schools Week participation certificate.
“The next step now is to offer the course to the parents group so they know what messages the school is sending about bullying,” Mr McLoughlin said.
The school’s usual anti-bullying methods include a restorative justice program in which no blame is apportioned, instead looking to repair the harm so the students avoid that type of behaviour and stop it from happening again.
Casey’s Youth Services team will continue to work with students on bullying and relationships at the school over the next weeks.
