Anti-bullying Programs for Schools: How to Protect Children as a Parent
At ETHIX360, most of our platforms and modules serve people like Chief Compliance Officers and CHROs. Case and policy management are undoubtedly essential to these business operations, and we’ve made it our mission to provide a seamless, intuitive experience with our software.
But take a second with me and push that idea further. A few years ago we asked ourselves what other industries we could serve with our case management platform. Who else needs a system to log incidents and follow them through to resolution? Who else would benefit from a documented process that can hold up in the event of a lawsuit?
CASE MANAGEMENT IN SCHOOLS
It seems so obvious in retrospect; we needed to take our services directly to school systems! Historically, a product user had been an adult employee who was discriminated against or harassed. But who says children aren’t being discriminated against and harassed just as often? Whether bullies or predatory teachers are targeting them, kids face danger in school.
This line of thought pulls at the heartstrings, and we immediately sought to find out how we could help. That was years ago, and today we have multiple school systems as valued clients. We’ve learned a lot since implementing our case management platform into existing anti-bullying programs for schools, and we now work closely with Title IX Coordinators and Bullying Prevention Specialists.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned, bullying is a serious threat to children. It’s top of mind for all our education contacts, and we’ve heard the staggering reports that kids themselves submit. So many children need help and are not afraid to reach out if they know how to do it. Our system has created a lot of good, but it is only one piece of the puzzle which is anti-bullying programs in schools.
A NEW PERSPECTIVE
Our CEO recently sent me a CNN article about what parents can do to prevent bullying. It had a lot of advice you would expect, including teaching your child to report bullying when they see it happen or it happens to them.
But there was one topic I hadn’t seen discussed by a major media outlet before. What do you do if you suspect your child is a bully? I was caught off guard by this discussion in the last few paragraphs of the piece, but the advice the author gave was sound.
You can identify if your child is a bully by noticing if they get into fights, are aggressive, get disciplined at school frequently, or fail to accept responsibility for their actions.
The professionals the author consulted suggested asking your child about their views on the situation and potentially getting them help with emotional regulation in therapy.
We talk a lot about what schools can do to improve their anti-bullying programs, but it never crossed my mind that parents play a role in ensuring their children aren’t instigators. There’s only so much a school or a third-party vendor like us can do. Of course, it’s not our place as a software provider to address this problem, but we must keep the whole picture in mind when we’re considering how we can play a part in eliminating bullying.
If you happen to be reading this as a concerned parent, I’d recommend checking out the CNN article I referenced. If you’re an employee in a school system looking to improve your anti-bullying program, I’d suggest checking out SafeTrac, our case management platform for anti-bullying programs in schools. And if you’re just a subscriber to our blog, I hope you found this topic as interesting as I did!
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MEET THE AUTHOR
Katie Shivers is the Director of Marketing for ETHIX360. She is responsible for content creation and engagement for all the communities we serve on numerous social media platforms, as well as managing all forms of client communication.
ABOUT ETHIX360
At ETHIX360, our goal is simple: to provide an affordable, flexible, and comprehensive answer to employee communication, policy management, corporate training and case management on issues related to corporate ethics, code of conduct, fraud, bribery, and workplace violence.
