Gov't working with UNICEF to introduce anti-bullying campaign

 

Education Minister Senator Dr. Dana Morris Dixon says the government is working with UNICEF to introduce an anti-bullying campaign to address the root causes.

 

She says planning is in the advanced stages. 

 

Bullying is believed to have prompted two suspected cases of suicides among students last month. 

 

Dr. Morris Dixon contends that there is an urgent need to confront bullying while also strengthening mental health support among the youth. 

 

She explains that the government is not looking to introduce band-aid solutions to such a serious problem. 

 

"It's about understanding deeply what the issue is, and we have many different sets of issues that are occurring. You have the person who is doing the bullying, who often is coming from a particular environment, and that we have to do work there. 

 

"In the CPFSA (Child Protection and Family Services Agency) we met last week on the same bullying issue and we were looking at children who may be exhibiting bullying behaviour and we're looking at having some of our therapeutic centres that we've written about and that we are implementing, having those therapeutic centres used for them and their families. We're actually looking at bringing the families in, too. We are having a mental wellness week in our schools where we're going to open up and talk more," she outlined.

 

The minister added that the school syllabus also facilitates mental health conversations.

 

"If you look at our HFLE (Health and Family Life Education) syllabus for schools that exist currently, it is in there. When you talk to children, you know, talk to your first-formers, they'll tell you that there are sessions where they sit and they speak about mental health. We're also working with the Ministry of Health on wellness gardens and the benches, and our Deans of Discipline associations will tell you that their focus as deans of discipline has been on providing spaces of wellness because they realise it can't just all be punitive," Dr. Morris Dixon explained. 

 

She was speaking at a post cabinet press briefing on Wednesday morning.