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Learners throughout the Spark Schools group in Johannesburg embarked on an anti-bullying campaign, and Spark Riversands was no different.
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The morning consisted of a variety of events that addressed topics of bullying, and the different faces of bullying. Posters were also made and hung around the school reminding fellow learners about the importance of kindness and why bullying is wrong.
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Chants of “I am a buddy! Not a bully!” echoed throughout the school grounds as the young group of learners marched their way around the school to spread kindness and love.
Principal Zamajola Mnyaka said bullying is a pandemic in itself, and that it was important to give awareness to the learners of the impacts of bullying.
“We have not had instances of outright bullying, but maybe cases where bullying could arise,” she said.
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“We had a number of items that we covered this morning in order to show the learners what bullying is about and what it looks like. For example, pulling someone into the bathroom.”
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She added that the campaign also took place last year, so most of the learners are well informed about the topic and the new learners understood the severity of bullying and its impact.
“It doesn’t only happen to children. Even as an adult, you can get to a point of being a bully. Prior to this event, we celebrated friendship day on Valentine’s Day where we were showing kindness,” she said.
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“As much as we want to show what bullying is and how we can prevent it, we need to also show what kindness looks like. What the teachers did was hand each other gifts in front of the learners. It was to show what being a buddy and not a bully looks like.”
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The school also had its Buddy the Pooh mascot to encourage anti-bullying and kindness among one another.
“We are hoping to have this campaign once a term, but we will keep our displays up for the whole year. In our social-emotional learning, we have these discussions in our care circles with the learners, so it is a continuous thing across the school. We also want to educate the parents as well,” she said.
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