- How to ask your friend if they are okay – use the script to help your students have a conversation
- What to do if someone is being bullied – how to support a peer in need
- Being different and responding positively – how to respond positively to situations
National Week of Action
The National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence is now a National Week of Action. From 12 to 16 August 2024, help us to promote Australia’s key bullying prevention initiative and connect schools and communities to find workable solutions to prevent bullying.
The 2024 theme, ‘Everybody belongs’, is about embracing who we are, respecting everyone's differences and standing up together against unkindness. When we all feel like we belong, bullying struggles to find a place.
We encourage schools to register for the National Week of Action. The week gives schools and supporters flexibility to plan activities that suit their schedule to promote inclusion, respect and belonging, whether it's spreading awareness throughout the week or focusing on 1 impactful day.
Research has shown that strong school community connections and social skills are protective factors in the prevention of bullying and enable positive help-seeking behaviours in students.
What is bullying?
Bullying is when someone with more power than you deliberately and repeatedly tries to upset or hurt you. It can involve one or more of the following:
- the misuse of power in a relationship
- is intentional, ongoing and repeated
- behaviours that can cause harm.
Bullying can be physical, verbal, or social. Bullying can be easy to see (overt), or hidden (covert). Cyberbullying is online bullying that involves the use of technology such as the internet or mobile devices.
The department’s Inclusive Practice Hub resource can help guide conversations to show students how they can respond positively to online hate and where to seek help to prevent harm. Students can also learn to be an upstander and help a friend who is being bullied. You can also refer to the Anti-bullying webpage and Universal Resources Hub - Anti-bullying collection for more support in the prevention, early intervention or response to bullying behaviours.
Once registered to participate in the National Week of Action, schools will be provided with resources, suggested activities and communication to help them deliver in-school learning. If you have already registered, you should have already received these resources.
Resources
Primary schools
Secondary schools
- How to ask your friend if they are okay – use the script to help your students have the conversation
- What is cyberbullying and how to get students to respond positively
- What to do when someone is being bullied - how to seek help and support others when they need it
- How to respond positively to situations - strategies to manage anxiety
- Going to high school from primary – what is the same and what can be different
The eSafety Commissioner partnership
The eSafety Commissioner offers free professional learning programs for teachers to support educators and those who work with young people to integrate online safety into their programs and student wellbeing planning. Professional learning includes:
Webinars (NESA accredited)
Other webinars (not accredited)
Staff meeting series
Online modules for lower primary teachers
More support and teaching resources can be accessed at Classroom resources | eSafety Commissioner.
- Downloadable parent resources to help you start the chat about online safety issues and strategies with your child. Resources include videos, books, information sheets, audio files, family tech agreements, activities.
- Parental controls video to help with device management and online safety.
- Online sexual harassment and image-based abuse video to help your child overcome harmful behaviours online and how to support them.
- Cyberbullying and online drama video to help you support your child if they experience cyberbullying.
Cybermarvel resources
As a part of the department’s Cybermarvel Online Safety Awareness program, we have collated resources for teachers. A small section is relevant to addressing cyberbullying in schools.
Educators can use these as they see fit for their students.
Further information
You can access more information here:
- National Week of Action against Bullying and Violence
- 2024 School event toolkit will be available during Term 2 2024