Bullying can happen anywhere and the dynamics can be complex. To put preventative measures in place for bullying and to tackle incidents effectively, it’s important you and your staff know what to look out for that will indicate clear signs it’s occurring. Bullying can occur in many forms such as:
- Verbally such as name calling and harassing.
- Physically such as hitting or pushing.
- Within relationships which include rumors and excluding.
You may run into more minor incidents that may not reach the level of bullying at the start. However, if these occurrences are not addressed and resolved, it can quickly become more harmful to the child so pay attention, especially if it’s recurring. When you detect bullying, it’s important you act immediately and take the following steps:
- Separate the campers so the bullying stops.
- Remove them from the rest of the group.
- Respond firmly and appropriately.
- Make sure everyone is safe and be calm.
- Reaffirm the behavior isn’t tolerated.
- Assist the students separately to work it out.
- Give praise and show appreciation for better behavior.
- Report the incident to parents and discipline if it continues.
- Follow up and check in.
Avoid doing the following:
- Don’t be aggressive.
- Don’t give a lecture.
- Don’t ignore it.
- Don’t ask them to work it out themselves.
- Don’t try to handle in a group setting in front of other kids that are not involved.
Before you have a bullying incident within your camp you can take preventative measures to curtail it from ever happening, such as:
- Discuss bullying with campers to start each week, especially if you’re having issues or get new campers each week.
- Have rules and policies in place for bullying and ensure parents and kids know it’s not tolerated.
- Have a reporting process in place for campers and parents.
- Use social and emotional learning activities to keep the campers engaged with each other.
- Incorporate teambuilding activities within each group.
- Establish a culture of inclusion for all campers.
- Communicate with parents on policies, incidents and any action taken.
- Train staff properly on how to handle bullying and the role they play as a youth mentor.
This subject needs to be taken seriously as severe incidents can have long term effects on the child. Creating an inclusive camp environment, educating staff and parents, communicating properly, and being quick to respond to incidents will greatly reduce bullying and ensure you have an incident-free camp.
