Seven Person’s School was the proud host of the Dare to Care program last week.
This program, which was founded by Lisa Dixon-Wells, has been active for approximately 12 years, and uses a focus that goes beyond the culprits and the victim to include peers, school staff, parents, and the community as well.
The three-day program encompassed all aspects of the school, from a Professional Development Day geared strictly to for the teachers to a parent information night.
“Staff will admit they don’t know how to deal effectively with bullying,” said Dixon-Wells.
“It’s the same with the parent information night. We want to raise awareness of what is going on in the community and help people be able to deal with it effectively.”
Dixon-Wells said that she wants parents and teachers to be able to be on a common ground so that they know what they need to look out for.
The Dare to Care program visits approximately 150 schools in a year, and they pride themselves on how they deliver their message.
“The whole idea is to give kids the skills, as well as the support, to stand up to bullying,” said Dixon-Wells.
According to Dixon-Wells, there are a lot of people who feel like they have heard the anti-bullying message before.
What she said is different is that Dare to Care delivers their program in an interactive and visual way that helps students truly understand the problem.
“It is always a small amount of kids that are doing the most amount of damage.”
Dixon-Wells said that not only have students begun to love the program she founded, but parents and teachers are impressed with it as well.
According to Craig Corsie, principal at Seven Person’s School, there was a lot of positive feedback in regards to the Dare to Care program.
“It was very positive, and provided a lot of information that the parents needed to be able to support their children and the school.
“It was good [for the teachers as well] because it helps to get everyone on the same page.”
Corsie states that the program got the whole community together to decipher what bullying is, what to watch for, and how to deal with it.
“Every school has bullying to some degree, but I don’t think [Seven Person’s] has very much,” said Corsie. “If we are proactive in how we deal [with certain situations] we can prevent problems from happening.”
According to Corsie, the Dare to Care program helps students who are the victims ask for help from adults, as well as to not give bullies the reaction they are looking for.
“The program really taps into the silent majority,” said Corsie. “It is about empowering the majority and encouraging them to stand up for what they know is right.”
The Dare to Care program is something the Corsie said he is going to spread the word about and Dixon-Wells knows that the program she focus’s her life around is one that works.
“We don’t record statistics,” she said. “We just look at the stories that kids and adults give us.
“Stories play far more impact than just a number saying 75 per cent of bullying has now stopped.
“Bullying is not a joke. It doesn’t go away. For some people, it stays with them for the rest of their lives.”