STUDENTS PUT BULLIES IN THEIR PLACE

by James Keller

Twelve-year-old Erika Parlee and a couple of fellow students stand at the front of the classroom, trying to bully another girl.

But another group of students befriends their victim, and Erika's teasing loses its effect.

"The bullies had no victims and they lost their power," Erika said Friday.

Erika, a Grade 6 student at Gertrude Parker Elementary School, was role-playing as part of a conference called Learning to Live Together Peacefully, held at the Lower Sackville school.

With the help of Kathleen Richard, who works with the Halifax regional school board's safe schools co-ordinator, the class tried to find a way other students could stop bullying.

In the end, they decided that bystanders should include the victim in their own group.

"The message is that kids save other kids," Ms. Richard said. "We can teach the kids how to recognize bullying and deal with bullying at their level in a safe way."

Throughout the day, students attended sessions put on by teachers from other schools and by school board staff. Topics ranged from co-operative learning and group problem-solving to how to recognize bullies.

This is the first time the school has held such a conference.

Vice-principal Heather Killen said while bullying isn't a major problem at Gertrude Parker, it's still a concern at all schools. The school's goal is to address bullying before it grows.

"We're just taking a proactive approach so our students will have strategies to cope with bullying if it happens to them," said Ms. Killen, who began organizing the conference over the summer.

Principal David Gorsline said the conference was held partly in response to surveys the school board sent to parents and students last year, asking them to assess their schools. While bullying wasn't at the top of the list, it was an issue parents and students seemed concerned about, Mr. Gorsline said.

The conference also included a session for parents in the morning. Mr. Gorsline said they found the session helpful, and the school will hold an evening session later. He said any strategy to stop and prevent bullying needs to include parents.

"It's not a matter of blaming the student or the parent or the school," Mr. Gorsline said. "It's about how we work as a united group to overcome the difficulties of bullying, which every school faces."

Liam Fisher, 7, said he learned a lot from the conference.

"The main thing is to show that bullying is a bad thing, and you shouldn't do it," said Liam, who is in Grade 2.

He couldn't remember a time when someone he knew was bullied but he said he would try to help.

"It would be OK if I could help them," said Liam, who was a little skeptical about how much help he could offer if the bullies were much older.

"I guess anything's possible."