Is High School Really Safe?

You may have heard many great and not so great things about high school. You may be won- dering if high school is safe and what you should do if something like being bullied happens when you get to high school.

Here are some facts that you should know!

• Every school has administrators and a Safe School Team in place to help students deal with any issues related to bullying, initiation or other unsafe situations.
• Every school has a code of conduct that applies to all students.
• If students do not follow the code of conduct there are consequences to their actions.
• If an incident occurs off school property but it affects the school community, for example, cyber bullying, it will be dealt with as a school matter and there will be consequences.
• The government of Ontario has put a Safe School Policy into all elementary and secondary schools.
• Bullying is a behaviour that is not acceptable and will be dealt with seriously.
• Every school has a bullying policy in place.
• Students who can join their school E.S.P. Team (Empowered Student Partnership), which is students working with local police representatives to help ensure a safe school community.

If you need more information, you can read or do the following: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/parents/bullying.pdf http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/safeschools/pdfs/saferSchools.pdf http://www.tcdsb.org/bullyproofing/Bullying%20Awareness%20and%20Prevention.pdf http://www.tcdsb.org/bullyproofing/plan.htm
Kids help line call: 1-800-668-6868 or go on line at http://www.kidshelpphone.ca/