Student Advisory Boards Inform Bullying Policies
Student advisory boards have existed in schools for many years, informing a range of policies, from campus rules to extracurricular programming. As many schools have found, involving the student body in major decision making ultimately helps students become happier with and more compliant of policy that impacts them.
Increasingly, student advisory boards are being established to help direct bullying policies and bullying prevention programming in schools around the world. Here are a few important reasons why schools should consider setting up a student advisory board to prevent bullying this year.
Students know about bullying better than adults in the school community.
Students intimately know what devices, programs or apps are being used by peers to bully. They will be able to show staff and parents new sites or apps that are being exploited.
A student advisory board will also be able to elaborate on specific examples of cyberbullying, sexting, or other digital reputation issues. By pointing to specific examples, the advisory committee will be better able to implement policies that will have real impact.
Students should always feel they have a voice at school.
Students need to be able to give input when it comes to curriculum, school activities and other matters that influence them everyday. Teens who wish to get involved in the governance of their school via a Student Advisory Board can also greatly support prevention of bullying.
When students are empowered, and have a voice in the school, it’s easier for students to inform adult about the problems they are seeing online or in person among their friends. Be sure to include students of all ages and grades on the advisory board.
Perhaps most importantly, since the majority of students use technology safely and responsibly they wouldn’t want that access taken away from them because a few students happen to be making poor choices or engaging in cyberbullying. Therefore, it is in their best interest to use their voice to help adults identify problem areas and get them resolved so that the misbehavior of one or two students doesn’t ruin it for everyone else.
Involving students removes the “I didn’t know” response.
Students who are involved in reviewing bullying policies simply cannot say they were not aware of the policies and therefore didn’t report an instance of cyberbullying. Involving students in the definition of inappropriate behaviors and related consequences will ensure the policies are up to date and applicable to the current student body.
Involving students in development of anti-bullying policy is one of the best ways to ensure policy success.
Consider taking our online e-safety training course to help you assist your children even more with making safer choices in a digital environment.
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