The faculty and staff at Porter Ridge are committed to creating a nurturing, safe, and caring place for all of our students.  Everyone at our school supports the importance of promoting respectful relationships where all students and staff are treated fairly.  We do not tolerate bullying of any kind at our school.

What is bullying? 

Bullying is done when someone says or does something intentionally hurtful to another person or persons.  Bullying is when someone does not treat another person with respect and hurts them either physically or emotionally.

Bullying is a widespread and serious problem that can happen anywhere. It is not a phase children have to go through, it is not "just messing around", and it is not something to grow out of. Bullying can cause serious and lasting harm.

Although definitions of bullying vary, most agree that bullying involves:

Imbalance of Power- people who bully use their power to control or harm and the people being bullied may have a hard time defending themselves.

Intent to Cause Harm- actions done by accident are not bullying; the person bullying has a goal to cause harm.

Repetition- incidents of bullying usually happen to the same the person over and over by the same person or group.

Types of Bullying:

Bullying can take many forms. Examples include:

• Verbal or Mouth : name-calling, teasing
• Social or Friend:spreading rumors, leaving people out on purpose, breaking up friendships
• Physical:hitting, punching, shoving
• Cyber-bullying: using the Internet, mobile phones or other digital technologies to harm others

An act of bullying may fit into more than one of these groups..

What Can You Do If You Are Being Bullied?

Nobody likes to be picked on. What can you do?

1. Kids who bully want you to be upset. So don't give them the power! Even if you feel scared or upset, try not to show it.
2. Instead of showing the bully that you are as upset as you feel, laugh or walk away.
3. Bullies look for a time to pick on you when you are alone. Try to stick with a partner throughout the day or be in an adults sight.
4. Hold your head up high when dealing with a bully. Look them in the eye and tell them "No, leave me alone!" or “Stop, leave me alone!”
5. Always report any bully incident to an adult.

Most important: SPEAK UP when you see a bullying situation. The end of bullying begins with you!

Websites for further information about bullying:

• Stopbullyingnow.com
• bullying.org