ssues & ideas

EDITOR KENDRA WONG

THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 6, 2014 7

Langara students take on bullying

Students, faculty and staff stand up against bullying during annual awareness day

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CHRIS SLATER (Left) and KARLY BLATS photos

Participants make individualized buttons (left) and sign anti-bullying pledges (top) in the Langara Students’ Union Building on Feb 26.

Pink Shirt Day draws hundreds

Provincial campaign educates students on bullying and reinforces it will not be tolerated in schools

Bullies
still an
Issue on
campus

Staff and students say
Langara isn’t immune to
bullying, but would like to
see it come to an end

By KARLY BLATS

ive me all your lunch money,”
G may not be a term heard among

college and university students,
but bullying is prominent throughout
these institutions, including at Langa-
ra.

According to a study by SFU faculty
members which surveyed approxi-
mately 1,800 Canadian undergrads, be-
tween 11 and 18 per cent of students
said they’ve been cyberbullied by
someone they know at university.

Chantal Faucher, a post-doctoral fel-
low working with the Centre for Educa-
tion, Law and Society at SFU, assisted
in the survey and said instructors
should treat bullying the same way
they treat plagia-
rism.

“TBullying]
should be men-
tioned and  dis-

cussed in classes
and be reminded
frequently,” she
said. “It should be

By CHRIS SLATER

angara sent a strong message
that bullying will not be tolerated
on campus, during the second an-
nual Bullying Awareness Day in
the Langara Students’ Union Building.
Held in conjunction with the provin-
cial Pink Shirt Day campaign, Langara’s
Bullying Awareness Day on Feb. 26 of-
fered various outreach booths and infor-
mation stations to relay support to stu-
dents who may experience bullying or
feel unsafe at school.
“We want people to be aware of what
bullying looks like [and] what steps you
can take to prevent bullying if you’re be-

ing bullied .. . whether it’s through
counselling, or seeking help to ensure
that bullying stops and you have a safe
place to study,” said Reba Noel, student
engagement officer at Langara.
Students said Pink Shirt Day brings
necessary attention to the issues.

“I think it’s awesome,” said Anna
Beck, a marketing student. “It shouldn’t
be held just in college, they should do
this in high schools and elementary
schools too.”

Among stations at this year’s event
were the health services pride project, a
local campaign to ensure LGBT stu-
dents feel safe at school and in their
community; and a station for non-profit

organization Mosaic, which works in
partnership with Langara to curb gen-
der-based violence on campus.

Spreading awareness about bullying
with social media was a big theme at
this year’s event. Booths such as the sel-
fie station were in high demand, in
which participants were encouraged to
take a photo of themselves clad in pink
feathers and clothing, and then post it to
social media.

The pledge booth was a popular fea-
ture as well, in which participants were
asked to read part of a written pledge
against bullying, which was later edited
to create a montage of various students’
voice clips, and put up on the web.

66

We want
people to
be aware
of what
bullying
looks like

REBA NOEL

part of student ori-
entation at the be-

CHANTAL FAUCHER
Post-doctoral

ginning of univer- JeHow at SFU
sity.”

Associated arts r4 4
student Wyatt Nay-
lor has seen the af Bullying
fect of bullying on should be
campus.
i. dont ty to mentioned
ake everything se- °
riously so these and dis-
things don’t affect cussed in
me so much, but I classes

can see it affecting
others.”
Psychology stu-

Cyberbullies take toll on post-secondary students

fidins
MAGGIE ROSS
Manager of stu-
dent conduct and
judicial affairs

wy «

Researcher says 22 per
cent of students experi-
enced cyberbullying at
some time over last year

By MIKE HODDER

ably higher portion of post-sec-

ondary students than adolescents
to consider suicide, said an SFU profes-
sor.

In an ongoing study by SFU research-
er Wanda Cassidy, 22 per cent of stu-
dents from four major post-secondary
institutions, which could not be named
for ethical reasons, said they’ve been cy-

C yberbullying is driving a consider-

berbullied over the last 12 months.

“Tt affected their mental and physical
health, and shockingly enough, nine to
18 per cent, depending on the university,
said that they were suicidal,” said Cas-
sidy. “Eighteen per cent is really high,
that’s far higher than the adolescent
studies.”

According to a study by John LeBlanc
at Dalhousie University, of 41 cases from
the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom
and Australia, 17 per cent of adolescents
who committed suicide experienced bul-
lying online as well as at school.

Educators are taking cyberbullying
seriously and Langara’s manager of stu-
dent conduct and judicial affairs Maggie
Ross said cyberbullying is occurring at
the school.

“Incidents of cyberbullying have
come to my _— attention,” she
said. “It’s an ongoing problem that we
have to address.”

Ross said media attention and events
like Pink Shirt Day are a positive part of
that inclusive environment and the col-
lege is creating campaigns to combat
cyberbullying.

While Cassidy supports anti-bullying
campaigns, she believes there is a big-
ger issue that needs to be addressed.

“There’s a lot of hype around it and
not a lot of substance,” said Cassidy.
“People that are in a position to do
something substantive about it need to
look far closer at what is really going on.
It’s a lot more challenging . .. to change
behaviour than it is to rally around it.”

dent Amy Sture

said she didn’t think bullying was a
problem at Langara until classmates
revealed knowledge of a male sexually
harassing female students.

“T was like, ‘Tell somebody,” she
said. “If you go on the Internet .. . peo-
ple aren’t afraid to unleash the fury of
whatever they’re thinking at that mo-
ment.”

Melia Goertzen, administrative coor-
dinator at Langara, said people who
engage in cyberbullying don’t realize
how damaging it can be.

“The biggest thing that you see is cy-
berbullying and everybody’s like ‘Oh
yeah whatever, who cares,’ but if it’s
you and you’re the person who’s got
some picture out on Facebook that peo-
ple are spreading around... you’re go-
ing to realize what a big deal it is,” she
said.

Langara’s counselling department
offers services from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30
p.m. Monday through Thursday and
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday in B111.

09