The Human Project: Our Anti-Bullying Philosophy

Bullying has been a hot topic throughout recent years with celebrities and lawmakers rallying behind the cause, calling for a change in the way we treat people, particularly in the classroom and on social media. 

There are many schools with approaches such as the ‘3 Strikes Policy’ to the ‘Zero Tolerance Policy’ where students will face suspension after any bullying has been reported.

Although the idea is to take a strict stance against bullying and send a clear message to children that this kind of negative behavior against their classmates will not be tolerated, approaches such as this can and tend to increase incidences of bullying in our communities. At DCIS at Fairmont is taking a different approach in terms of our anti-bullying protocol by attempting to always address bullying behavior at it’s roots.

That’s why for our community, anti-bullying is a ‘Human Project’. We believe strongly believe that each child is fundamentally good. At DCIS at Fairmont, the school mental health professionals, student leaders, and school administration are intimately involved in our proactive and reactive approach to bullying behavior. We have a whole child and well rounded approach that is both preventative and proactive as well as disciplinary, restorative and supportive after the fact. The goal of this approach is for children to understand that they are part of a community and to develop understanding and empathy for all members. This system is part of our Restorative Justice approach and has proved to be very constructive as it enables students to understand impact and work to repair it.

Unfortunately In life there will always be bullies. We are proud to be teaching our kids to stand tall against this kind of behavior and handle their issues together. We are proud to build skills in all our students that they can take with them throughout their lives and make their communities and their world a better place.

In Lak’ech
Tú eres mi otro yo.
You are my other me.
Si te hago daño a ti,
If I do harm to you,
Me hago daño a mi mismo.
I do harm to myself.
Si te amo y respeto,
If I love and respect you,
Me amo y respeto yo.
I love and respect myself.
­ Luis Valdez