Counsellors' Corner

Elk Island Public Schools is committed to providing mental health support and resources to students, families and staff during COVID-19.  You can find trustworthy resources and information here.

MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES       

This toolkit contains resources that will assist parents and carers to support children’s mental health during pandemic events such as COVID-19. It contains videos, fact sheets, podcasts and guides and includes information about what to expect and how to help children and families cope.

https://emergingminds.com.au/resources/toolkits/supporting-childrens-mental-health-during-a-pandemic/

Workshops for Parents - Strathcona County

Create the tomorrow you want and build resiliency by learning new skills, using tools and strategies, and making supportive connections.

Join us online for these free sessions!

To register visit:
strathcona.ca/parentsupport

Assess Your Stress

If your stress gets out of control or lasts for too long, it can have a negative affect on your mental health. For each question choose: often, sometimes or never.

-I am able to laugh and feel enjoyment.

-I am happy with my life right now.

-I have a good friend.

-I sleep well and wake up feeling refreshed.

-I have an adult in my life that I feel I can talk to.

-I have time to do the things I like to do.

-I think I am a good friend to others.

-I like the way I look.

-I feel hopeful most of the time.

-I follow the Canada Food Guide for healthy eating.

Another great resource for identifying and managing stress in children can be found at

www.cccf-fcsge.ca/wp-content/uploads/RS_19-e.pdf

Some Parent Internet Safety Tips:

1. Parents and guardians are encouraged to create an Internet Acceptable Use Policy and sign an agreement with their children about Internet use. Bullying.org Canada has examples of such contracts. It should be made clear that internet access is not a right; it is a privilege to be earned and honoured.

2. Keep the computer in an open, common area.

3. Inform your Internet service provider or cellphone service provider of any abuses.

4. Do not erase negative messages. Keep them if needed for future evidence.

5. Install filter software. Help is available from McAfee Parental Controls filter for both IM and chatrooms. Remember, no internet filters can only go so far. The only truly effective filter is awareness on the part of both parents and children.

 Some Student Internet Safety Tips

1. Never arrange to meet someone you have met online unless your parents go with you. If you are meeting someone that you met online, make sure it is in a public place.

2. Never divulge personal information. This includes your name, names of friends and/or family, their addresses, phone numbers, school names (or team names if students play sports). Personal information also includes photographs and email addresses.

3. Don’t believe everything you read. Just because someone online tells you they are a certain age doesn’t mean it is true.

4. Use Netiquette (Internet Etiquette). Be polite to others online just as you would offline. If someone treats you rudely or meanly, do not respond.

5. Never send a message when angry. Wait until you have calmed down and had time to think before sending a message. Once you’ve sent a negative message, it is difficult to undo the damage.

6. Never open a message from someone you don’t know.

7. Use your judgement. If it doesn’t look or feel right, then it probably isn’t. You need to trust your instincts.

8. Get offline. On occasion, turn off, disconnect and unplug. Give yourself a break and spend time with your siblings and parents. Rather than virtual reality, why not try more actual reality?

Bullying is a conscious, willful, deliberate and repeated hostile activity marked by an imbalance of power, intent to harm, and/or a threat of aggression.

Bullying occurs whenever there exists:
-repeated and consistent negative action against another
-an imbalance of power (physically, verbally or socially) between the child who bullies and the target
-contrasting feelings between the child who bullies and the target as a result of the bullying episode (the child who bullies may feel excited, powerful or amused while the target feels afraid, embarrassed or hurt).

Bullying Awareness Websites:

www.bullyfreealberta.ca
www.nobully.org
www.bullybeware.com
www.bullying.org
www.cyberbullying.ca
www.easingtheteasing.com
www.bullyfreealberta.ca
www.teamheroes.ca
www.b-free.ca

Things you can do if you are being bullied:

Stay Calm - bullies love a reaction
Steer Clear - avoid the bully
Don’t Fight Back - you may get hurt or may escalate the situation
Avoid Vulnerable Situations - walk in groups, don’t be alone in hallways etc
Stay in Site of Teachers - bullies don’t like an audience who can stop them
Don’t Get Mad - use humor
Think of Things to Say Ahead of Time - roleplay
Project Confidence
Don’t be Afraid to Tell People You Trust - adults can help
Never Give Out Personal Information Online
Don’t Reply to Messages from Cyberbullies
Don’t Erase or Delete Messages from Cyberbullies - it is evidence

Bullying incidents are always about issues of power and control and can be direct/overt or indirect/covert

• Tip Sheet for Parents
• Tip Sheet for Students

Bullying is a conscious, willful, deliberate and repeated hostile activity marked by an imbalance of power, intent to harm, and/or a threat of aggression.

Bullying occurs whenever there is:
-repeated and consistent negative action against another
-an imbalance of power (physically, verbally or socially) between the child who bullies and the target
-contrasting feeling between the child who bullies and the target as a result of the bullying episode (the child who bullies may feel excited, powerful or amused while the target feels afraid, embarrassed or hurt).

Bullying can take different forms including:

Verbal: taunts, namecalling, put downs, threat
Social: exclusion from peer group, ganging up or group teasing
Physical: assault, pushing, tripping, mobbing
Cyber: using the computer or other technology to harass or threaten

Things you can do if you are being bullied:

Stay Calm - bullies love a reaction
Steer Clear - avoid the bully
Don’t Fight Back - you may get hurt or may escalate the situation
Avoid Vulnerable Situations - walk in groups, don’t be alone in hallways etc
Stay in Site of Teachers - bullies don’t like an audience who can stop them
Don’t Get Mad - use humor
Think of Things to Say Ahead of Time - roleplay
Project Confidence
Don’t be Afraid to Tell People You Trust - adults can help
Never Give Out Personal Information Online
Don’t Reply to Messages from Cyberbullies
Don’t Erase or Delete Messages from Cyberbullies - it is evidence

Bullying incidents are always about issues of power and control and can be direct/overt or indirect/covert

Bullying Awareness websites:

www.nobully.org
www.bullybeware.com
www.bullying.org
www.cyberbullying.ca
www.easingtheteasing.com
www.humanservices.alberta.ca/abuse-bullying/bullying-get-help.html
www.bullyfreealberta.ca
www.teamheroes.ca
www.b-free.ca
safeandcaring.ca/ - Safe and caring Schools

The Internet and other technologies have created a whole new world of social communications for young people who are using e-mail, websites, instant messaging and chat rooms to stay in touch with friends and make new ones.    The majority of these new social networking opportunities is positive and offer great potential for expanding our understanding of others.   However, these new technologies have created new opportunities to bully others.

It is important that all members of our community be aware of cyber bullying and understands what they can do about it.   Cyberbullying is the use of technology to support deliberate, hostile and hurtful behaviour towards an individual or group of individuals.   There are several ways that people bully others online.   Here are a few examples: 

• Sending e-mails or instant messages containing insults or threats directly to a person
•  Spreading hateful comments about a person through e-mail, instant messaging or posting on websites and blogs.
• Sending/posting  pictures with derogatory comments through e-mails or social networking sites
• Stealing passwords and sending out threatening e-mail or instant messages under another person’s identity
• Building websites to target specific people. 

 The statistics are alarming.  One in four Grade 7 students in an Alberta study reports being a victim of cyberbullying.   An additional concern is that the anonymity of online communications means teens feel freer to do things online they would never do in the real world.

What do teens need to know?  

1. Guard your contact information.  
2. Be very careful about giving people you don’t know your cell phone number, instant messaging name or e-mail address.

If you’re being harassed on-line:

• Tell an adult you trust.
• Block the sender’s messages.  Do not reply.
• Keep the messages so that they can be referred to an appropriate agency (Internet Service Providers, cell phone services providers, social networking site managers).

If the bullying involves threats call the police.Teens need to take a stand against all forms of bullying.  Speak up when you see any form of harassment. 

What do parents need to know?

Most cyberbullying occurs when adults aren’t around.To help prevent cyberbullying:

• Talk to your kids about what they are doing online (where do they go on-line, monitor their personal home pages and social networking sites). 
• Teach them to never post or say anything on the Internet that they wouldn’t want the whole world - including you - to read.
• Encourage your kids to come to you if anybody says or does something online that makes them feel uncomfortable or threatened.

If your child is being bullied online, take action:

• Watch out for signs that your child is being bullied online - a reluctance to use the computer or go to school may be an indication.
• If the bully is a student at your child’s school, meet with school officials and ask for help in resolving the situation.
• Report any incident of online harassment and physical threats to your local police and your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
• If your child is bullied through a cell phone, report the problem to your phone service provider. If it’s a persistent problem, you can change the phone number.

Additional websites:

• www.b-free.ca 
• www.bullyfreealberta.ca
• www.cyberbullying.org
• mediasmarts.ca/