Clarence Valley Day Care is the first Family Day Care in Australia to teach children about bullying, after recognising one in 4 children will be bullied before school.
The Kindness on Purpose program is a social learning program that focuses on increasing empathy to reduce bullying, decreasing anxiety and supporting each child's ability to learn.
Each child participates in early learning activities centred on acts of kindness and identifying the feelings of others. They also learn steps they can take to learn how to look after their feelings.
From the age of 3 bulling starts. As Educators, we may overlook bullying, for a variety of reasons. Such as children being too naïve and innocent to bully and that they cannot be harmful to others. We may dismiss or ignore unacceptable behaviours, saying, “Kids will be kids” or labelling particular children as “challenging". However, all these behaviours may lead to bullying in the future.
All Early Childhood Services should develop a program that focuses on teaching children on what bullying is and strategies on how to deal with bullying.
It's important for children to understand to be kind and to be friendly even to children that aren't their "friends". Educators can help children build the social skills to interact in positive ways and to develop resilience against bullying.
Reference:
Daycare centre first in Australia to launch bullying program, The Daily Examiner, 6th March 2018
Prevent Bullying, EDC - Learning Transforms Lives
