MONTE MATTERS

Monte Women, Leading the Future
MONTE MATTERS
3 JUNE 2016 / TERM 2, WEEK 6
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
From the Principal 3
FROM DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNITY RELATIONS 5
FROM THE HEAD OF HSIE 6
gifted & TALENTED 8
SR LECIA’S THOUGHTS 10
STUDENT SHOWCASE 13
SPORTS REPORT 15
Parents & friends 18
Front Cover Photo by Anthony Khoury Photography.
Produced by Monte’s Development & Community Relations Team
Feedback welcome - doshea@monte.nsw.edu.au

FROM THE PRINCIPAL
“We become what we
have received.”
Monte Women Leading the Future
Dear Parents and Friends of Monte,
At this time of year new Parents often ask me what a Mercy
education will mean for their daughter.
I respond by saying that I believe a Monte education will give
their daughter the gift of Mercy values which will be their
cornerstone for the rest of their lives.
The core values we embrace and embed in every aspect of
Monte life are founded in the Mercy charism. Every day in
every way we encourage your daughter to strive for excellence,
to be compassionate, to respect human dignity, to seek justice
and to serve others.
These Mercy values provide your daughters with a foundation
to inspire them to seek knowledge, to take action and to make
a positive contribution to their world.
It is the integration of these traditional Mercy values with a
quality education, rich diversity of opportunities and spirit of
community that underpins a Monte education.
“We become what we have received.”
MRS NICOLE CHRISTENSEN
Last week I acknowledged our Alumni - Monte women leading
our future, and thriving as a result of a values based leadership.
3. The third principle is self-confidence, accepting yourself
as you are. With true self-confidence you know that there
will always be people who are more gifted, accomplished or
successful, but you’re OK with who you are.
4. The fourth principle is humility. Humility helps you value
each person you encounter and treat everyone respectfully.
The benefit of these four principles is that they can be applied
by anyone in any situation. It is never too early or too late to
become a values-based leader.
Monte women are educated to be leaders of our future; values
based leaders. I invite you to share the second episode of our
“Monte Women Leading the Future” video series. Six Monte
Alumni give a personal account of their career journey and
what a Mercy education meant to them.
I’d like to give special thanks and acknowledgement to the
following Monte Alumni that gave generously of their time to
be interviewed:
Emma Berry (2007), Fiona Burke (2010), Hon. Justice Kathleen
Farrell (1973), Emma Hayward (1991), Jennifer Lewis (1976),
Gabrijela Mazanovic (1988) and Amelia Pazderski (2009).
God Bless.
Mrs Nicole Christensen
Principal
There has been much academic research conducted in this
style of leadership. Most recently I read an article in Forbes
magazine that attributed four guiding principles to being a
values based leader.
1. The first is self-reflection: You must have the ability to
identify and reflect on what you stand for, what your values
are, and what matters most to you.
2. The second principle is balance. Balance means that you
consider all sides and opinions with an open mind.
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Photo highlights from the 2016 Athletics Carnival
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FROM THE DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNITY RELATIONS TEAM
Deanne O’Shea - Director
This Week on Social Media
Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy College
monte women, leading the future
MONTE HOUSE PLAYS 2016 HIGHLIGHTS
@montecollege
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FROM THE HEAD OF HSIE
Debra Kidd
Head of HSIE
“Life is a journey, with problems to solve, lessons to
learn, but most of all experiences to enjoy.” - Anon
“There is only one thing more painful than learning from
experience and that is not learning from experience.”
- Archibald McLeish
map reading and photographic interpretation. Fieldwork
techniques were also used to test turbidity, water pH and
water phosphate levels. Many students are currently using
these skills and techniques whilst undertaking their Senior
Geography Project.
Education is more than the acquisition of knowledge.
Providing students with high quality learning activities in
relevant situations beyond the walls of the classroom is vital
for helping our students appreciate learning from different
perspectives. The Humanities Department believe that
these types of first-hand experiences provide our students
with opportunities to practice skills of enquiry and problemsolving,
and improve their ability to transfer and integrate
classroom-learning into real-world situations. These
experiences often provide memorable learning experiences
for our students by allowing for greater student engagement
that will facilitate deeper learning.
Ecology
The Year 11 Geography students battled extreme weather
elements on their fieldwork day to Bantry Bay to explore the
biophysical environment. They examined human impacts on
the environment at both the local and regional level, as well
as the impacts of introduced species on the area’s ecology.
Numerous fieldwork skills were applied such as topographic
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An extended day trip to the Hunter Valley provided the
Year 12 Geography students with an opportunity to further
investigate the Viticulture and Wine-making industry as part
of their studies on Economic Activity. Whilst at Tyrrell’s the
students where given an informative tour and lecture by Scott
Richardson covering the growth, innovation and challenges
that face this privately owned business. Issues such as land
management and sustainability, and the impacts these
have on production methods and global sales is integral to
understanding this industry. The students then explored the
Krinklewood biodynamic vineyards and had the opportunity
to examine this self-sustaining system of ‘natural farming’
viticulture.
Justice and Civics
Year 10 Commerce - Justice and Police Museum. Within the
setting of a real police station and courthouse, the students
were given the ability to develop a deeper understanding
of the interrelationships between the law and society. The
museum’s collection items where used to explain how the
laws that govern society are developed, implemented and
enforced. The students also participated in a mock trial
whereby students undertook the different roles of the various
court officials to work through the processes and etiquette of
a Local Court hearing.
NSW Parliament House- “Make a Difference Day”. The
aim of this day in Parliament is for Year 10 students to gain
an insight and understanding into Australian democracy and
the rights and responsibilities of Australian citizens. Eve Gaha
& Emily Smelt represented Monte at this forum and spent
their time in group discussions with other students regarding
issues of importance to them as young adults. A major theme
of the discussions surrounded whether the voting age should
be lowered to sixteen. All students where also provided the
opportunity for a Q&A style panel discussion with three
current members of the NSW Parliament:- Linda Burney (LP),
Matt Kean (LNP) and David Shoebridge (Greens).
Other learning experiences involving Senior Humanities
students include:
• Business Studies Year 11. The students have recently
examined the key business functions in operation at Sydney
Tower Dining (part of the Trippas White Group). A highlight
for all was the bistro luncheon provided at the end of the
investigation.
• Business Studies Year 12. The students will be immersed
in the marketing strategies currently being implemented by
Taronga Zoo on Friday 3 June.
• Economics Years 11 and 12 (HSC & IBDP). The students
have conducted a review of Australia’s main fiscal policy
instrument - the Budget; by using the formal meeting settings
and instruments situated in the College Boardroom.
• History Year 12 (HSC & IBDP). The students will be attending
an informative series of workshops at Sydney University to
deeper their historical knowledge and understanding on
Friday 10 June.
• Society and Culture Year 12. The students will be attending
a subject specific Study Day at the Wesley Centre on Friday
3 June to develop knowledge and understanding of options
being studied, as well as focusing on exam time management
and techniques.
Upcoming Activity for Year 7: History - Drama presentation
on Ancient Societies at the College. Geography - Fieldwork
and geographic skills at North Sydney Oval.
World Environment Day Sunday June 5 2016 - theme: “Be an
Agent of Change”. Join in and celebrate the UN’s biggest day
for positive environmental action.
Debra Kidd
Head of HSIE
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FROM THE GIFTED AND TALENTED COORDINATOR
Lauren James
Gifted & Talented Coordinator
In addition to providing a rigorous academic curriculum in
the classroom, we take advantage of a wide range of cocurricular
extension opportunities to challenge our most
able Monte students. The Da Vinci Decathlon is undoubtedly
a highlight. Teams of eight students from each year group
from Years 7 to 10 apply their existing subject knowledge
in areas such as English, Maths and Science in new and
unfamiliar contexts, as well as tackle problems in areas such
as Philosophy where they have little prior experience. The
girls trained hard at lunch times this term to prepare as best
they could for these challenges. They developed invaluable
skills in time management, group work, delegation and multi
tasking. Congratulations are well deserved for these fantastic
results, with over 60 schools competing in each division:
Year 9: 1st in Engineering, 2nd in Art and Poetry
Year 10: 2nd in General Knowledge
Da Vinci Student Reflection
On Wednesday 25 May, 16 girls from Years 9 and 10 attended
the Da Vinci Decathlon held at Knox Grammar School. This
day consists of ten different tasks including Mathematics,
English, Science, Art and Poetry, Engineering and General
Knowledge. It was a fun and beneficial experience that each
of us really enjoyed. The theme for this year was “Exploration”
and each of the challenges followed this in unique ways.
We found the Cartography and Science tasks quite difficult
but excelled in the Arts and Poetry and Engineering tasks,
demonstrating our creative abilities. In our Engineering task
we were required to construct a habitat on Mars, strong
enough to withstand strong winds and keep well insulated.
Taking into consideration prior scientific knowledge we
constructed a dome shaped habitat which was extremely fun
to design and make. We strongly recommend girls in Years
7-10 next year to try out for Da Vinci Decathlon and Monte
Minds 2017 - it is the “bomb.com”!
Isabella Woods, Philippa Graham, Alyssa Krikorian and
Sarah O’Sullivan (Year 9)
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Philosophy is an area of great interest for G&T students and
schools across Sydney, with a wide range of activities on offer
to further our students’ exposure to the subject. Earlier this
term, Monte hosted a Philosophy cluster day on behalf of
the Gifted and Talented Secondary Teachers’ Association.
We were fortunate to welcome Professor Mark Colyvan from
the University of Sydney to the ACC, where he delivered a
keynote on the Philosophy of Mathematics. Around 80
students from Years 9 and 10 from a range of Sydney schools,
as well as our Year 11 Mathematics Higher Level IB Diploma
students, experienced a “A Tourist’s Guide to the Philosophy
of Mathematics”. It was a challenging and thought provoking
presentation, dealing with issues as profound as whether
mathematical objects even exist and whether mathematical
facts are invented or discovered. Students discussed these
concepts in communities of inquiry and made their case
for Platonism and Nominalism! Next term, a small group of
Monte girls will have the opportunity to attend a Philosophy
cluster day at St Patricks College Strathfield with a theme of
the Philosophy of the Law.
2016 has been an exciting time for one of Monte’s newer
activities, Future Problem Solving. After a successful pilot
with two Year 9 teams last year (one of which narrowly
missed out on a place in the National Finals) we have
expanded to four teams and now have students from Years
8 to 10 participating. The girls will soon be completing their
second competition problem on the topic of Disappearing
Languages, providing futuristic solutions to a scenario set in
2040 with the world facing a loss of languages, culture and
identity. Miss Polly is our new coach and has provided the
students with fantastic guidance in self and team evaluation
methods as they develop their skills and team dynamics in
this challenging activity.
Lauren James
Gifted & Talented Coordinator
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SR LECIA’S THOUGHTS
Sister Lecia Coombe RSM
God’s Tender Mercy
Dear Readers,
These cold nights I have been grateful for my electric blanket,
but it makes me think of Balan, a Tamil asylum seeker legally
living in Sydney on a bridging visa. Balan could not afford to
run a heater. After a shared meal, he gathered up the coals
from the barbecue and carried a tinful to his room, where
he slept on the floor. To keep the heat in, he closed his door.
The next morning Balan was dead, killed by carbon monoxide
poisoning There are thousands of such invisible people living
on the fringes of our society.
The ever-increasing number of refugees is another chapter of
our history. However, we must add in the effect of our modern
mode of life, preoccupied with building order and economic
security. Redundant people, endlessly produced, are forced
to go elsewhere. During the days of Imperialism, about sixty
million Europeans left Europe to settle in The Americas, Africa
and Australia, recycled as colonists.
In the mid twentieth century, migration became dissociated
from the conquest of lands, and was motivated instead by the
triumphant modernization promoted by former colonizers. A
rising volume of people in artificially concocted states were
forced out of their homes in The Middle East and Africa, by
dozens of civil wars and ethnic and religious conflicts, sourced
by weaponry from their former colonial masters.
There are no countries left now, ready or able to shelter millions
of “stateless” refugees, who are thought of as a threat to the
rights of established native populations. They are not seen as
vulnerable humans searching for the restoration of rights they
have been violently robbed of. Refugees are also resented as
reminders of hidden fears we have of our own social fragility.
It is convenient for governments, already overburdened with
social care duties, to satisfy voters by handing matters over to
security services.
Is it likely that anyone would put their children in a boat, unless
the water felt safer than the land? There is an association
between the strangers at our doors and the mysterious, global
forces that pushed them there, but sometimes we mistake
one for the other. However, both stay beyond our reach and
control, leaving our deepest wishes and ambitious solutions
unfulfilled. The truth is that our own securities keep floating,
because none of our anchors are strong enough to hold them
permanently in place.
We are being edged into universal inter-dependence, but we
have not yet reached an accompanying universal awareness.
We must learn to be open to co-operation that excludes
rivalry. Otherwise, debating the model of a better society is
an idle pastime. The first obstacle to co-operation is alienating
silence - the refusal of dialogue.
The refugee crisis is humanity’s crisis. it calls us to faith
in Jesus’ power to change hearts, especially through the
Rosary Mary has so often requested for world peace. For our
College, it entails equipping students to live effectively in an
interdependent, cosmopolitan society. During this Year of
Mercy, the Sisters of Mercy are engaging in MIRP – a Mercy
International Reflection Process. I will explain that next week!
Sr Lecia RSM
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(UN) International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression
On June 4 each year the United Nations’ (UN) International Day
of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression is observed.
The purpose of the day is to acknowledge the pain suffered by
children throughout the world who are the victims of physical,
mental and emotional abuse.
The above photo features Leila Zerrougui, Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and
Armed Conflict, greeting a child on her visit to one of the
Protection of Civilians camps at the UN compound in Juba.
At our staff prayer gathering on Thursday the following prayer
was shared, calling for our renewed commitment as Mercy
educators to protect the rights of children.
May we as women and men of Mercy use our resources to
advocate for children at risk of violence: those suffering from
the Impact of war, domestic violence and sexual exploitation,
neglect or other suffering . May we use our position as teachers
to develop in our students empathy for others and encourage
the wider Monte community to change the dialogue around
refugees and those fleeing for violent circumstances.
May we use our voices to advocate with our political leaders to
take action to provide all children with opportunities to grow
and thrive ,regardless of their religious, ethnic, socio-economic
or family background.
We ask this in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sr Carmel McDonough RSM
Director of Mission
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STUDENT SHOWCASE
MONTE NOTICES
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STUDENT SHOWCASE - SPOTLIGHT ON ENGLISH
Diary of Mama Jeanne
(An empathy piece based on the film Hugo)
Saturday Night
5.40pm
December 13, 1931
The snow falls outside, creating a scene fitted for a postcard.
The last few days have been extremely eventful, filled with
tears and smiles.
A few days ago, I met a boy names Hugo Cabret. He was a
young boy, a curious boy, determined to “fix” my husband.
He lives with me now, with my husband and God-daughter
Isobel. Hugo and Isobel make a lovely couple, partners in
crime.
The child met my husband, and stole mechanical pieces from
him. Up until today, we all thought that he was nothing short
of a reprobate. We were however very wrong, as he is one of
the kindest boys that I know.
My first encounter with Hugo was when he and Isobel came
to my house, to show me the drawing done by the automaton.
I was filled with anger and distress, as I had been helping my
husband to forget his past and conceal his old identity.
The next time that I met Hugo, he and Isobel had planned
a surprise encounter with Monsieur Tabard. The kind words
that he spoke made me smile from ear to ear: “The profound
debt of gratitude that I owe your husband.” The fact that he
remembered my husband’s films so fondly, was enough to
bring tears of joy to my eyes.
Tabard complemented me on my beauty and asked if I
wanted to go back and meet my old self, by watching the
footage from ‘A Trip to the Moon’. As we watched, George
entered the room, and told the children the story of his past.
The presentation by Reneé Tabard, was outstanding and the
fact that he was able to find so many of George’s old films!
We watched a clip of George’s masterpieces, putting the
audience in a trance. They were as mesmerised as a child on
Christmas morning!
I owe a lot to Hugo Cabret. He fixed my husband and his
curiosity saved my family. He has changed my life forever.
Emily Eide
Year 7
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SPORTS REPORT
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SPORTS REPORT
Stuart Hanrahan
Sport Program Manager
Athletics Carnival
Monte’s annual House Athletics Carnival was held this week
with the College managing to dodge the rain until the last
students boarded the final bus back to Monte. Our official
presentation will take place during next Thursday’s full school
assembly and I look forward to announcing final results in next
week’s edition of Monte Matters.
I am pleased to report today though that the following students
broke records on the day.
• Lara Halmarick (Year 8) broke the Junior Triple jump record
when she hopped, skipped and jumper her way to 10.69m.
• Sara Dougan (Year 9) broke the 15 years 200m sprint record
in a time of 25.90s. Sara also anchored the McQuirk House
Year 9 & 10 relay team that won the 4 x 100m relay in a records
time of 55.19s. That team also consisted of Hannah Peric (Year
10), Emily Smelt (Year 10) and Sophie Keoghan (Year 9).
It was a big day for Sara as she also won the 100m Invitational
Match Race. The College holds finals in the 100m sprint for the
fastest eight runners in each age group. These races are held
at the end of the day in front of the entire student body. The
fastest eight girls in the College are then invited to compete
in the 100m Invitational Match Race to determine the fastest
student in the school. Sara won this event for the second year
in a row.
Netball Umpires
Congratulations to the following Netball Umpires who obtained
levels last weekend:
• Lucy Cook - JL3
• Rachel Motherway - JL3
• Amber Augustus - JL3
• Ingrid Newman - JL3
• Elizabeth Kells - JL2
• Clare Housego - JL2
• Alexandra Fraser - Senior Level 1
• Grace Imlach - Senior Level 1
Special congratulations goes to our most recent National ‘C’
Badge recipient Sarah Binney – well done Sarah!
Congratulations
• Tully White (Year 11) who placed third in the NSW Open
Women’s Long boarding surf competition. This means that
Tully has been invited to represent NSW at the Australian
Championships in August.
#ITSOK2PLAY - the Monte athletics carnival is a great
opportunity to participate and get involved.
Stuart Hanrahan
Sport Program Manager
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SPORTS REPORT
Junior Representative Basketball
Intermediate Representative Basketball
On the 18th of May, the Junior Representative Basketball
team went to the CGSSSA Basketball Tournament. The team
included Lauren Hrycek, Alyssa Maschmedt, Sabrina Farmillo,
Zoe Pettit, Katie Webb, Gabrielle Miller, Bridget Cunningham,
Issy Morgan and myself. We got on the bus at 6:30am and
made our way to Bankstown stadium. We were all very excited.
Last week on Wednesday, 18th of May, two of Montes
Representative Basketball teams competed at the annual
CGSSSA Basketball Competition in Bankstown. With the first
game at 9.00am and last at 2.30pm it was a very long but
exciting day. The Intermediate team consisted of 10 girls
ranging from Years 9-10 and coached by Yasmin Bamford,
a Year 11 student. Yas is an experienced basketball player
having played for Monte 1 in previous years. Along with the
help of Alek Horenko (Juniors coach) the two coaches guided
and helped us through the day, leading both teams to victory.
The day consisted of multiple 20 minute games. The
Intermediate team won each game comfortably and ended up
on the top of our pool, therefore reaching the semi-finals. We
played St. Ursula’s and won 47-18 going straight to the Grand
Finals. With the help of the Junior’s cheers and support, we
beat Mount Saint Joseph Girls College, 33-12. It was a very
successful day for Monte with both the Inters and Junior teams
winning their division. Both teams look forward to the NSWCCC
Basketball Championship later on in the year.
Emily Cleghorn
Year 9 Intermediate Team Member
Our first game we were all a bit nervous, but we were able to
pull through with a win. By the second game we had gotten
into the hang of it and were a lot more relaxed. By the end of
Round 5 pool games, we came out undefeated with a few sore
feet and sore legs. We went into the semi-final nervous, yet
excited and determined to win. We played as hard as we could
and it payed off as we made it into the Grand Final where we
met Brigidine. We had eaten a lot of sugar during the day and it
all came out in the game because we ran faster, jumped higher
and tried our absolute best! We came out with a win and were
so excited that we were through to NSWCCC, where we will
compete later on in the year. Overall, we all worked really well
as a team and got to know each other a lot better.
Congratulations to the Intermediate team who also won and
a big thank you to Alek Horenko our coach, all of the early
morning training sessions paid off.
Sophie Cole
Year 8 Junior Team Member
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PARENTS & FRIENDS

PARENTS’ & FRIENDS’ REPORT
Dates for your Diary
Andrew Rutherford
P&F President
DATE
EVENT
Hi everyone,
For some reason, politics has become almost a taboo subject,
at least socially. Maybe because it engenders such strong
emotional and often polarising responses. And so it is with just
a little trepidation that I approach the topic – but here goes!
With the Federal election only a few weeks away, there are
many issues for us to consider as we vote – many of which are
complex and multi-dimensional that do not easily fit into the
60 second sound bites that make up much of the news cycle.
Education is one of those issues – and one that all of us have
a pretty significant interest in. Funding, assessing educational
outcomes, teacher and principal accreditation, performance
criteria, teaching of languages other than English, support
for disadvantaged students and parent engagement are just
some of the dimensions that are in the mix.
Tue 14 June
Sat 18 June
Sat 30 July
P&F General Meeting
Venue: OR301
Time: 7.00pm for a 7.15pm start
Year 10 Parent Function
When: Sat 18 June
Where: Drink Better Wine, 189 Miller St
Cost: $30 per person (includes substantial
finger food and complimentary drink on
arrival)
Time: 7.00pm
RSVP: 11 June - www.trybooking.com/IECT
Year 11 Parent Function
There is rarely one ‘right’ answer to any complex issue and so
it is with education. Trying to optimise the competing goals of
‘lifting the average’ through focusing funding on a needs basis
(equity) verses equality (ie. giving everyone funding) is just
one of the questions both major parties are trying to grapple
with. Inevitably, each of us will be drawn more strongly to
one party’s ‘mix’ of answers than the other. Both of the major
parties have published their education policies at http://www.
laborsplanforeducation.com.au/ and https://www.education.
gov.au/quality-schools-quality-outcomes. I’d encourage you
to spend a moment having a look at both parties platforms
if you can.
With one daughter approaching voting age, it is a topic
generating a worthwhile conversation around our kitchen
table!
Phew. I’m glad that’s over with!
Have a great week.
Andrew Rutherford
P&F President
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MONTE NOTICES

MONTE NOTICES
Year 7 Reporting &
Assessment Information Evening
All Year 7 parents, and also parents of students new to the
school, are warmly invited to an information evening focusing
on criteria-related assessment, MYP and BOSTES grading
and reporting practices in Years 7 to 10 at the College.
Venue: ACC Theatre
Time: 6.00pm - 7.30pm
Please note that students are not expected to attend this
presentation. We look foward to seeing as many of you as
possible.
Michelle Stocks (Director Middle School and MYP
Coordinator) & Allyson Mascarenhas (Deputy Principal
Curriculum).
Subject Selection Evening for
Year 10 Students & Parents
There will be a compulsory subject selection Evening for Year
10 students and parents concerning both the HSC and IBDP.
Date: Tuesday 31 May
Time: 6.00pm
Venue: McQuoin Centre, Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy College
Year 11 Academic Conference
WHEN: Wednesday 8 June 2015
WHERE: McQuoin Hall, Monte Sant’ Angelo
TIME: 4.00pm – 8.00pm (Teachers’ break 6.00pm-
6.30pm)
From the Health Centre
As we have now officially entered winter, this is the season for
coughs/colds and Flu. Particular attention should be paid to
hand hygiene and covering your mouth when coughing”.
Influenza is highly contagious and can make you feel very
unwell. Please read the fact sheet from NSW health - http://
www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/factsheets/Factsheets/
influenza.PDFadvising this.
Lauren Jacobs
College Nurse
Music Notices
Due to the Ensemble Concert the night before, there is no
Stage Band Rehearsal on Friday 3 June. Please note there is
Stage Band rehearsal 7.30am Tuesday 7 June in preparation
for Sydney Eisteddfod that afternoon.
Uniform for the Eisteddfod is black trousers, black top, black
socks, black shoes, and hair tied back with blue ribbon.
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MONTE NOTICES
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MONTE NOTICES
INSIGHTS
Building parent-school partnerships
WORDS Michael Grose
Teasing V
Bullying
When speaking with parents when I
present at schools, or engaging with them
via our social media, bullying is always a
hot topic. A recent Facebook post had one
of our biggest engagement rates ever. It
begged the question- “What is bullying?
Do we mix it up with teasing and other
forms of mean behaviour?”
It’s an important topic that needs
clarification.
Bullying is a term that’s wrapped in
emotion. For many people it’s associated
with bad childhood memories. It’s been
estimated that around 40 per cent of
people have experienced bullying in the
past. It’s something that we don’t want to
happen to our kids.
But I fear it’s being overused at the
moment and confused with teasing and
rudeness.
Rudeness refers to thoughtless
behaviours and thoughtless words.
Kids often do rude things to each
other without thinking their actions
through. Examples include breaking
wind in a child’s direction; joking about
the colour of a child’s hair in front of
others; failing to share possessions and
neglecting to acknowledge someone.
Rudeness is usually about selfishness
and thoughtlessness. Taken on their
own many rude behaviours can be seen
as an element of bullying but when
looked at in context they are more about
thoughtlessness, lack of consideration and
poor manners rather than a deliberate
attempt to hurt someone.
Teasing refers to annoying, hurtful
behaviour that is used to get a reaction
from someone else. Teasing can be
persistent in nature, but not always. It’s
generally an attempt to get under a
person’s skin. It can involve name-calling;
it can be personal and hurtful in nature.
It can also infringe on another person’s
rights. But generally teasing doesn’t have
the key ingredients that make up bullying.
Bullying is the selective, uninvited,
repetitive oppression of one person
or group by another. It involves three
elements – intent to hurt or harm; power
imbalance; and repetition over time. It
takes many forms and guises including
physical aggression; verbal abuse;
emotional aggression (or blackmail);
intimidation; harassment and exclusion.
The new cyber-dimension to bullying
has moved the goalpost for many kids. In
the past children and young people could
escape bullying behaviours by being at
home. Cyber-bullying means that children
can’t escape bullies like they once could.
Why the distinction? I hear the term
bullying misused a great deal in the
media and when talking with parents.
We run the risk of “The Boy Who Cried
Wolf” Syndrome where we become so
desensitised to the term that we (or
teachers) ignore it when children really
are the victims of bullying. We also run
the risk of failing to skill our kids up to
manage rudeness and teasing if we
categorise every awful behaviour that kids
experience as bullying.
Our ability to be discerning about
bullying is as important as the action we
take when we are sure that our child is on
the receiving end of bullying behaviour.
These actions include: dealing with
feelings; providing emotional coping
skills, getting others involved; building up
a child’s support networks; and building
self-confidence that can take a battering.
Bullying needs to be taken seriously.
But we also need to be discerning about
bullying behaviours.
Michael Grose
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© 2016 Michael Grose
MONTE MATTERS 3 JUNE 2016 / TERM 2, WEEK 6
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