When children were ejected from their classroom because of their gender, beliefs, background, their classmates were bewildered.
But the hard-hitting lesson on the impact of bullying was so profound for Coaltown of Balgonie Primary School pupils they went on to raise money to help ensure other youngsters benefit.
The Fife school was among the first to receive the lesson in staying safe online in a campaign inspired by The Courier’s series on bullying.
Anti-bullying speaker Dave Scott started his session at Coaltown of Balgonie by asking children questions about their identity – then sending them from the room if they were different to him.
It was his way of highlighting different types of discrimination, including sectarianism, racism and sexism, and how these can materialise in violence, verbal abuse, isolation and online abuse.
Dave is director of the equalities charity Nil By Mouth and was delivering the charity’s Pause B4 U Post programme which aims to help children better understand the impact of online bullying and discrimination.
The campaign uses a role-play workshop to encourage children to consider their online behaviour, how the material they post can be seen by others, what constitutes online abuse and what to do if it happens to them.
We don’t go into schools to sensationalise issues or to try and scare them off using and enjoying social media.”
Dave Scott, Nil By Mouth director
The pupils were so inspired by what they learned that they held a games night afterwards and raised almost £100 to support the charity’s work.
Dave hopes that work will take him to schools across Perthshire and Fife in the new school year.
He said: “The idea behind Pause B4U Post is to create an environment allowing young people to feel able to discuss how social media impacts on their lives and help them feel confident to ask for help if needed or be more aware of the potential consequences of actions.
“We don’t go into schools to sensationalise issues or to try and scare them off using and enjoying social media.
“Instead, we help them think through how they would approach realistic situations from receiving unwanted messages to dealing with group chat messages which might be discriminatory or encourage bullying.
“Coaltown of Balgonie was one of the first schools to sign up for the programme after Covid restrictions started to ease and it was such a great place to visit.
“The children had a very mature and honest discussion and the fact they felt the message was important enough to hold a fundraiser for our cause makes things even sweeter.”
Role play
Those who were ejected from the classroom at the start of the session were warned what was going to happen, but their classmates were not.
It’s an approach Dave says always provokes a strong response and illustrates discrimination in a way children can relate to.
In a role play scenario, he also sends negative messages to four pupils about a classmate who is excluded from the group then presents the class with options for responding: do nothing, leave the chat, change the subject or screenshot the image.
The experience has stuck with them and I’m sure it will continue to for many years to come.”
Teacher Ailsa Mackie
Teacher Ailsa Mackie said the workshop was one of the best the class had had.
She said: “The children were hooked the minute Dave walked through the door by his enthusiasm, humour and charisma.
“They had great fun learning some really important life lessons, particularly on communicating appropriately with their peers through social media.
“The experience has stuck with them and I’m sure it will continue to for many years to come.”
In our series on bullying we highlighted several shocking cases of bullying, offered advice on supporting children being bullied and looked at what schools and local authorities are doing to tackle the problem.
Schools can contact Nil By Mouth to arrange visits.
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