Welcome
Board
Parents
Students
Schools
Programs
Employees
Living The Pledge

 

Click on the image above to go to The Pledge website.  

 

Thousands Lived The Pledge in 2012!


Over the course of the last year more than 136,000 people in Thames Valley and beyond took The Pledge to end bullying. It's not too late to Live The Pledge!
 
Individuals can go to The Pledge website to post the number of people at your school, business or organization who have taken The Pledge with you.  
 
To go to The Pledge website, click on the banner above.
 
The goal of The Pledge campaign is to reach members of the Thames Valley community with the coordinated and consistent message that bullying is unacceptable in schools and anywhere in our community.  
 
The Pledge is available in English, French and 10 other languages. Click on the links below to download a PDF of a certificate in another language for printing and signing at your school or organization:
 
English                                              Korean
 
French                                              Low German
 
Arabic                                               Nepali
 
Farsi                                                 Pashto
 
Japanese                                           Simple Chinese
 
Karen                                                Spanish
 
 
The Pledge:
 
Children up to Grade 7:
“I believe that everybody has the right to feel safe, included, valued and accepted. I pledge to respect others and to stand up against and report bullying whenever and wherever I see it.”
 
Adults and children in Grade 7 and up:
"I believe that everybody has the right to live in a community where they feel safe, included, valued and accepted regardless of differences. I pledge to be respectful of others and stand up against bullying whenever and wherever I see it.”
 
Click on the links below to download a PowerPoint slide for use in your school auditorium or classroom SmartBoard when you Take The Pledge at your school.
 
 
 
 
 
Living The Pledge...

The Thames Valley District School Board is proud to be a founding partner with CTV London in bringing The Pledge to Thames Valley in 2011. We remain committed to bringing an end to bullying in our schools and in our communities.

This year, CTV and other media partners will be taking The Pledge to Barrie, Kitchener-Waterloo and Windsor.

On October 1, 2012, CTV London launched a newly designed website where you can Take The Pledge. You can also learn about how your organization can become a Community Partner; see public service announcements and articles created by our media partners; access helpful resources and read and share personal stories.

Where it all began...
In May, 2010, following the tragic death of a St. Thomas, Ontario student – where bullying was considered a factor – Bill Tucker, Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB) Director of Education, established the Director’s Community Task Force on Anti-Bullying (“the Task Force”), which included representatives from 17 organizations that deal with bullying issues in Thames Valley.
 
The results of the Task Force research determined that incidents of bullying and responsibility for bullying prevention are not restricted to schools; they are community challenges. Among the recommendations was raising awareness about bullying and bullying prevention in the community.
 
CTV London was represented on the Task Force and pitched the idea of “The Pledge to end bullying” to engage everyone in making a verbal commitment to end bullying behaviour. 
 
In 2010, the Ontario Government designated the third week of every November as Bullying Awareness and Prevention Week to help promote safer schools and a positive learning environment. This initiative builds on the Safe Schools education and activities already taking place in schools across the province.
 
The Thames Valley District School Board seeks to provide a safe learning environment for its students and the challenge to end bullying in schools.
 


 

 Community Discussion Summary

The Director’s Anti-Bullying Task Force held an Anti-Bullying Community Discussion called “Let’s All End Bullying” on November 18, 2010.  The purpose of the discussion was to identify key strategies that members of the community believe are effective in preventing and responding to bullying.  Almost 600 members of three communities (London, St. Thomas, and Woodstock regions) gathered for the community discussion.  


More than  2000 responses were generated on how children and youth services, community organizations, health professionals, the media, parents, police and justice, schools and students can prevent and respond to bullying. 


Thames Valley District School Board Research and Assessment staff took the responses and grouped them into a number of broader categories. For example, responses related to the education, training, or teaching of young people were grouped into the category “educating children and youth”. For each of the community groups, the three categories with the largest number of responses were presented in the summary report. 


Reports findings:


Members of the community suggested that almost all of the community groups who belong to the task force can play a part in preventing and responding to bullying by educating children and youth.  Offering programs, services and activities to youth is viewed as very important by the participants.  A key message from the report is that community groups need to work together to address the issue of bullying. 


Although these were the most common responses, community members also suggested that to prevent bullying, parents should be more involved in their children’s lives and should become more educated about bullying and their children’s use of media. In response to bullying, members of the community suggest that children and youth services, health professionals and the police work with families to address the issue of bullying.


Members of the Director’s Anti-Bullying Task Force will spend the next few months finding ways their organization can prevent and respond to bullying.   The Task Force will meet in April to determine what has been accomplished and how we can work together to find more solutions to this important issue.  

Related Files