Adults and Children Together (ACT)
The ACT Program is officially endorsed by the Ontario Ministry of Education.
ACT is the English-language version of an innovative school-based anti-bullying
program This
program is called Agir ensemble in French and has been offered in
a wide number of communities throughout the province. developed
by COPA, a provincial non-profit organization providing curriculum and
training in Ontario in the field of child abuse prevention. It is currently
being offered in English in the following regions: Niagara, Nipissing,
Algoma, GTA and Gogama and Shining Tree (northeast Ontario).
ACT offers schools an opportunity to affect school-wide change, involving school staff, parents and children using a variety of strategies. Consisting of interactive workshops and supportive meetings for all members of the school community, it is designed to foster a “safe, strong and free” school culture and thus reduce the incidence of peer aggression and its destructive impact.
Core Goals
ACT focuses on strategies designed to break the cycle of violence by sensitizing community members to the issue of bullying, and generating new perspectives, new skills and new strategies.
The core goals of the programs are to:
- promote the recognition of the occurrence of bullying in the school environment,
- sensitize children and adults to the negative impact of bullying on the whole community, and
- foster a general commitment throughout the school community to change environmental factors that perpetuate bullying, on an individual, class-wide and school-wide basis.
Information and strategies for change are shared during adult and children's workshops. These are brought to the Organizing Committee meeting (composed of students, school staff and administrators and parents), during which members explore policies and practices designed to help reduce bullying, and develop a bullying prevention plan that is appropriate for their school.
Some of the successes resulting from implementation of ACT program:
- Capacity-building for school staff, parents, and children: General awareness and sensitivity is enhanced and effective skills shared with all members of the school community. Young people find greater support among adults, whose motivation to intervene constructively is strengthened as a result of the program.
- Help for children in difficulty: Large numbers of students who bully others and children who are bullied self-identify to seek help and support. Students who are bystanders to bullying are encouraged to break the cycle of violence through constructive intervention.
- Ongoing bullying and violence prevention initiatives in local communities: short- and long-term bullying and violence prevention plans are conceptualized, supported and expanded upon.
Schools and communities who participate typically experience a reduction in peer aggression by creating a healthier school culture.
Program Components
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N.B. The CAP Project is a pre-requisite for schools receiving the ACT Program.
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