The Pledge To End Bullying
THE PLEDGE is a community-wide initiative that seeks to raise public awareness about bullying – in schools, at work and at home. With the support of our caring individuals from schools, businesses, non-profit organizations and the media, we can make an impact.
In June 2010, former Director of Education for the Thames Valley District School Board Bill Tucker launched the Director’s Community Task Force on Anti-Bullying to gather new ideas to combat bullying behaviour in our community. Fifteen agencies throughout Thames Valley including police and justice, Children’s Aid Societies, health professionals, the media, parent groups and anti-bullying coalitions spent a year sharing and learning from each other. It was agreed that bullying in our schools is a societal problem and the entire community needs to work together to end this bullying behaviour.
In November 2010, forums were held in London, St. Thomas and Woodstock where members of the community came together to discuss this important issue. Citizens in all communities said the same thing: community groups need to work together to address the issue of bullying.
The Task Force’s Report to the Community, released on June 28, 2011, highlights how each organization will address the issue of bullying in the future. A number of groups have taken the opportunity to refine what they are already doing, while others have used the report as a springboard for new initiatives within their organizations and with other community partners.
The Director’s Community Task Force on Anti-Bullying has set a new standard for community discussion on this important issue and has been recognized by the Ministry of Education as a unique and creative approach to the school board’s effort to work with the community to eliminate bullying behaviour everywhere.
CTV London presented the idea of The Pledge to End Bullying to the Director’s Task Force and it was embraced by the other organizations around the table. CTV has committed to producing and airing Public Service Announcements, creating and hosting ThePledgeToEndBullying.ca and providing news coverage wherever possible – all for the common goal of ending bullying in our homes, schools and the community.
Bill retired from his position as Director at TVDSB in August, 2013. He is now a Visiting Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education at Western University. In the past, Bill has been a member of the Minister of Education’s Expert Panel on Safe Schools and has presented workshops across Canada on safe schools and violence prevention.