KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) has partnered with the Anti-bullying Technical Working Group to host a series of workshops focusing on bullying in schools and cyberbullying.

The workshops, titled ‘One Kind Word and Action’, form part of a training initiative and are scheduled for the Medallion Hall Hotel in Kingston on Thursday, October 13, beginning at 9:00 am. It will be held under the theme ‘Make Kindness Go Viral’.

Research and Development Manager at the CPFSA, Gleasia Reid Smith, said that the workshops initially targeted student teachers.

She indicated that the forums were intended to equip them with certain soft skills to enable them to assist children in dealing with bullying in school and cyberbullying.

Reid Smith pointed out, however, that the CPFSA deemed it prudent to extend the outreach to all professionals dealing with children. This expanded engagement is intended to help them build resilience in dealing with the target issues.

The target stakeholders now include senior teachers such as deans of discipline, guidance counsellors, social workers, children’s officers as well as parents and youngsters.

Reid also said the focus of Thursday’s cyberbullying workshop will be how the matter is treated in the current legislation and the extent to which teachers will be aided in navigating the relevant issues.

Case studies will be reviewed during the session to identify antecedents, as also victims’ experiences, and the extent to which the law can be used as a resource to enable participants to understand cyberbullying.

Among the slated participants are members of the CPFSA Child Advisory panel, Bureau of Gender Affairs, Jamaica Constabulary Force, Jamaica Prefect Association, Get Safe International and Bully Proof Kids International, and academia, a children’s panel and cyber experts.

Other workshops are scheduled for December 12, 2022, and March 16 and 17, 2023.