Queensland Child Care Industry Battles Bullies

Queensland Child Care Industry Battles Bullies

The Queensland child care industry is leading the way in the battle against bullying through the adoption of a behaviour management plan designed to positively influence children's behaviour from the time they start child care into later life.

Childcare Queensland developed the behaviour management plan which is to be implemented in more than 750 long day care centres across the state.

The President of Childcare Queensland Ms Gwynn Bridge said that early childhood is a crucial time for children to learn about relating positively to others.

"Children need to be taught from an early age how to behave with each other appropriately to prevent bullying behaviours from developing," Ms Bridge said.

"The aim of our Behaviour Management Plan is to guide and manage children's behaviour in a positive way and respond to any inappropriate behavior quickly and effectively so that children learn positive ways to interact," she said.

The Behaviour Management Plan includes a five step strategy to help child care staff manage and guide children's behaviour: observe, analyse, plan, consult and evaluate.

"Simply acknowledging inappropriate behaviour is not enough," Ms Bridge said.

"Staff have been taught not only to analyse how children behave but also strategies of how to guide their behaviour so they learn how to positively engage with one another and to prevent any future bullying from occurring," she said.

These strategies include giving children reasons for rules and the consequences of breaking those rules, encouraging and recognising the stages children take towards achieving desirable behaviour and consistently applying and monitoring expectations and rules.

Ms Bridge said a key part of the strategy relies on keeping parents and caregivers informed and up-to-date on any behavioural issues that arise while children are in care so any behaviour management policies can be practiced at home as well.

"The best way to ensure our plan works is to make sure children feel a part of a safe, positive environment at our centres and that parents are kept informed and involved with any behaviour management procedures," Ms Bridge said.

For more information about Childcare Queensland's anti-bullying policy visit www.childcareqld.org.au.