BOSS hopes to eliminate bullying from Hamilton high schools
From left to right, David Bobrowski, Michael Parvizian, Cameron Taheri, Andreea Chiorean, Amr Saleh, Dexter Choi, Haris Saud, and Kestrel McNeill
Amr Saleh remembers seeing bullying take place in his high school and not knowing what to do.
Now a second-year Health Sciences student, Saleh is helping to make sure local high schoolers have the tools they need to combat bullies.
Together with fellow student Cameron Taheri, Saleh is building a network of anti-bullying programming called Building Our Safe Schools (BOSS) that creates a culture where bullying is unacceptable within schools.
Once the club was officially approved the two students partnered with the Red Cross’ Beyond the Hurt program to receive proper training on bullying prevention methods.
BOSS’s strategy is simple, but it requires a dedicated and committed team to sustain its goals, which are to mobilize the potential of untapped leaders and foster leadership skills in students.
The team is currently made up of a group of McMaster students, all with personal stories that have motivated them to be involved.
“Our focus isn’t on short-term inspiration, it’s on long-term mentorship and long-term communication,” said Taheri who highlighted what sets them apart from other anti-bullying programming.
“We can each tackle this problem individually but it’s so much more effective to tackle it as a collective.”
BOSS is using literature and research, along with trained students, to build the most effective anti-bullying program. Research has shown that intervening is most effective when the observer is the one to step in and those are the people this program wants to reach out to.
The pilot program this year will focus on three schools in the Hamilton area. Teams of 3-5 trained facilitators will be responsible for one-on-one mentorship with a student leader in the high school and equip them with the tools to implement anti-bullying into their system. The goal is to create a strong network between high schools that can share ideas and information.
Eventually BOSS hopes their programming will develop in other Universities who can help high schools in their own neighbourhoods. BOSS also aims to host a conference this semester for students to collaborate on ideas, strategies and successes for the program.
