Acclaimed anti-bullying programme coming to Nelson

It was 17 years ago when teacher Elenor Aleksich first had to deal with bullying in her classroom.

“I had just started teaching and had a student who was being severely bullied. Her mum came to me in tears because she didn’t know what to do,” she says.

“I was crying with her because I was bullied at school, and it hurts.”

So, she Googled solutions and came across something called ‘Challenge Day’, a restorative workshop for intermediate and secondary students that tackles bullying, violence, and anti-social behaviour.

“It has a mental health factor to it. It’s holding kids, it's empathy training, it’s super hands-on. It puts students out of their comfort zone.”

Elenor says her “heart burst” when she saw the difference it was making both empathetically and compassionately. But, with a lack of confidence and no support, she cast the idea aside.

“I was deflated, I didn’t think anyone valued it, so I left it.”

Fast-forward 17 years, and she is now set to bring the workshop to Nelson this May.

“I picked the idea up again a year ago and it’s just gone up.”

Elenor says something needs to change.

“There are kids coming to school who feel helpless. In my experience, we are very afraid to talk about stuff like this,” she says.

“We are one of the worst countries in the OECD for bullying, I know that our suicide statistics are among some of the worst in the world, so there’s your starting point.”

She says one response she had about bringing Challenge Day to Nelson was, ‘oh, it might open up a can of worms’.

“But do you know what? I wish someone opened up a can of worms.”

A pilot workshop will be held at Broadgreen Intermediate on 1 May.

“The workshop is for the community - it could be a concerned parent, an educator, or someone in the youth sector. This will show them what Challenge Day is. It is hugely restorative, you are not going to sit there and take notes all day, you experience it all.”

This will be followed by two days of ‘actual’ Challenge Day at the school, 100 students at a time.

“During those two days, we will have 25-plus community members, including police, Nelson’s deputy mayor, players from the Tasman Mako and Nelson Giants, councillors, and youth workers.”

Challenge Day originated in America and has been around for 35 years. It is also in The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Canada.

“It’s worked with police, youth justice systems, and workplaces that have a culture of bullying,” says Elenor.

“I’ve spoken with a school principal in Canada, and she says they have been running Challenge Day every year for 10 years at their school. They now have less truancy, kids are feeling safer, more included, and more relaxed to be themselves.

“They have also documented that some of the test scores are going up and there has been a drop in violence and unwanted behaviours.”

The co-founders of the programme are coming over to facilitate the Nelson pilot, as Elenor says she still needs to train a male leader - which will take time and funding.

Once she has done that, she is hoping to take it around Nelson, Tasman, and Marlborough and then nationwide.

“But for now, I need community buy-in and people to come to the workshop.”

To register your interest for the workshop or to find out more about Challenge Day, email Elenor at [email protected]