Kindness Matters: Creating kindness, fostering connection and acting with compassion – Bullying facts and solutions

By What Matters to Hatters Coalition on January 14, 2025.

In partnership with the Medicine Hat Drug Coalition, What Matters to Hatters is aiming to reduce stigma related to substance use and mental illness in our community through our third annual kindness campaign. This month’s column encourages you to think about the impacts of bullying in our society, and how kindness, connection and compassion are needed now more than ever.

In a previous column, we shared that when a person is struggling, the words we speak to them and about them can foster trust, invite conversation and even encourage someone to seek support. Being spoken to in kind words can make it easier for someone to speak up, to feel understood or to receive help.

In the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth, seven in 10 youth reported experiencing at least one form of bullying in the past 12 months.

Imagine being one of those youth – think about how the words and actions of others are impacting you and may continue to impact you as an adult. While there are promising prevention programs in schools to address this issue, the impacts are far reaching and go beyond adulthood.

Children who are bullied suffer more depression and anxiety compared to children who do not report involvement in bullying problems. Children who bully are more likely to use drugs and alcohol. And, children who bully, and those who are bullied, are at both greater risk of suicide.

Actions like offering a smile, chatting with a stranger, or listening to a coworker who is struggling may seem simple and insignificant when it comes to tackling such a big issue as bullying. But you never know the difference you can make – perhaps your efforts are just what that person needs to encourage them to reach out for support!

What Matters to Hatters is hosting a free listening event called Sidewalk Talk on Jan. 16 from 11 a.m. to noon at the Medicine Hat College in the hallway between the cafeteria and Common Grounds.

Sidewalk Talk offers heart-centered listening to anyone about anything. Our mission is to reduce loneliness, promote inclusion and enhance social health through the practice of listening. We hope you can join us!

This month’s Kindness Champions are Bikers Are Buddies Medicine Hat, a registered not-for-profit organization committed to creating awareness about the harmful effects of bullying on young people. They act against bullying by educating children and adults on the benefits of living in a society of respect and self-empowerment.

The group also offers outreach to youth impacted by bullying through individual support, follow up and by connecting them to external community resources.

Anyone passionate about supporting youth who are bullied and are interested in joining Bikers Are Buddies is encouraged to reach out via Facebook – Bikers Are Buddies Medicine Hat.

Thank you to this amazing group for being such incredible support in our community, and to those who have supported Bikers are Buddies through its fundraising efforts!

The Kindness Matters column is put together by members of the What Matters to Hatters Coalition and will run monthly throughout the organization’s annual Kindness Campaign

14
-13