Being bullied? Cancel out the noise

Dubai - On Monday, Chisholm and his Harlem Globetrotter teammates, TNT Lister and Handles Franklin visited the Dubai International Academy (DIA) to deliver an important message to students about their 'ABCs of Bullying Prevention' programme.

At six feet two inches tall, basketball superstar and Harlem Globetrotters front man Brawley "Cheese" Chisholm may be every bit the successful sportsman, but he was once a victim of school bullying.
"I was always little as a student. I was only about five foot six inches tall and was real skinny. People would make fun of me and I was always underestimated for playing basketball," he told Khaleej Times on Monday.
But perseverance is what carried him through, and for other victims of bullying he has one message.
"Cancel out the noise."
On Monday, Chisholm and his Harlem Globetrotter teammates, TNT Lister and Handles Franklin visited the Dubai International Academy (DIA) to deliver an important message to students about their 'ABCs of Bullying Prevention' programme.
With a focus on "action, bravery, and compassion", Chisolm, Lister and Franklin used an array of the team's signature ball handling skills and humour to teach students ways in which they can help reduce bullying in their communities.
Speaking to more than 600 students from the ages of eight to 18, Chisholm told Khaleej Times he uses the acronym "D.R.E.A.M" to drum home the importance of overcoming bullying to students.
"D means dedicate yourself to your dreams. R stands for being responsible and never quit. E simply means educate yourself. A stands for the importance of a good attitude and M stands for making life fun."
Ahead of the Harlem Globetrotters 90th Anniversary Game at Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium on October 28, the teammates will be visiting four schools across the emirate to tell students that there is nothing cool about bullying.
When it comes to tackling bullying at DIA, Principal Tim Richardson said it has a clear anti-bullying policy in place which it has adapted over time.
With the dawn of modern technology, he said the school is increasingly focusing on raising awareness about coping with and reporting cyber bullying.
"Children today spend so many hours online, so this is a huge focus area for us and it is an issue we deal with a lot."
Last year, Richardson said DIA carried out an anonymous survey on 550 students in years 4, 5 and 6, about how safe they felt at school.
Although the overall results were positive, a handful of students did convey that they didn't feel safe at lunch and break times in some of the recreational areas.
"As a result, we deployed an extra teaching staff in these areas to offer more support to vulnerable students," Richardson said.
kelly@khaleejtimes.com

Bullying in the UAE In the 2015-2016 academic year, KHDA introduced the parents-school contract to pupils over the age of 15 with provision regarding bullying. Guidelines specify that all incidents of bullying must be reported to KHDA by school.

• Dubai