September is our annual UPstander Awareness Month at AISG where together as a community, we raise awareness about bullying, talk about AISG’s No Bully program, and learn how to be an UPstander. Over the month, our students, faculty, staff, and parents participated in many activities, received training, and were given the tools they need to be an UPstander, not a bystander.

The color theme for UPstander Awareness Month was GREEN and our campuses were covered in it - green posters with messages and reminders, our Green UP! Day when everyone wore green for their support of UPstanders, and green UPstander tattoos were worn throughout the month.

AISG does not tolerate bullying at any level and is committed to being a safe and bully-free school and will make every possible effort to provide a learning environment where students are safe, supported, and free from harm.

Together we have the power to make AISG bully-free. We are committed to being a safe and bully-free school and strive to provide a learning environment where students are safe, supported, and free from harm. Our Social Vision is that we are a community where every voice is valued, and each person can be who they truly are. To help us reach our vision, AISG follows the No Bully System to prevent and respond to bullying and harassment.

The No Bully System teaches the fundamental aspects of interrupting bullying, supporting an inclusive community, creating a bully-free campus, and ensures that we take the correct steps to aid our students. AISG is one of over 600 schools around the world that has invested in reaching the No Bully standard of excellence for student safety and well-being. With the No Bully system in place, AISG has faculty members that are trained as Solution Coaches that form a Solution Team, which helps end bullying situations.

During Upstander month, both our teachers and parents attended sessions with consultant Nicholas Carlisle from the No Bully system. It’s important to us that everyone in the AISG community has the tools to recognize and create safe spaces for our students both at school and at home. 

We also have faculty members who are trained as Solution Coaches that form a Solution Team to help end bullying situations. In Secondary, our Secondary administration gave a presentation to students on how to identify bullying, different types of bullying, and the steps students can take to seek help. Students also signed the UPstander Pledge where they pledged to uphold values like 'I will overcome the fear that keeps me from taking action to intervene', and 'I will live with urgency and be a role model in upholding this commitment'. 

We also teach our students social-emotional skills that can help in these situations such as empathy, assertiveness, friendship skills, and upstander behaviors.

At AISG, we take child safety very seriously. We want our students to be able to take the skills they have learned this month and apply it to situations in their future. We will continue to educate our community to support each other, stay connected, and to be upstanders, not bystanders.

AISG is committed to the prevention of child abuse and to the protection of children in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Read More: https://www.aisgz.org/student-life/child-protection