Safe from Harm 11

  • Be able to explain basic rules of assessing risk

  • Know how to help someone who is being bullied or harassed

  • Know the Emergency Ambulance number, the Emergency Police number and the Fire Rescue Service number, Child helpline number and Police emergency squad number.

  • Exhibit knowledge on:

    • Safety in School building

    • Safety for Scout activities

    • Fire safety

    • Safety in Mountains or Rivers or Jungles as relevant to your home town

  • Know rules for healthy living

  • Know what is Integrity and how to develop it

pageSafe from Harm 10

6 simple ways you can help a friend going through a tough time

1. Reach out

Sometimes when a friend is struggling to cope they may isolate themselves. If you’ve noticed your friend has become withdrawn and stopped contacting you or cancelled planned catch-ups, it’s crucial to let them know they’re not alone.

Pick up the phone, send them a message on social media, or pop around to their place and let them know you’ve available to chat, and you’re concerned about them. They may not respond at first, so it’s important to keep trying. Even if it takes a few attempts, most people appreciate knowing that a friend cares enough to reach out.

2. Find a good time to talk

Choose a time when you’re both feeling reasonably relaxed and don’t have to rush off to other commitments – clear your schedule if needs be. Avoid trying to talk to them about your concerns during an argument or if they appear agitated.

It’s important to allow time to bring up your concerns, and leave enough time to discuss anything important that comes up in conversation.

3. Be a good listener

It might be tempting to offer your friend advice about how to deal with what they’re experiencing, but the most helpful thing you can do if they choose to open up to you is simply listen.

Let your friend guide the conversation – you can ask questions to get a better sense of what they’re feeling, but advice and well-meaning observations are often received as judgement or criticism. Focus on their strengths and coping abilities, and let them know you’re available to chat whenever they need you.

4. Encourage your friend to seek help

Recommending they make an appointment with their local GP is a great first step. You can also offer to call to arrange the appointment and accompany them if they’re feeling worried or need extra support.

If your friend feels uncomfortable speaking with someone face-to-face, suggest they try Skype or telephone counselling instead.

5. Know when to back down

Sometimes talking to you maybe all your friend is ready for: it’s important to know when to step back and give them some space and time to think about everything.

Pressuring your friend to seek professional support may not be helpful and could put them off seeking help. Be consistently supportive instead, and reassure them you’ll be there for them whatever they decide to do.

6. Educate yourself

If you suspect your friend may be depressed, anxious, stressed, physically unwell, in a relationship breakdown, drinking or substance abuse, gambling, or experiencing any kind of mental health issue, getting informed about treatment and support options can help you to better understand what they are going through, and shine a light on the specialist help that’s available.

The most helpful way you can support a friend in trouble is to offer unconditional support and understanding. Sometimes a sympathetic ear may be all the encouragement they need to seek help.

What Is Integrity?

A person with integrity demonstrates sound moral and ethical principles and does the right thing, no matter who's watching. Integrity is the foundation on which coworkers build relationships and trust, and it is one of the fundamental values that employers seek in the employees that they hire.

To have integrity means that a person is self-aware, accountable, responsible, and truthful and that their actions are internally consistent

How Does Integrity Work?

People who demonstrate integrity draw others to them because they are trustworthy and dependable. As employees, they are principled and you can count on them to behave honorably.

Here are some examples of how people can reflect different facets of integrity in the workplace.

Honesty

John, a software developer, is attempting to optimize a certain software process but keeps running into problems because of his code. He could push forward with his suboptimal code in order to try to save his work and save face, but instead, he chose to go to his team. He described the dead ends he had run into and explained that he thought that pushing forward could create problems down the line for the product, preventing the development of advanced features for the software.

The team discussed the problem and worked through a solution. John scrapped all of his code and started from scratch with the team’s input. Thanks to his honesty, his new solution gave the team the ability to expand the product’s capabilities easily in the future.

Responsibility

Ellen missed a deadline for an important deliverable her team was supposed to have developed. Rather than throwing her team members under the bus, even though they hadn’t delivered as promised, she took responsibility for the missed deadline. She addressed the problems with her team and put in place safeguards that would keep them from underperforming again.

Team members recognized their contribution to the failure, but because Ellen took responsibility as the team leader, her team was able to learn from their mistakes.

Accountability

Marsha was responsible for producing a report once a week that was used on Friday by two other departments to plan their workflow for the next week. Knowing that she planned to take vacation time soon, Marsha ensured that the report would be produced as needed in her absence.

She taught another employee how to create the report. Additionally, she wrote out the appropriate procedures so that the coworker had a guide in her absence. Marsha supervised the trainee for two weeks so that her replacement had a chance to do the actual task. Finally, she touched base with the other two departments to let them know that a new person would be creating their report while she was gone, in case the coworker needed help.

  • Integrity is the quality of having strong ethical or moral principles and following them at all times, no matter who's watching.

  • A person with integrity acts with honesty, honor, and truthfulness.

  • Integrity is a valuable skill in an employee, because it indicates they will perform to the best of their ability and act on their principles.

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