Bullying
Updated August 2010
School violence is an issue in the news and on the minds of educators and administrators alike. Education World takes a look at the problem of bullying and how to stop it.
LESSON PLANS AND STRATEGIES
Stop Bullying Now!
For many years, bullying was seen as a necessary evil -- an unpleasant, but unavoidable, rite of childhood. Ignore it, we thought, and eventually it will go away. The problem hasn't gone away, though, and educators can no longer afford to ignore it. Included: Ten activities for teaching kids about empathy, anger management, and effective conflict resolution.
Mix It Up at Lunch Day Teaches Tolerance
Last year, more than 8,000 schools participated in Mix It Up at Lunch Day, an event in which students gain new understandings -- and friends -- by eating with kids with whom they might not otherwise connect. Included: Three schools’ Mix It Up experiences.
Teaching @ Tolerance
These lessons -- perfect for Bullying Awareness Week, recognizing Martin Luther King Day, or any other time -- are designed to teach kids about tolerance. Included: Lessons on stereotyping, appreciating differences, recognizing how words can hurt (or heal), and more.
Teaching Citizenship's Five Themes Activities
From the editors of Weekly Reader, these lessons can help develop K-6 students' understanding of the five citizenship themes -- honesty, compassion, respect, responsibility, and courage.
Students "Stand Tall" Against Bullying
In a proactive attempt to squelch "bullying" behavior before it even emerges, one school district embraced an anti-bullying theme. Students were encouraged across the ages and the curriculum to avoid bullying behaviors and to help the victims.
Sports4Kids: Reforming Recess by Teaching the Rules of Play
Is recess the most harried time of your day? A time when fights and visits to the nurse's office skyrocket? Before you eliminate recess, consider these principals’ thoughts about Sports4Kids, a program that has reformed their playgrounds and restored order to recess.
Lace Up Against Bullying
Two students become upset when they learn that a new classmate was bullied for wearing shoelaces with unusual colors. They put their heads together to create a unique plan that rallies everyone in their school to take a stand against bullying.
Using Literature to Teach About Bullying
Joanne Hughes, who teaches at Covert Avenue Elementary School in Elmont, New York, submitted this week's lesson, in which students use literature to learn about different types of bullying and different ways of dealing with them.
Ending Bullying by Teaching Kids Not To Be Victims
Bullying and teasing are part of life, says psychologist Izzy Kalman, so rather than trying to stamp out bullying, educators and parents need to teach children how to deal with bullying; that is, how not to be victims.
Bullying Intervention Strategies That Work
"Bullying," according to noted expert Dan Olweus, "poisons the educational environment and affects the learning of every child." Learn what you can do to keep bullying behavior from poisoning your school. Included: Practical tips for changing the behavior of bullies and their victims.
Creating School-Wide Anti-Bullying Strategies
Approaches to reducing bullying often focus on the conflicts among specific children. But what school counselor Stan Davis advocates and practices is a school-wide anti-bullying approach that encourages and outlines respectful behavior as well as consistent consequences.
Students Clean Up Their Act and "Dare Not To Swear!"
At Bremerton (Washington) High School, the student-generated "Dare Not To Swear!" program has proven that students can be even more effective in reducing swearing than teachers. Included: Two schools’ approaches, plus Dare Not To Swear! poetry.
Mixing It Up to Make New Friends
During the third Mix It Up at Lunch Day sponsored by Tolerance.org, students across the U.S. were urged to have lunch with students outside their immediate circle of friends. The event is designed to break down social boundaries at schools.
Playground Pass Creates Recess Success
If you've done recess duty, you know the playground is not all fun and games! Wouldn't you love a simple, straightforward teaching tool that steers students away from trouble and into recess success? The Playground Pass does just that.
Sticks and Stones and Names Can Hurt You: De-Myth-tifying the Classroom Bully!
Bullies are raised in the home, but their victims are too frequently created in the classroom. Learn how what you believe about bullies can hurt your students! Included: Ten myths about bullies, and the research that helped identify those myths.
MORE FROM EDUCATION WORLD'S ARCHIVE
Improv Team Acts to Curb Violent Behavior
Imagine being able to freeze the action in a dispute, step out of the "scene," and get feedback on your next move. The Urban Improv troupe lets students do that, and helps them see the non-violent approaches to resolving conflict.
Don't Get Even; Get Help!: Support for Victims of Bullies
Education World continues its week-long exploration of bullying with a story about students in one Canadian school who decided to do something about bullying in their school. They created www.bullying.org, a Web site designed to help victims of bullies deal with the problem in nonviolent ways -- and to help victims and others learn how to solve the problem.
Ten Web Sites for Exploring Conflict Resolution in the Classroom
Education World offers ten sites that provide a wide range of practical materials for supporting and instituting conflict resolution programs in our schools.
Striving to Make Peer Mediation More Effective
Peer mediation programs have shown themselves to be effective in reducing student conflicts, but now advocates are working to make them more successful and easier to implement.
A Child's Plea Becomes an Adult's Crusade
Jodee Blanco's school career was not a series of joyous milestones, but a years-long sentence of misery. Blanco talks with Education World about her book, which details her harsh treatment at the hands of bullies, and her current efforts to help schools stop bullying.
Bully-Proof Your School
Recognized as more than just a problem between kids, schools are called upon to put forth a team effort to end bullies' longtime reign of terror.
Stop Bullying Before It Starts!
Bullying is no longer seen as the norm in the school or the community at large, and prevention has become the name of the game. Included: Poor and good solutions to bullying.
Taking the Bully By the Horns
All kids know how to recognize bullies -- or do they? Taking the Bully by the Horns, written by Kathy Noll and Jay Carter, teaches kids how to spot a bully, how to recognize bully "games" -- and how not to play.
Picture Books Help Kids Handle Anger and Bullying
This week, Education World reviews Bullies and Gangs, The Ant Bully, and When Sophie Gets Angry -- Really, Really Angry... These three new picture books support classroom discussions of anger, bullying, violence, and tolerance.
One Character Education Program That Works!
Many schools, lacking the time and resources required to develop their own character education curricula, are instead turning to established programs that have proven successful in other school districts. Read about one such program -- recently adopted by schools in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania -- in which the whole community is involved.
Is Character Education the Answer?
As incidents of in-school violence become more common, and strict disciplinary techniques and increased security measures fail to control the problem, many parents, educators, politicians, and social leaders are looking for reliable methods of prevention. Is character education the answer?
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