Bullying Awareness & Prevention:Safeguarding Dignity & Respect for All Students

Workshop Goals:

Continue the discussion:Review and discuss the movie BullySet personal goals for the new school year

Definition of Bullying

Bullying among children is commonly defined as intentional, repeated hurtful acts, words or behavior such as name-calling, threatening and/or shunning committed by one or more children against another. The victims do not intentionally provoke these negative acts, and for such acts to be defined as bullying, an imbalance of real or perceived power must exist between the bully and the victim.

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Facts & Figures Related to Bullying• Bullying is the most common form of violence experienced by

young people in the nation• 13 million children in the U.S. will be bullied in school this year• Every 7 minutes a child in the U.S. is bullied• Everyday, 160,000 students skip school for fear of being bullied• 40-70% of incidents in school take place during class breaks, in

the lunchroom, bathroom, or hallways• Less than 14% of middle and high school students say they would

report an incident to a teacher, staff member, or administrator

Facts & Figures Related to Bullying• Bullied students are 3 times more likely to drop out of

school• LGBT students: 60% feel unsafe at school; 1/3 missed

classes and at least one day of school in the past month• Students say teachers take action only 25% of the time

while teachers report they intervene 70% of the time• 12-17 year olds surveyed: 90% don’t tell adults about

cyber-bullying…..most common reason – they are told they ‘need to learn to deal with it themselves’

Bully a film by Lee Hirschreleased April 2012

Bully: An Action Plan for Teachers, Parents, and Communities to Combat the Bullying Crisis

Edited by Hirsch, Lowen, and Santorelli (2012)

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1. How successful was the assistant principal in handling the situation?

Issue of apologies….

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2. 30% of children who report having been bullied have brought weapons to school

Attitude of police?

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3. Attitude of school administrators

Reaction of parents and others at town meeting

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4. Who defends the bullied?

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5. Friends…….

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6. The bus…..and how the situation was handled by the

school administrator –

What needs to happen?

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7. What can we do?

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Proactive Strategies• Insist on respectful interactions between students & show

students that you care about them.• Reinforce positive behaviors by bringing attention to acts

of kindness. • Be firm with students: “We don’t use that language or

behave that way toward others in this school.”• Look for signs of student distress:

– Avoidance of others– Changes in personality or mood– Distracted from school work– Fear of being alone

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Proactive Strategies

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• Discipline Policies – not the same as being punitive• Punishment may stop a behavior but does nothing to

change it• Adult supervision• Adult modeling of behavior• Active bystander

• Promote positive peer interactions• Positive Classroom / school environment

Proactive Strategies• Eyes open – assume bullying is happening; be vigilant• Movement / proximity – kids don’t want to be caught• Know your students – who are the likely victims? Who are

the likely bullies?• Support both students in a positive, constructive way• Be a safe person to confide in• Not just tolerance…work to encourage cooperation and

looking out for others• Change must involve ALL parties, not just moving the child

who is being bullied….

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Proactive Strategies

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If you see something, say something: • To the students• Bring any concern to the attention of an

administrator, teacher, or school psychologist/social worker

• Keep a record of incidents

If a child comes to you…..• Listen and believe the child• Don’t make promises• Gather the facts• ID allies for the child• Tell others• Help the child avoid the bully but be fair to everyone• Kids need to take an active part – not just told what to do– Step in and help

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Problem-solving and Conflict ResolutionSTAND

S = Stop and calm downT = Take turns telling the problem – you can summarize each view….now how do we solve this?A = List alternatives – let the students come up with ideasN = Narrow the choices – (discard what is unacceptable to either student, unsafe or unwise)D = Decide on the best choice – what might happen if you try that? What’s one change that might work for the both of you?

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Getting Ready:

What can you do?What are you going to do?

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