1

Power Up Doing nothing? Not an option!

2

Introduction …………………………………………………………………….. 3

How to Use this Guide …………………………………………………………………….. 4

Things to Keep in Mind …………………………………………………………………….. 5

Facilitation Suggestions

Importance of not labeling

Adult Workshop

Activities

Group Agreement …………………………………………………………………... 6

Understand Each Other ……………………………………………………………… 7

Defining Bullying …………………………………………………………………… 8

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly ………………………………………….. 11

The Sneetches ………………………………………………………………….. 12

Forms of Cyberbullying ……………………………………………………………… 13

Explore Your Virtual Voice ……………………………………………………….. 14

Many Approaches ………………………………………………………………….. 15

Stand Up Against Bullying PSA …….…………………………………………… 16

Speak Out Drills ………………………………………………………………….. 17

Inspire Your Community ………………………………………………………….. 18

Facilitator Resources …………………………………………………………………. 20

Supplemental Materials ………………………………………………………………….. 21

3

Today’s society is all too familiar with the concept of bullying and the devastating effects it can have on youth. In the United States, 33% of students say they have been bullied and of those 30% do not tell adults. As Girl Scouts, we recognize the need for our community to understand bullying in their age group and be provided with resources to be confident in informing their peers stop bullying.

Power Up is Girl Scouts of Colorado’s anti-bullying program for youth in grades fourth through 12th that engages participants to think critically about different types of bullying and encourages participants to stand up and speak out against bullying behaviors. Whether the elements of this program are used in a troop meeting or presented as a half-day session at a school, participants will leave the program with an understanding of their role in preventing the cycle of bullying.

Outcomes

In Girl Scouts, there are five ways the program builds girls of courage, confidence, and character. After an individual completes Power Up, they will have benefited through growing themselves in at least one of these five ways.

Sense of Self: Participants understand their identity in bullying and how to change from being a bystander to someone who is confident to stand up and speak out when bullying is occurring.

Positive Values: Participants learn the effects of bullying and how they can support others who have been a victim.

Challenge Seeking: Participants gain confidence to speak up to a bully and learn that their actions might not always stop the problem.

Healthy Relationships: Participants learn how to communicate if they are the victim of bullying and how to identify the more complex forms of social bullying.

Community Problem Solving: Participants recognize the problem in their schools or communities then develop an action step to create meaningful culture change.

Intr

odu

ctio

n

4

This guide is intended to walk facilitator(s) through the activities and discussions of the Power Up program. Before facilitator(s) dive into the curriculum, they should identify their audience age/grade level and the time allotted to facilitate the program. Then, through using the suggestions below, review the activities and discussions that fit the constraints of their program.

Each activity can be used for any grade level of participants. What will change is the conversations and discussions that come out of the activity. Younger grade levels might not have many experiences to reflect on but will be more interested in the information from the instructor. Older grade levels have a deeper understanding of the concepts so might breeze through activities, but the reflection and discussion will lead to more self-discovery.

Length of Program Suggested Activities 15 minutes The Good, the Bad and the Ugly OR the Sneetches 1 hour Group Agreement

Understand Each Other Defining Bullying The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (or The Sneetches) Stand Up Against Bullying PSA

3 days of 30-minute sessions

Day 1: Group Agreement* Defining Bullying Day 2: Forms of Cyberbullying Explore Your Virtual Voice Day 3: Many Approaches Stand Up Against Bullying PSA OR Speak-Out Drills *review group agreement at each session

3 hours Group Agreement Understand Each Other Defining Bullying The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly The Sneetches Forms of Cyberbullying Explore Your Virtual Voice Many Approaches Stand Up Against Bullying PSA Speak-Out Drills Inspire Your Community

Girl Scouts who participate in the program will earn a patch to show that they are ready to speak out and stand up against bullying. Patches can be purchase by contacting the Girl Scouts of Colorado shop at 303-607- 4880.

How

to

Use

thi

s G

uid

e

5

As you engage with your participants, there are a couple suggestions on the way that discussion and activities are facilitated.

• Create a Safe Space: This should be covered in your group agreement but ensure participants that the information shared today stays in the room. We want to create a space where individuals feel they can share their emotions and experiences without the risk of being judged by others.

• Encourage the Use of “I statement”: During this program, a variety of emotional responses may be felt from your participants. When they are sharing their feelings, encourage participants to start off their opinions by using “I feel…”, “I experienced…”, etc. This allows the speaker to feel assertive, but without making accusations.

• Don’t Include Names: When participants are sharing their stories or experiences, remind them to keep names out of it. This program is not intended to place blame or pity any one individual, but anonymously reflect and improve future situations.

• Leave Time for Discussion: While the activities get the participants engaged in the content, the discussions are the most important part of this program. As a facilitator you should leave time for participants to share their experiences, emotions, and reflections while not feeling rushed to move onto the next activity.

• Permission for Sensitive Issues: It is encouraged, but not required, to have participants’ caregivers complete a Sensitive Issues Permission form as the conversation can lead to topics that are sensitive or controversial.

Importance of Not Labeling

When exploring a bullying situation, it is easy to turn to labels such as “bully” and “victim,” but these can have unintended consequences. When individuals are labeled any common terms in a bullying situation it may:

• Send a message that their behavior cannot change. • Fail to recognize the multiple roles individuals might play in different bullying

situations. • Disregard other factors contributing to the behavior such as peer influences or

school climate.

Instead of labeling the individuals involved, focus on the behavior. For instance:

• Instead of calling a person a “bully,” refer to them as “the person who bullied” • Instead of calling a person a “victim,” refer to them as “the person who was bullied”

Both participants and facilitators want to be conscious of their language so if a participant fell into any of the categories in a bullying situation, they understand that the behavior can be changed.

Adult Workshop

If facilitating in a setting where parents are dropping off or waiting for participants, hosting an adult workshop with some of the activities can be beneficial for understanding what their youth are experiencing as well as understand bullying in adult situations. Simply lead the activities with the adults and have them reflect on their youth or personal experiences.

Thin

gs t

o K

eep

in M

ind

6

Time: 10 minutes

Participants will establish rules for sharing, respecting peers, and confidentiality

Supplies:

• White Board / Easel Paper / Poster Board • Markers

Welcome the group to Power Up. Explain that today they are going to explore what bullying is and their role in speaking out and standing up against it and, before they begin, the group needs to establish some rules on sharing, respecting peers, and confidentiality. The room is going to become a safe space where the information discussed and shared will stay in this room.

Start the list off by writing a suggestion, such as “We agree we will not share personal information discussed in this session outside of this room.” Then open the discussion to the group to come up with more suggestions. Depending on the grade level, facilitator may need to edit the suggestions, so it makes sense as a ground rule for the group. Also try to stay away from negative rules, such as “don’t talk” and instead elaborate to something positive, such as “respect the person who is speaking by not talking.” After everyone has had a chance to contribute, have the entire group sign the agreement.

Act

ivit

ies

7

Time: 15 minutes

Participants will introduce themselves to the group by expressing their personal and social identity.

Supplies:

• Blank Paper • Markers/Crayons

Each participant has their own identity, which can be divided into personal and social. A personal identity includes some of the more common identities that individuals know about each other, such as name, unique characteristics, family, and personality that make them unique. A social identity includes the identities that one develops through their relationships and engagements with societies. For example, this would include morals and religious beliefs.

Throughout this program the concept of self-identity will be addressed as it relates to being affected by bullying. This activity is designed for individuals to recognize their own identity and then share with the group to establish an understanding of the diversity within the group.

Activity: Start by giving each participant a blank piece of paper. On one side they should write their full first name on the front in big letters so the whole group can read it. Then on the back instruct participants to answer these four questions. Explain that we are writing the answers on the back side as our personal identity is not always something that can be seen from the outside. They can express themselves on the back of the paper however they would like. For example, if they would like to draw or doodle around their answers… this is their expression of themselves.

Questions to answer:

1. Do you know why you were named your name? (If they do not know this have them answer the question “Why do you like your name?”)

2. What are your nicknames? 3. 6th and above: How would you describe your personality?

6th and below: Describe how you normally act. Such as, are you goofy, serious, etc.?

4. What is something that no one knows about you that you want to share?

Give the group about 5 minutes to complete the activity. Then go around the room and have each person share their name and their four answers. As they are sharing, each participant should be listening and after they share there should not be any comment or reflection from anyone -- including the facilitator(s). This is a time and space for them to state their identity without any judgement, good or bad, from the group.

8

Time: 20 minutes

Participants will understand the types of bullying that affect youth and how to identify it.

Supplies:

• White Board/ Easel Paper • Markers (at least four different colors) • Post-Its or small piece of blank paper • Scrap paper • Pens • Signs:

o 4th-5th: “Believe being different is bad” “Think they are better than the person” “It’s OK to be mean to someone they don’t like or who annoys them.”

o 6th – 12th: “Sense of Entitlement” “Intolerance of Difference” “Liberty to Exclude” “Imbalance of Power”

Before participants dig into the ways they can stand up and speak out against bullying, they must first understand the complexity of it. This session will go over the types of bullying and how to identify it. Take note that bullying is not something new to many youth. They are aware that it occurs and know the basics of the terminology. When guiding this section try to have them show you their knowledge rather than trying to teach them something they know.

Do you need more information to prepare yourself? Check out www.stopbullying.gov for some great facts.

Activity: Ask each participant to think of a time they have witnessed someone treating someone wrong or a time they have been treated wrong. Have them write their memory on a post-it or small piece of paper. If they have multiple memories have them write them on separate pieces of paper. Remind them not to use any names, as we stated in our group agreement that we want to keep information anonymous, so no one is hurt. Then have them take the piece of paper and put them in a bowl. We will use these for an activity a bit later.

Reflection: Ask the participants how they felt thinking about that memory. Was it hurtful? Did it make them upset that they didn’t do anything? Assure them that sometimes in life we reflect and wish we could change our actions, but we cannot dwell on that. In this course we are going to focus on changing the future.

Depending on your grade level, guide the participants through creating a definition of bullying, the types and reasoning why it happens.

4th– 5th grade: Ask the participants to complete the sentence “Bullying is…”. As they come with ideas write them out on the white board or easel paper. There is no wrong answer here and try to use their words. If they are coming up with specific examples, try to generalize it for them.

After getting a good list, stop and introduce the three types of bullying.

• Physical: Using your body to hurt people.

9

• Verbal/Word: Using words to hurt people, dehumanizes targets, defines people as only one thing.

• Relational: using friendship to hurt people, gossip and rumor, ignoring/leaving people out.

Ask the participants if they have any questions about those definitions. Now, we are going to take your answers of “bullying is…” and put them into these groups. Designate a color for each type of bullying then underline or highlight each of the answers to its corresponding groups.

After you have sorted, think about why this bullying happened. Participants can share out some of their ideas, then share the three reasons that we are going to use for this session: “Believe being different is bad” “Think they are better than the person” “It’s OK to be mean to someone they don’t like or who annoys them”. Hang these three signs up around the room. Ask for any thoughts or feedback of these reasons.

Reflection: By understanding the types and reasons of bullying, participants are armed with the terminology to be able to express why mean actions they see are not OK. Let’s test that knowledge! Have participants choose one of the memories that were put in the bowl. They should read the memory to themselves and then walk over to the reason bullying happens signs that are hung up around the room. Have girls turn to a partner and share the memory they read. After all the memories have been sorted, ask the group if they want to share any of the situations and their feelings about it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6th – 12th grade: Have the participants get in small groups of about 3-5. Using scrap paper, have each group come up with a definition of bullying. Prompt them to think about the different types of bullying that they have seen. After each group has come up with a definition, have them share it to the group. Record on an easel paper the definition or at least the main points of it. After all the groups have shared, ensure that they have covered the three types of bullying:

• Physical: Using your body to hurt people. • Verbal/Word: Using words to hurt people, dehumanizes targets, defines people as

only one thing. • Relational: Using friendship to hurt people, gossip and rumor, ignoring/leaving

people out/.

Now in those same groups have them complete the statement “bullying happens in a culture/space when there’s…”. If they need help, prompt them to think about the reasoning bullying happens. After each group has come up with some answers, ask them to share what reasons they thought of. Share that we have identified four main reasons for bullying:

• A Sense of Entitlement • Intolerance of Differences • Liberty to Exclude • Imbalance of Power

10

Ask the group if they feel that their reasons fall under one of these categories. If there is a reason that they feel is missing, explore that in a group discussion. Put these four reasons signs up around the room.

Reflection: Explain that the reason we defined bullying and the reasons bullying happens is so each one of them can now identify it, but, more importantly, feel confident talking about it. To practice their knowledge, have each person choose a memory that was posted and sort it under one of the bullying reasons. After all the memories have been sorted, ask the group if they want to share any of the situations and their feelings about it.

11

Time: 15 minutes

Participants will discover the biggest friendship issues, identify behavior patterns in positive relationships, make distinction between normal conflicts and bullying behaviors.

Supplies:

• Post-its or small pieces of paper • Tape • Pens/pencils for participants • Signs:

o “Good”, “Bad,” and “Ugly”

Friendships aren’t always easy, we can say that there are the good times, the bad times, and sometimes when it just gets ugly. In this activity we explore with the participants what positive relationships look like and how to identify when things turn into a bullying situation.

Ask the participants to think about their good friends or even best friend if they have one. Ask them to think about the best thing about being friends with the person(s). Explain to them that there are good, bad, and sometimes ugly times in relationship. Then have them write the most challenging thing about being friends with the person(s). Ask participants to place their post-it under “good”, “bad,” or “ugly” sign.

After each girl has placed their post-it, ask girls which category they would like start with. Read each post-it and ask the girls why they think these falls under this category. For example, if they have “Drama” under “bad,” ask them if there is a time when drama can get ugly… what about can it be good? The goal of this activity is to get the girls to understand how elements of friendship can evolve and change from good to ugly.

Reflection: “Good” is the way we wish our friendships and relationships could be all the time, but we know that is not how it works. As we grow and experience life, we develop different ideas and want different things, which can lead to conflict. Sometimes qualities of a relationship fall into the “bad” category, but that is OK! It is normal conflict and can be worked through. Choose a couple of the “bad” post-its and ask for input on how one could

fix this in a relationship. “Ugly” is when one sees relational bullying. Choose a couple of the post-its and ask the girls what they should do in this situation.

Facilitator Note:

During this activity participants may get confused between the difference of tattling and telling as well as teasing and taunting. Review the different types of Ts. Encourage participants to use the correct terminology while in discussion to express the severity of the situation. Tattling and teasing can typically be worked through but telling and taunting is when they are typically faced with a bullying situation.

12

Time: 20 minutes

Participants will have a deeper understanding of what relational bullying looks like and relate to how societal trends can create bullying.

Supplies:

• PDF of Dr. Suess’ The Sneetches or access video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdLPe7XjdKc

• Sneetches Star template- enough for each participant to have one • Pens/Pencils/Markers • Post It/ Scrap Paper

Relational bullying can be one of the most hurtful forms of bullying as it typically is from friends or close acquaintances. This activity is intended to encourage participants to think about the way current societal trends can create an environment of relational bullying. Start by reminding participants of the definition of relational bullying, using friendship to hurt people, gossip and rumor, ignoring/leaving people out.

Ask the group if they have ever read a Dr. Suess book. Most of the participants will raise their hand. Agree that most of the stories may seem silly or like complete nonsense, but most of them have a strong moral lesson. Today, we are going to read/watch The Sneetches to explore what relational bullying can look like.

Activity: As participants are listening/watching the movie, encourage them to write down on scrap paper when they see relational bullying occurring in the story. After reading/viewing the story ask for examples of when they say relational bullying. Go further by asking why the Sneetches didn’t just have their own party?

After everyone in the group had a chance to share, hand out one star to each participant. Explain that in the story the stars were a physical trait, but let’s think of what stars are in our world?

Prompt the participants by giving an example of something that is popular due to a societal trend, such as a certain type of toy or clothing. Have them write something that they think has potential to create a group of those who have it and those who don’t. To prompt further, suggest that it could be material items, race, body image, culture, etc. Participants can then share their stars or hang them up on a visible part of the room.

Reflection: Use these questions to reflect and go deeper into conversation:

• What makes people feel that they are better than others? • How can we tell what others’ stars are? Are they always obvious? Why do

people hide their stars? • How do stars get determined in our world? • What can we do to make them something that doesn’t separate people?

13

Time: 20 minutes

Participants will understand what cyberbullying is and how, at times, they can be part of the problem

Supplies:

• Pens/pencils • Signs: Hurtful, Harmless, Unsure • Online Communication Packet: contains memes, chats, TikTok and tweets

In the United States, 14.9% of high school students reported that they were electronically bullied (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). Over the past decade, more youth are online and using a variety of platforms as their main communication with their peers and adults. Cyberbullying is a growing threat for youth and its complexity and anonymity makes it hard to control. This session aims for youth to understand the degrees of cyberbullying and how they may be a bystander or possibly a contributor to the problem.

Ask the participants how they communicate on the internet. List some of the platforms they use on a regular basis. Go deeper by asking how they use each of the platforms. Do they message people? Or follow celebrities’ posts? No matter how participants use the internet they have probably seen and experienced negative comments online.

In this activity we are going to look at how some common practices can actually be forms of cyberbullying. Have the group divide into several small groups. Give each group a packet of example online communication. This packet contains a variety of forms of communication that are experienced online. Groups will then separate the materials into three groups. Hurtful, Harmless or Unsure. Encourage the group to have discussion by mentioning they will have to give a justification of their sorting.

Facilitator Note: All the examples are considered online bullying, but do not let participants know this!

Hang three signs around the room: Hurtful, Harmless, Unsure. After all groups have completed sorting the examples, use the facilitator copy to reveal the correct answer. Hold each example up one at a time, then have the girls shout out where they think it should go. If there are some discrepancies, have the groups share why they sorted the example where they did. Slowly they will see that these are all hurtful. Briefly go over why for each example.

Reflection: Use these questions to reflect and go deeper into conversation:

• How they could be contributing to cyberbullying without realizing it? • Is there anything they could do to stop cyberbullying?

14

Time: 10 minutes

Participants will take a closer look at the voice that they use when communicating through online platforms.

Supplies:

• Personal Cell Phones • Text Messaging “Oops to Ouch” worksheet

Note: Younger participants may need to bring a tablet or some other device if they do not yet have a cell phone.

One of the easiest ways to unknowingly participate or contribute to bullying is through online messaging. Even if participants do not have personal cell phones, they are probably using some sort of messaging platform online.

Activity: Start the conversation by asking participants to think of a time that they received an online message from someone they knew that they perceived as hurtful. Have them share some of those messages and write down what exactly about it they found hurtful. We will call those “ouch” moments.

Then flip the conversation by having them think of a time they sent a message where someone misunderstood what they were saying, and it caused hurt feelings. We will call those “oops” moments. Have them share some of those messages and write down what was said.

Have participants take out their personal cell phone or messaging device and look at some of their most recent text messages.

Using the “oops to ouch” worksheet, have participants dig into the “oops” that they have identified in their conversations and think about how they could lead to an “ouch’

Reflection: Use these questions to reflect and go deeper into conversation:

• On the stories that participants shared where they sent a message, do participants see some language that was used that could have been/was hurtful?

• How can we redirect conversations to prevent hurtful language?

15

Time: 10 minutes

Through a group activity, participants will understand that there are many ways to approach and understand something.

Supplies:

• Paper for every participant • Scissors for every participant (only if choose option 1) • Pens/Pencils/Markers

Before we start identifying ways to stand-up in a bullying situation, the group must first understand that there are many different sides to an issue and ways to understand what is going on. This group activity can be done in two different ways depending on the abilities of your participants.

Activity Option 1: Every Snowflake is Different

Give each participant a piece of paper and have them write their name all over the paper multiple times. Next tell them that they are going to make a snowflake.

Instruct them to fold the paper how they want and to only make one cut-out then stop. Now, pass their folded paper to the person to the left of them. This person will make one cut-out then pass it to the person on their left. Continue to do this until the snowflake has gone to 10 people or all the participants. Open the paper and return it to the original person.

Activity Option 2: Different Ideas of Home

Give each participant a piece of paper and have them write their name on one side of it. On the other side tell them that they are going to draw a picture of their dream home. Tell them to start by drawing a shape for the base of the house and then stop. After everyone has drawn this, then they should pass their paper to the person to their left. Now, that person should draw one addition to the house and pass it to the next person. Continue to do this until the picture has gone to at least 10 people or all participants. The last person should look on the back at the name and return it to the original person.

Reflection: Use these questions to reflect and go deeper into conversation:

• Was the result their original plan? • Is it still a snowflake/house? When we are looking at bullying situation we

need to understand that not every person is going to come up with the same solution but that does not mean that their actions wouldn’t help to diffuse the bullying incident. On the other side of the situation, we must understand that every person who bullies does not always have the same reasons.

16

Time: 20 minutes

Participants will learn ways to defend individuals being bullied.

Supplies:

• White board/ easel paper • Board markers • Bullying situation cards • Scrap Paper • Pens/Pencils/Markers/ Crayons • PSA Development Worksheet • Stand-Up Methods worksheet

Start by asking participants to think of a bullying situation they have seen in the past. How did the bullying end? Have participants share out in small groups or partners what happened in their situations.

Facilitator Note: Some of the answers might not be the ideal solution. That is OK for now, we are going to cover the most powerful antidotes to bullying and then reflect on these answers later.

Activity: Break into groups to examine some hypothetical bullying situations listed on the bullying situation cards. Each group should read the situation and then take a couple minutes to talk about what is happening. Remind them to use “I statement” on how they are feeling and if they are relating to a personal experience not to use names. After a couple minutes, bring the group together and introduce the next part of the activity.

Ask the group if they have seen a public service announcement (PSA) before. Explain that these can be a poster, video or audio that inform the public on an issue that is happening in their community. The issue that they are going to focus on today is bullying, but most importantly how to stand up against bullying.

Using their bullying situation card example, groups will create their own PSA to present to the group. Remind them that these could be a poster or acting out a scene for a video or even just a clear statement that you would hear on the radio. These presentations should be no longer than 2 minutes. All individuals need to have some role in the presentation, even if they are not talking. Groups should use the PSA development worksheet to guide the development of their presentation. Give groups about 10 minutes to work on their presentations.

Reflection: As groups are presenting, write on the white board/easel paper the techniques they have come up with to stand up against bullying. After everyone has presented, ask if there are other techniques that they thought of? Record those as well. Pass out the Stand-Up Methods worksheet. Ask participants to highlight, circle or star a couple of the methods that they think would work best for them.

17

Time: 15 minutes

Participants will practice vocalizing defenses in their own words.

Supplies:

• Bullying Situation Cards • Dry Erase Markers/ Markers for Easel Paper • White Board/ Easel Paper • Stand-Up Methods worksheet

Through other activities, participants have learned the scope of bullying and upstander methods that can help defuse a bullying situation. In this activity participants are going to practice in-the-moment upstanding methods through rounds of bullying examples.

Facilitator Note: The bullying situation cards are the same as the Stand Up Against Bullying PSA activity. This is intentional to give participants some previous exposure to methods they can use in common bullying situations.

Activity: Briefly review the Stand-Up Methods worksheet with the participants. Check for understanding by asking for an example of each of the methods. After the class has remembered these techniques, break them into two or three different groups depending on the class size. Then have the groups line up in a single file line next to each other.

Either the facilitator or one of the students will select a bullying situation card and read it to the groups. The first person in each line will step forward when they have an upstander response. The reader will judge if this is an upstander response that will diffuse the situation. Facilitators can decide if you want to award points to correct answers.

After a response has been said or the participant skips, they go to the back of the line and the next member of the team steps up for the next situation.

Continue to do the drills until you run out of cards or you feel that they group is done.

Reflection: Ask the group if there was one technique they heard that was a new approach to diffusing a bullying situation. Were there any techniques not used? How do they think this would go in a real-life situation?

18

Time: Dependent on activity selected

Participants will develop a method to spread the knowledge and skills learned throughout the program to their community.

Supplies:

• Easel Paper/White Board (optional) • Paper/Board Markers (optional) • Other materials depending on activity

Now that participants have the courage, confidence, and character to stand-up and speak-out against bullying they can take their knowledge and skills to their local community. Each method and project will look different depending on the community serving and input from the group of participants.

Activity: Below are several options of activities that could be implemented in a participant’s community. Each of these activities is designed to spread kindness, positivity, and challenge others to create a community that will stand-up and speak-out against bullying. Groups can decide to implement one or all the activities. Participants may also develop their own project that fits their own vision to inspire their community.

Positivity Box

Supplies:

• Notecards/small pieces of paper • Pens/markers/pencils • Cardboard box (mailbox) • Items to decorate the cardboard box

Decorate and modify the cardboard box to turn it into a Positivity Box. Individuals will write messages or drawings of positive messages for a stranger. The box will then be placed in an open space in the community for strangers to take a note when they need a little positivity in their day.

Hashtag Campaign

Supplies:

• Paper • Pens/markers/ pencils • Cell phone/computer with social media access

Participants will start a challenge in their community to create a sign of how they will stand-up and speak-out against bullying then share with the hashtag #PowerUpAgainstBullying. By using a hashtag, they can see the vast support of individuals across the movement.

Kindness Challenge

Supplies:

• Butcher Paper

19

• Markers

Participants will create a challenge in their community to spread kindness to others. It can be advertised through posters, banners, or digital media. Then use an outlet for individuals to share their random acts of kindness. If in a school, a fun way to make this competitive would be for submissions divided by grade level and the ones with the most get recognition.

Reflection: Encourage participants to continue to check-in with their project and try to measure the impact that it has had on their community. Challenge them to continue to evolve their project to help other communities.

20

As a facilitator, you should have some base knowledge of current bullying trends and research findings. Luckily there is a wealth of information out there!

Girl Scouts Resources:

Why Tolerance Isn’t Working : How to counteract divisive language and arguments over who “belongs.”

Is She Being Bullied? Listen for these Signs : Does your girl say any of these things? If yes, she might be in a bullying situation.

Could Your Girl Be the School Bully? : The school bully of your imagination probably looks nothing like your sweet, thoughtful daughter. But you might be surprised by the truth.

Help Her Shut Down Haters : If your child is being bullied, she’ll need some help learning how to stand up for herself and when to get help.

Other Great Resources:

Promoting Relationships & Eliminating Violence Network : lots of research and tips on spreading kindness.

StopBulling.gov : managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, with good information on how to intervene in bullying situations.

Cyberbullying Research Center : up-to-date information on all elements of cyberbullying among youth.

Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center : resources around bullying topics with a focus on students with disabilities.

The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network : resources on creating communities where all members are valued regardless of sexual orientations or gender identity.

Faci

litat

or R

esou

rces

21

What is something at your school or in your community that separates one person from another? Record this in the Sneetches star.

Su

pp

lem

enta

l M

ater

ials

22

1 2

3 4

23

5 6

7 8

24

Participants will use this worksheet to explore how their own actions and words used on a virtual platform can sometimes have unintended interpretations. Each participant should have a cell phone or some other electronic device that they use for messaging or accessing apps that have a messaging component.

Look at your most recent 50 messages on the app that you use most often, such as Instagram, musical.ly (now called TikTok) or text messaging. Select a couple conversations to take a deeper look at.

What are some words or emojis that you used that could be taken the wrong way?

For example: You could say something was nasty, but that could mean gross or cool.

How could you change your words or use of emojis to make sure they are not misunderstood?

Now look at what you are talking about. If someone else looked at this message, would they find anything upsetting? What actions could you take to prevent conversations from going in a negative direction?

For example: If a screenshot was taken and shared, would you be proud of how you were talking?

25

Your friends start calling you names and ignoring you in public. You don’t feel good when these things happen. What should you do?

A group kids at school starts making fun of other students that do not have new shoes. What should you do?

You notice one of your friends is teasing and making fun of the younger children in the summer camp. Your friend has started taking things from them as well. What should you do?

A new boy in your class is a refugee. Your friends always say racist things to him, make fun of his English, and tell him to go back home. What should you do?

You’ve been teasing one of your friends because he or she is bad at reading and writing and you noticed that recently he/she has started to sit alone. What should you do?

You receive a screenshot of a conversation from one of your classmates. It has very personal information in it. What should you do?

On one of your social media apps you notice that your classmates are harassing a kid at school through their comments. What should you do?

Your friends have started taking not flattering photos of kids at school and sharing them on social media. What should you do?

26

Where will people see/hear your PSA? For example: TV, radio, magazine, online ad, etc.

List one or two stand-up against bullying actions that you want to encourage others to practice.

How will you introduce this action? For example, will you use your bullying situation to set the scene or do you want to jump right into the action?

Plan out your presentation or drawing below!

27

Actions to take in the moment:

• Refuse to join in with the bullying. • Invite the person who is being bullied to join your group or to walk away from the situation. • Speak out using “I statements,” such as “I want you to stop calling him/her names”. • Distract the one who is bullying with a joke or something else to stop the behavior.

Actions to continue to stand-up against bullying:

• Be a friend to the person who is being bullied to show them someone cares about them. • Report the bullying to an adult you trust. Don’t forget to provide documentation such as

screen shots. • Talk with a counselor or trusted adult if you continue to see bullying happening. • Watch for those oops moments through virtual communication. These can easily lead to

bullying.

Actions to take in the moment:

• Refuse to join in with the bullying. • Invite the person who is being bullied to join your group or to walk away from the situation. • Speak out using “I statements,” such as “I want you to stop calling him/her names”. • Distract the one who is bullying with a joke or something else to stop the behavior.

Actions to continue to stand-up against bullying:

• Be a friend to the person who is being bullied to show them someone cares about them. • Report the bullying to an adult you trust. Don’t forget to provide documentation such as

screen shots. • Talk with a counselor or trusted adult if you continue to see bullying happening. • Watch for those oops moments through virtual communication. These can easily lead to

bullying.