BULLYING Ice breaking exercise – How does this make you feel? Not too good does it. Victims of bullying feel this same pain your are feeling right now. They deal with this on a day to day basis. It causes pain in their hearts that sometimes they just can’t withstand. Now, I am going to talk to you about bullying, the types of bullying, share a story of a student who was bullied, give you some strategies to deal with bullying. And before we all leave today we are all going to KNOW and FOLLOW the Golden Rule which is?.... “Treat others the way you want to be treated”.

Bullying Definition _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Bullied students are teased, harassed, and assaulted verbally or physically. Read definition. Look at the picture of this little girl here. Do you see them in the background. What do you think the other girls are doing? (talking bad about her), (excluding her from their group), (teasing her). Do you think these things are bullying. How do you think this girl feels? She is going to go home from school and be thinking about how she is going to deal with this for the entire school year. It’s not right. And there are students in this school that feel this same way. There are kids in this classroom that feel the same way. We need to stop and think about what were doing and “treat other people the way you want to be treated”.

Two Types of Bullying ________

Direct __________ – hitting, kicking, pushing, stealing, hiding or ruining someone’s things. Making someone do something they don’t want to do. __________ – name calling, teasing, insulting, threats. Pushing in the hallway, hiding someone’s food at the lunch table. Teasing someone about the way they look. Name calling. No one in here has the right to call anyone a name that is insulting or offensive. Like fat, ugly.

Indirect _________ ________– gossiping, spreading rumors and lies about someone. Making someone feel left out or rejected. Which one of these types of bullying do you think boys are involved in? Which one do you think girls are involved in? Boys tend to be more physical and girls value relationships more than boys. At one school there were these girls who thought they were these divas or the Royal 5 and they had this signup sheet for girls who wanted to sit with them at lunch. What happen was girls would sign up and they would pass the sign up sheet around to see who was rejected or not. This is mean and unacceptable and do you think this is the way those girls would want to be treated?

Bullying can be... _____________________________. One person trying to beat up another. A group of people ganging up against others. Not only are these things wrong morally but they are also illegal. You can be arrested for touching, or hitting another person if that person says it was unwanted and he took offense to that hitting. Also, can be arrested for disorderly conduct.

Bullying – You Decide? Jennifer recently broke up with her boyfriend Andrew. Andrew is now dating Melissa. Jennifer convinces all of her friends not to speak or hang out with Melissa anymore. Is this bullying? I have a couple of examples here that I want to read and I want to hear what you boys and girls think. (answer – yes it is social alienation or indirect bullying which we talked about earlier.

Bullying – You Decide When John walks in the hallway to his class, Chris repeatedly knocks his books out of his hand everyday. Is this bullying? (answer – Yes) What type of bullying is this? (Direct bullying – physical)

How does it make you feel? Depressed Hurt Alone Low Self-Esteem Anxiety Scared We talked about the effects of bullying has on a person. These are just some of them but there are so many others that I can’t list here because there is not enough room. Depressed. This is a big problem among children and teenagers who are victims of being bullied. Anyone know what depressed means? (let students answer). Ok, now I am going to talk to you about a girl who was the victim of being bullied and her story.

Does it have to be a part of growing up? No ____________________________________________________________________________________

Who is a Bully? What type of people are not treating others like they want to be treated.

Characteristics of a Bully Excited by their bullying behavior ____________________________________ Enjoy causing pain Can be a below average, average or above average student Can be all shapes and sizes

Who is a Target? There are certain characteristics in students that bully’s target.

Reasons ___________________ Physically weak Minority Facial appearance Emotional Good grades

Reasons If you usually are alone and don't have many friends. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How to Deal with Bullying!! If you are being bullied you need to report it but when you are in the moment there are some things you can do. There are also some things you can do to try an avoid becoming a target.

Ways to avoid future bullying Don’t bring expensive things or money to school Hang out with friends Avoid unsupervised areas Sit near the bus driver on the bus or walk with a teacher to class Don’t walk alone and avoid places where bullying occurs Get funny Don’t act scared “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent”. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Bystanders Part of the problem not the solution

Be a Hero Encourage other bystanders to help stop the bullying incident by being assertive. Make friends with someone who continually gets picked on. Report it or send someone to a trusted adult. ______________________________________________________________________ Bystanders are part of the problem not the solution.

Why do others LET it happen?

Reasons _____________________________________________________________________________________________ They want to “side” with the bully because it makes them feel strong. They’re entertained by the bullying.

Reasons They don’t think speaking up will help. ___________________________________________________________________________

Are you a Bully?

Ask Yourself These Questions Does it make you feel better to hurt other people or take their things? Are you bigger and stronger than other people your age? Do you sometimes use your size and strength to get your way?

Ask Yourself These Questions Have you been bullied by someone in the past and feel like you have to make up for doing the same thing to others? Do you avoid thinking about how other people might feel if you say or do hurtful things to them?