Lesson 1 - Bullying; What is it and who is involved? FUSE Programme; Tackling Bullying and Online Safety Together

Role play activity Video needed of a a bullying scenarios that can be reflected on; must include: Case study approach with stop and think scenarios Popular and unpopular victim for “everyone can be victimised perspective” Traditional and cyber In school physical and verbal, followed by cyber incident at home. Must include victim, bully(ies) and bystanders.

What is Bullying? Teacher lead open floor on what bullying is to pupils with examples, note taking concepts. At end of lesson this is repeated to see how students concepts have changed. (time dependant) Bullying involves: Repetitiveness, Power and Negative Intentional behaviour.

What is bullying? We say a student is being bullied when another student(s), say mean and hurtful things or make fun of him or her, or completely ignore or exclude him or her from their group of friends or leave him or her out of things on purpose it also includes; hit, kick, push, shove around, or lock him or her inside a room tell lies or spread false rumours about him or her or send mean notes and try to make other students dislike him or her and other hurtful things like that. When we talk about bullying, these things happen repeatedly, and it is difficult for the student being bullied to defend himself or herself. Dan Olweus Descriptive Definition of Bullying Cyberbullying is ‘an aggressive act or behavior that is carried out using electronic means by a group or an individual repeatedly and over time against a victim who cannot easily defend him or herself’ (Smith et al., 2008)

Forms of Bullying Behaviour What are some of the different ways someone can be bullied? Do you think any of these types has a greater impact on the victim than another? Student led to state forms, teacher will highlight any that are missed. Direct Bullying: Verbal, physical, cyber, gesture, extortion, assaults. Indirect Bullying: Covert or where the bully is anonymous Relational and Social Bullying: Exclusion, isolation, malicious rumours. Verbal Bullying: Verbal taunts, nasty teasing with intent to hurt. Physical Aggression: All forms of physical attacks. Gesture Bullying: Non-verbal threatening aggressive gestures. Exclusion Bullying: Isolation and ignoring. Extortion Bullying: Taking of money or personal items. Cyber-Bullying: All forms of phone, text, video or online bullying. (O’Moore 2010)

Who is Affected by Bullying? Victims Perpetrators (bullies) Bystanders (witnesses) Teachers Parents The whole school community is affected by bullying behaviour. Teacher led discussion for student voice, just used as a recap with images of key roles from video. Victims experience the trauma and negative effects on mental health. Perpetrators (bullies) may experience low self-esteem, guilt or regret as well as losing friends long-term. Bystanders are hesitant to be friends with a bully, fear for their own safety and often feel guilt if they don’t intervene. Parents, teachers and siblings are also affected.

Activity 1: What is the impact of bullying? In teams of four discuss; How do you think it would feel to be bullied? What do you think it feels like for a bully? How do you think someone who witnesses bullying feels? Be ready to share your groups work! Teacher combines and facilitates feedback on board for all pupil groups. Activity: In teams of two answer the following; How do you think it would feel to be bullied? What do you think it feels like for a bully? How do you think someone who witnesses bullying? Stress Reduced ability to concentrate Lack of motivation and energy Poor school work Anxiety about going to school Loss of confidence and self-esteem Lack of appetite or comfort eating Depression Aggressive eruptions/tantrums Withdrawn and unhappy Feeling isolated, betrayed and hopeless Sleeping problems and nightmares Headache, stomach pains Alcohol/drug/substance abuse Panic attacks Self-harming Attempted suicide/suicide

Characteristics of a victim A common misconception is that a victim is different in some way. Differences are determined by the bully. A confident and extroverted person who is popular may be bullied due to jealousy. While another person who is introverted, quiet or does not have as many friends may be seen as an easy target. Anybody can be bullied, however, the duration and level of bullying can be related to the victim’s vulnerability and support. Use a more reflective approach to discuss why two victims in the video are targeted and to open discussion with pupils.

Who are the bystanders? Bystanders are the witnesses to bullying. Can you identify these bystanders from the video? Assistants – Join in and support the bully Reinforcers – Don’t attack, but support the bully. Outsiders – Don’t take sides but silently support the bully. Defenders – Actively try to stop the bullying and support the victim. Stop and think point for bystanders in the video, their role and the things they could have done differently. Using images of bystander roles. Activity: Discussion of bystander scenario in video, to allow pupils to analyse why the bystander didn’t act. which bystander they were and the reason behind their behaviour

Preventing bullying We can prevent bullying in school through policy, practice and change the norms in our school. We have a anti-bullying policy to inform everyone on bullying and how we report, investigate and tackle bullying. Raising awareness about the types of bullying and showing they are unacceptable. Using our empathy to support and understand how it feels to be bullied so we stand up to bullying. Alter this focus to how we would have prevented this situation. Teacher can use the above as prompts.

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