1. What To Do About Bullying!
Introduce lesson to students. Explain that you’ll be talking about the subject of bullying and that they’ll be learning ways to handle this problem throughout the session.
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2. Quit looking at me, LOSER!!
What is Bullying?
There are lots of ways someone can be bullied: verbal bullying (name-calling, put-downs, threats, unkind teasing…)
Quit looking at me, LOSER!!
Read slide with students. Ask them what is happening in picture and discuss how the boy might feel hearing this. Ask if anyone in the group has ever been called a name and how it made them feel. If you need to get it started, you can share a time when someone called you a name and how you felt.
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3. physical bullying (being pushed, tripped, hit, having something of yours stolen or damaged…)
Read slide with students. Ask them what they see happening in the picture. Talk about how the smaller boy must feel. Ask the students if anyone in the group has ever been pushed, tripped, hit, or had something stolen or damaged by someone else. How did they feel when this happened?
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4. social bullying (being deliberately left out of social activities, being ignored, having rumors spread about you…)
Read slide with students. Ask what’s happening in the picture. How does the girl feel? Did it ever happen to anyone in the group and how did they feel? What types of social activities have they been left out of? (parties, not being chosen for a team in gym, no one wanting to be their partner in class, etc.)
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5. psychological bullying (being given dirty looks, being intimidated, being manipulated…)
Read slide with students. Discuss the meaning of the words ‘intimidated’, and ‘being manipulated’. Talk about what’s happening in the picture. How might the smaller boy feel? Ask if anyone in the group has ever been given dirty looks or been intimidated. What happened and how did it feel?
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6. Who Bullies? A bully can be: one person or a group
someone your age or older
a “friend”
brother or sister
authority figure
Read slide with students. Talk about how bullies can be anyone. Talk about how sometimes you think someone is your friend but then they do something to bully you (briefly review the 4 types of bullying: verbal, physical, social, psychological). Talk about how a brother or sister might bully you at home. Talk about how sometimes someone in a position of authority (coach, extended family member, etc.) might use their position to intimidate. Without naming names, ask the students if they know a bully that fits into one of these categories. If they were bullied by someone they trusted, how did it make them feel?

7. Why Do People Bully Others?
There are lots of reasons some people bully others: Maybe he was bullied…
Read slide with students. Talk about how often a bully will have low self-esteem or may have been bullied himself. This person may use bullying to feel more powerful. Let the students know that it can help to remember that bullies are often not as tough as they appear!

8. Maybe she thinks it will make her more popular and seem cool in front of her friends…
Read slide with students. Talk about what’s happening in the picture. Discuss how sometimes people might do things to impress their friends at the expense of someone else’s feelings. Ask if this ever happened to anyone in the group.

9. Maybe the bully wants attention or to make other people afraid of them…
Read slide with students. Talk about what’s happening in the picture. What kind of attention will a bully get with this type of behavior? (If other kids see this, they may be scared of the bully also, so no one will mess with her.)

10. Or maybe the bully is jealous of the person he’s bullying…
I’m sick of you answering every question in class. You think you’re so smart!
Read slide with students. Talk about the picture and what the bully is saying. What other things might make a bully jealous? (i.e. money, clothes, where they live, what their parents do, what they’re good at that the bully isn’t, etc.) Ask if anyone in the group has ever felt jealous. What did they do about it?

11. How Bullying Can Make You Feel
You might think it’s your fault…
I better not answer any more questions in science.
Read slide with students. Talk about the picture (tie it into the slide before) and how the student might think he’s to blame for being smart and might then stop participating in class, which could affect his grades. Talk about other examples, asking students if they’ve ever felt to blame for a bullying incident.

12. You might feel like you have to be the “class clown” so that others will laugh at you rather than pick on you…
Read slide with students. Talk about how being the class clown might seem like a quick solution BUT it ends up getting you in trouble with the teacher/principal AND it’s not really making you any friends. Ask the group if they’ve ever had a class clown in their rooms. What other ways does the class clown affect the class as a whole? (disruptive; class gets behind in material; whole class gets punished, etc.)

13. You might feel isolated or rejected…
Read slide with students (define words if necessary). Talk about the picture and how the student must feel. Has anyone in the group ever felt that way? What did they do about it?

14. You might feel unsafe or afraid…
Read slide with students. Talk about the picture and ask the group how she might be feeling. Has anyone in the group ever felt that way about coming to school or going somewhere in their community? Why and what did they do about it? NOTE: This is a good time to remind students that everyone needs to feel safe when sharing their experiences so there shouldn’t be any laughing or teasing when someone offers their experiences. We are talking about “bullying”, after all!

15. What are some of the other ways bullying can make you feel?
stressed
confused
Read slide with students. Click to bring up the four words and talk about the meanings of each as you go. Has anyone in the group ever felt that way before? When and what did they do about it?
depressed
embarrassed

16. So what can I do if I’m bullied?
Stay calm
Read slide with students. Talk about different ways to stay calm when faced with a bully (count slowly to 10 in your heard, take a few slow deep breaths,etc.) Ask the group for other ways to stay calm and write these on the board. Emphasize how bullies love a reaction – so don’t give them one! Don’t get mad, stay calm instead.

17. 2. Stay away
Read slide with students. Talk about the picture and the looks on the faces of the group of girls as well as the face of the lone girl. What does the group think is happening? Emphasize: If you know someone doesn’t like you – then stay away from them.

18. 3. Hang out with friends
Read slide with students. Talk about how bullies tend to pick on kids who are alone, so hanging out with your friends can discourage a bully from picking on you.

19. The view is WAY better up here
4. Have some brief comebacks ready
The view is WAY better up here
Hey – freaky tall guy!
Read slide with students. Talk about how they can try to have a few quick comebacks ready to say when needed BUT you have to be careful not to say anything mean (don’t be a bully yourself)!

20. 5. Don’t bring expensive stuff or lots of money to school
Read slide with students. Talk about how bullies might pick on kids who bring things they can take from them. Remind students that it’s not worth getting hurt over. Leave that stuff at home.

21. 6. Talk to an adult!
Read slide with students. Discuss how talking to an adult (parent, teacher, counselor, etc.) might help you come up with solutions to deal with the bully. School personnel can also make sure to keep an eye on things IF they know about the bullying.

22. So remember: To Handle Bullying
Stay calm
Stay away
Hang out with friends
Have some brief comebacks ready
Don’t bring expensive stuff/lots of money to school
Talk to an adult!
Read slide with students and review steps. Consider role-playing some situations where the students can practice some of these skills. (This slide will also become their magnet card.)

23. So what do YOU think?
You’re walking to your next class when you see a boy surrounded by a group at the lockers. You can tell they’re not just fooling around – that boy looks scared! What would you do?
Read slide with students. Talk about the situation and ask for their ideas on how to handle it. Lead them to discuss the pros and cons of intervening. End with the better solution of telling an adult and encourage them to ask the student being bullied to go with them to the counselor, teacher, principal, etc.