The Bullying Prevention Program: Supplemental Lesson Plans
To Be Used In Conjunction With The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
©1999 Susan P. Limber, PhD, MLS
Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life Clemson University
Preface
This booklet contains 8-10 supplemental lesson plans to be used as part of a school’s efforts to implement the Bullying Prevention Program (see Olweus, Limber, & Mihalic, 1999). The lessons are appropriate for older elementary school students and middle school students. These lessons should be preceded by the administration of a student survey of bullying at school (Olweus, 1996), the use of the video, Bullying (South Carolina Educational Television, 1996), and the lesson plans that accompany the video. Please see the references at the end of this booklet for information on how to order these materials.
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Table of Contents
Unit I: Enlisting Students’ Help To End Bullying . . . . 1
Lesson 1: Getting To Know the School’s Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee . . . . 2
Lesson 2: Making School Areas Safer . . . . . 3
Lesson 3: Putting Students’ Ideas to Work . . . . 4
Unit II: Helping Victims To Avoid/Stop Bullying . . . . 5
Lesson 1: Avoiding And Stopping Bullying . . . . 6
Lesson 2: Avoiding And Stopping Bullying . . . . 8
Unit III: What To Do If You Witness Bullying . . . . 10
Lesson 1: What To Do If You Witness Bullying . . . 11
Lesson 2: What To Do If You Witness Bullying . . . 14
Unit IV: Getting Parents And Community Members Involved . . 15
Suggestions for Future Classroom Activities . . . . . 18
References . . . . . . . . . . 19
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Unit I
Enlisting Students’ Help To End Bullying
Length: Three class sessions. Approximately 20-30 minutes each.
Goals for these lessons:
1) Students will become familiar with the school’s Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee and the school-wide activities and plans to reduce bullying and violence.
2) Students will brainstorm ideas to reduce bullying at particular locations at their school.
3) Students will contribute their anti-bullying ideas to the Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee.
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Lesson 1: Getting to Know the School’s Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee
Length: 20-30 minutes
Goals for this lesson:
Students will become familiar with the school’s Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee and the school-wide activities and plans to reduce bullying and violence.
Activity:
Invite at least one member of the school’s Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee to come to the class. Inform students that a Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee of teachers and other staff members are responsible for coordinating all violence prevention activities at the school. Tell students the names of all committee members.
Ask the committee member to share with students some of the reasons why he or she decided to be a member of this group. Discuss the committee’s activities and plans for school-wide violence prevention activities, and emphasize to students that the committee welcomes ideas from students to help make the school a safer environment. (If it is not possible to have a committee member present to meet with each class, you may still discuss with students the membership, purpose, and plans of the committee.)
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Lesson 2: Making School Areas Safer
Length: 20-30 minutes
Goal for this lesson:
Students will brainstorm ideas for reducing bullying at particular locations at their school.
Preparation:
1) Review the results from the bullying survey and note particularly those areas of your school where bullying occurs most frequently.
2) Make several copies of the attached worksheet for group work.
Activities:
Discuss with students those areas at your school (or on the way to and from school) where they have witnessed bullying. Review the results from the survey, and ask students to describe the bullying that they have witnessed at the various locations. (In group discussions, avoid references to specific names of children who may be involved in bullying incidents.)
Break students into groups of 4-6 students each and assign each group a particular “hot spot” for bullying at school or on the way to and from school (e.g., the playground, the bus, the gym locker room, the classroom, or other specific problem areas at your school). When assigning students to groups, be sensitive to the makeup of the group (e.g., avoid grouping a child who is victimized by bullies with aggressive students; avoid grouping bullies together). Ask students to discuss among themselves ways in which bullying might be reduced in the specific area assigned to them. Encourage them to think of strategies that would involve students, teachers, and other staff, as well as strategies that might involve making a structural change (e.g., changing something about the area itself). Ask them to complete the attached worksheet as a group, writing down at least one idea for each category. Collect the worksheets at the end of the class session. These will be used in Lesson 3.
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______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________
Worksheet: Making School Areas Safer
Names of Group Members:
“Hot Spot” for Bullying: _________________________
Ideas To Make This Area Safer:
Ideas that involve students:
1.
2.
Ideas that involve teachers and staff:
1.
2.
Ideas that involve students AND teachers/staff:
1.
2.
Ideas that involve changes to the area:
1.
2.
Lesson 3: Putting Students’ Ideas to Work
Length: 20-30 minutes
Goal for this lesson:
Students will contribute their anti-bullying ideas to the Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee.
Activity:
Ask the groups to share their ideas (developed in Lesson 2) with each other. As a class, decide which of the ideas they would like to forward to the Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee. Include at least one or two ideas for each of the “hot spots.” Have them write down their specific suggestions in a proposal to the Coordinating Committee and/or invite one or two student representatives to present their ideas orally to the committee. Ask the Coordinating Committee to respond to the students’ ideas.
Encourage students to become regularly involved in providing suggestions and feedback to the Coordinating Committee.
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Unit II
Helping Victims to Avoid/Stop Bullying
Length: Two sessions, approximately 20-30 minutes each
Goals for the lessons:
Students become better acquainted with strategies to avoid being bullied.
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Lesson 1: Avoiding & Stopping Bullying
Length: 20-30 minutes
Goal for this lesson:
Students will discuss strategies to avoid being bullied.
Preparation:
Review statistics from the school survey regarding the percentages of students who report having been bullied.
Activity:
Remind students that many (if not most) students have been or will be victims of bullying at some point. Review the statistics from the most recent survey at your school regarding the percentages of students who reported being bullied.
Ask students to brainstorm ways in which they can handle bullying if it occurs. Be sure that the discussion covers the following effective strategies:
(1) getting help from an adult (2) getting help from peers (3) being assertive (e.g., telling the bully to stop his or her behavior) (4) avoidance (e.g., avoiding the bully or areas where the bullies tend to
be) (5) use of humor (e.g., If a bully makes fun of your clothing, laugh and
say, “Yeah, I think this shirt is kind of funny looking, too!”)
Encourage students to talk with parents, teachers, and other school staff if they ever feel that they are being bullied. In addition, they may want to try several other strategies. The best strategy to use will depend upon the particular situation and the children involved. Remind students that a single strategy may not always work (particularly the first time it is used). It may be most effective to use more than one of these strategies in a given situation.
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Read the following scenario to students. Using the questions below as prompts (when needed), encourage students to strategize about effective ways to avoid being bullied or harassed.
Scenario for discussion:
Since coming to your school, Marcus1 has been a target for bullying by the “in” crowd of boys. Marcus is a shy fifth grader, and is small for his age. Every day, he faces taunts and threats from his classmates. Recently, two of the boys, James and Elton have begun to force him to do their homework. Marcus didn’t want to tell any of his teachers or his parents about being bullied because he was afraid that it would make things worse. But after he was beaten up in the boys’ locker room, he realized that the bullying wouldn’t stop on its own. What would you suggest that Marcus do?
(1) What are some ways that Marcus could get help from an adult? Which adult(s) might he tell about his troubles?
(2) What might be some ways that Marcus could get help from other kids at school?
(3) What could Marcus say to the bullies to get them to stop?
(4) Is there a way that Marcus might use humor in this situation?
(5) How could Marcus avoid these bullies?
(6) What do you think are the best strategies for Marcus?
1As with other scenarios used in these lesson plans, change the name of the characters if they match the names of any students in your class.
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Lesson 2: Avoiding and Stopping Bullying
Length: 20-30 minutes
Goal for this lesson:
Students will become more familiar with ways to stop/avoid being bullied.
Activity:
Review with students the 5 strategies to stop bullying that were discussed in the last session:
(1) getting help from an adult (2) getting help from peers (3) being assertive (4) avoidance (5) use of humor
Read the following scenario aloud to students. Using the following questions as prompts, discuss with students ways that Monica might try to resolve the problem. If students feel comfortable role playing, you may wish to ask for volunteers to play the roles of Monica, Rachel and other characters to act out some effective strategies.
Scenario for discussion:
Monique really hates riding the bus to and from school. She used to be friends with Rachel, who also rides the bus, but lately, Rachel has been mean to her and makes the whole bus ride miserable. Last week, Rachel called out, “Have you ever seen such ugly clothes?!” and everyone on the bus started laughing at Monica. What could Monica do to help stop this bullying?
(1) What would be some ways that Monica could get help from an adult? Which adult(s) might she tell about her troubles?
(2) What might be some ways that Monica could get help from other kids at
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school or on the school bus?
(3) What could Monica say to Rachel to get her to stop?
(4) How might Monica use humor in this situation?
(5) How could Monica avoid these bullies?
(6) What do you think are the best strategies for Monica?
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Unit III
What To Do If You Witness Bullying
Length: Two class sessions. Approximately 20-30 minutes each.
Goals for these lessons:
Students will become familiar with strategies they can use if they witness bullying.
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Lesson 1: What To Do If You Witness Bullying
Length: 20-30 minutes
Goal for this lesson:
Students will become familiar with strategies that they can use if they witness bullying.
Discussion:
Ask students how many of them had witnessed some kind of bullying at their school. Ask them how it made them feel to witness the bullying. Ask how many of them remembered a time when they witnessed bullying, didn’t do anything to stop it, but wished that they had.
Remind students that it is common to see bullying, and it also is common that kids don’t always know how best to help out. Remind students that there are rules at your school against bullying. One of the rules is that all students will help kids who are bullied. Review with students how harmful bullying is--not only for the victim of bullying, but also for other students who feel uncomfortable about the bullying and who may worry that they’ll be bullied in the future.
Share an instance from your own memory when you witnessed bullying (perhaps as a child) but were reluctant to step in. Discuss with the students how it made you feel. Ask the students to tell you some reasons why kids (and adults) sometimes don’t help out when they know that someone is being bullied. In the example you gave the students, why didn’t you step in?
Explain to students that one reason why students and adults may not step in to stop bullying is that they aren’t sure how to help without making things worse (both for the victim or for themselves).
Discuss with students that there are a number of strategies to consider when trying to help victims of bullying. These strategies include:
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(1) Getting help from adults
Bullying is wrong and is against the school rules. It should be reported to an adult--a parent, teacher, or another adult at school. Discuss with students the difference between tattling and getting help from adults for a serious problem such as bullying. Tell them that if they witness bullying at school, they should think about which adult(s) at school they would feel comfortable talking to.
(2) Getting help from other kids
Most kids don’t like bullying and will be willing to try to help a victim. If kids observe bullying, they can encourage other kids to include a victim of bullying in their activities at recess, at lunch, and away from school. Ask students to think of some other ways that kids could help.
(3) Speaking out against the bullying
Some ways of speaking out against bullying might include:
• Approach the bully (only if you feel comfortable doing this) and tell him or her that you think what they are doing isn’t right. (E.g., “I heard what you said to James, and I think it was mean.” “Why did you treat Jessica like that? I thought you were better than that!” “That’s not like you to be mean.”)
• Approach the bully and show empathy toward the victim or point out that the victim doesn’t deserve to be treated that way. (Eg., “Yeah, maybe Mark isn’t so good at basketball yet, but you know I used to be really bad in sports--way worse than Mark!” “I really like Brianna, why are you saying those nasty things to her?”)
(4) Supporting the victim
Some ways of supporting a victim might include:
• Empathy: Telling him or her that you know how it feels to be picked on and that it isn’t right.
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• Asking him or her how you could help.
• Spending more time with him or her. Include him or her in your activities with other friends.
Explain to students that the first strategy that they try may not always work. In that case, it may be necessary to use several strategies.
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Lesson 2: What To Do If You Witness Bullying
Length: 20-30 minutes
Goal:
Students will become more familiar with strategies to use if they witness bullying.
Discussion:
Review with students the four strategies to consider when trying to help victims of bullying:
(1) Getting help from adults (2) Getting help from other kids (3) Speaking out against the bullying (4) Supporting the victim
Activities:
Review the example of bullying that you told students that you had witnessed as a child. Discuss with students what you might have done to help stop the bullying. Discuss each of the strategies above and encourage students to think about what combination of strategies might have been most effective in this instance.
Ask students to write a brief paragraph about a bullying situation that they witnessed at school (either recently or when they were younger). Ask them not to use any real names of children. Collect the paragraphs that the students have written, mix them up, and choose several to read to the class. For each paragraph, ask the students to discuss (or write down) specific things that they might do if they witnessed this bullying incident. Encourage them to consider each of the four general strategies listed above.
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Unit IV
Getting Parents and the Community Involved
Length: Several sessions (2-6, depending upon the amount of time devoted to each idea)
Goals:
1) Students will learn more about their school’s efforts to combat bullying and violence.
2) Students will practice interpersonal and communication skills in efforts to inform and involve community members in the schools’ efforts to combat bullying and violence.
3) Students will gain a better appreciation for parents’ and community members’ views about bullying and violence.
4) Students will become involved in community activities and will attempt to involve community members in school activities.
Preparation:
Prior to teaching this unit, have a discussion with members of the Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee and other grade-level teachers about ways in which students can try to involve parents and community members in the Bullying Prevention Program at your school (see “Possible Activities” below). Be sure to coordinate your class activities with those of other classes so that there is a unified school effort to involve parents and community members.
Discussion:
Invite a member of your school’s Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee to talk about efforts of the school to reduce bullying. Ask him or her to focus on the committee’s ideas for informing parents and other community members about the
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program and to report on what has been done.
Ask students to discuss why it might be important to involve parents and members of the community in the school’s Bullying Prevention Program.
Inform students that the school would like to hear their ideas about how to involve their parents and neighbors in the school’s efforts.
Possible Activities:
(1) Ask students to think about individuals in their community who should know about the project (e.g., churches, civic groups, other community leaders). Develop a list of these individuals and groups to compile with lists from other classes. This activity is a good opportunity to discuss with students the importance of “community” and the importance of working with others to help to improve their community.
(2) Design and generate flyers to tell the community about the problems of bullying and the violence prevention program at their school. If this is a school-wide (or grade-wide) effort, assign classes different responsibilities for this project. Several classes could write sections of the flyer (e.g., “Things You Should Know About Bullying,” “What our School is Doing to Prevent Bullying” “How You Can Get Involved”), others could design artwork for the flyer, others could make plans for how best to distribute them in the community (see #1 above for a list of key community members who should receive flyers). All students could take responsibility for distributing the flyers to these people and groups.
(3) Divide students into several small groups. Encourage each group of students to identify at least one group of individuals in the community (see #1 above) who they think should know about the Bullying Prevention Program. Work with the students to: (1) develop a plan to speak to the group about the project, (2) write a short talk which describes the Bullying Prevention Program at your school, and (3) speak to the group about the Bullying Prevention Program. Students could hand out copies of they flyers that the school developed (see #2 above). Have students practice their talks in front of the class and ask them to share their experiences with the class after they have talked the community member or group.
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(4) As a class (or as a grade, or as a school), develop a questionnaire to interview parents and community members about their views about bullying and violence in the community and ways to reduce bullying and violence. (Be sure to check with other classes so as not to duplicate efforts to interview the same community members.) Ask each student to interview several people. Students could give all participants a copy of the flyer (see #2 above). Have students in each class compile results from these interviews.
(5) As a class (or as grade, or as a school), have students design ways to inform parents about the school’s efforts during a PTA or PTO meeting or other gathering (e.g., skits, artwork). Encourage the students to be as creative and interactive as possible.
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Suggestions for Multiple Classroom Activities
These suggestions can be used on a number of occasions with students in your class. You know best what types of activities will be best suited to your own class.
(1) There are many videos, books, and other resources on the topic of bullying. Encourage your school to order some of these materials and use them in classroom discussions, book reports, role playing, artwork activities, etc.
(2) As often as possible, discuss with students the climate at the school (e.g., “How do you feel about this school?” “Is this a place you enjoy being?”). Ask them to suggest ways to reduce violence and improve the school climate. A regular class meeting with students is an excellent way to “get the pulse” of the school. Following are some possible exercises or questions to get this discussion going, but remember that allowing discussion to develop naturally can lead to rich discoveries and ideas.
• Discuss (or write down) 5 things that you like best about being at this school.
• Discuss (or write down) 5 things that might make you not want to come to school in the morning.
• How do you think students in this school are getting along with each other?
• How could we all make things better?
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References
Olweus, D. (1996). The revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire. Unpublished material. Bergen, Norway: Research Center for Health Promotion (HEMIL), Christies gate 13, N-5015 Bergen, Norway. To order, contact Dr. Olweus at the above address or at: E-mail: [email protected].
Olweus, D., Limber, S., & Mihalic, S. (1999). Blueprints for Violence Prevention: The Bullying Prevention Program. Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence. To order a copy of the Blueprint, call: 303-492-8465.
South Carolina Educational Television (1996). Video and accompanying teacher’s guide. To order a copy, call: 1-800-553-7752.
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