Bullying and Anti-Bullying in Personal Life & History
Have you been bullied?
Have you bullied?
Interactive:
Put post-it up of how you were bullied ( yellow) outside the circle & how someone helped you (pink) inside the circle, pink post-its of how you helped someone who was bullied inside the circle. How does it feel?
What kind of bullying? See: Serious Talks with Bully and Parents Need to be Involved, Language of Peer Aggression.
“STOP!” USUALLY STOPS WITHIN 10 SECONDS.
Shielding Activity:
Shielding allows you to receive criticism comfortably without becoming anxious or defensive, while giving no reward to using manipulative criticism. In other words, you are putting up a SHIELD.
MATERIALS NEEDED FOR SHIELDING:
1. An evil bag (filled with strips of paper with predetermined written insults)
Possible insults:
- That dress makes you look fat
- You are such a dork
- What did you do to your hair? It looks awful.
- You are such a bad (name a sport) player.
- Everyone knows that- what´s wrong with you?
- Four eyes
- Can´t you forget to comb your hair today?
- Those are the ugliest clothes I have ever seen
- Why are you always late- can´t you tell time?
- Can´t you remember anything?
2. Facilitator should have a compilation of “shielding responses” but first see what class can come up with. Your list can include statements such as:
- I´m comfortable with that
- Do you really think so
- Thank you for sharing (humor)
- Could be
- You might think that
- That´s ok
- That´s true (you´re right)
- Maybe so
- Probably so
- That´s a possibility
- That´s your opinion
- You might be right
- Shrug shoulders and walk away
- Change the subject
SET UP TO DO ACTIVITY.
Discuss how some of us have problems due to insults or putdowns. Ask how many kids have been insulted or putdown or insulted others. Discuss how this sometimes makes us feel out of circle. Explain how you will show them a way to deal with "not agreeing or disagreeing" with a putdown or insult. More importantly, you will show them how to prevent.
Building Connections Program of Silicon Valley Faces
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BULLYING IS SOMETIMES HARD TO SEE. The bully may have arm around the shoulder of the one being bullied, may have hangers on who want to be popular with bully.
Kid in the middle can be empowered to say stop! or to take the bullied one away, or a group can surround the bully and say stop.
Discuss: How does it feel?
Videos by Todos
email: todos@igc.apc.org
New Bridges 16 minutes
Young Men´s Work, Building Skills to Stop Violence 27 minutes
Use overhead
Brainstorm Looking at history through bullying from present to past.
Go back through the brainstorm to talk about those who stood up and made a difference.
See Wherever There´s a Fight ( Runaway Slaves, Strikers, Suffragists, Poets Shaped Civil Liberties in CA by Stan Yogi and Elaine Elinson with lessons on line
- Domestic Policy Bullying:
Corporate lies re tobacco, climate change, etc : name calling of questioners, etc.
Media: Glenn Beck, etc (Francis Piven)
Mc Carthyism, Grand Jury Subpoenas in Chicago - Foreign Policy:
Manifest Destiny, Teddy RooseveltĄ¯s carrot and carry a big stick. Free trade, WTO, Deposing elected presidents ( Mossadegh in Iran 1953, Arbenz in Guatemala ´54, Allende in Chile 1973, Ariestide in Haiti, Zelaya in Honduras 2009.
Today´s bullying policies?
What can students do today?
Letters to elected officials and editors, get petitions and circulate, etc.:
- Stop landmines
- End Nuclear Tests (The Hundredth Monkey)
- Reparations for Interned Japanese, Italian and German Latin Americans, and Italian and German Americans.
- People help people (Teachable Moments)
- To help kids recognize little things
- Make a difference
Resources:
Available from www.ReachandTeach.com:
- Bully Machine Card Game:
Machines are created to repeat actions, They don´t care about feelings. People keep machines going. But people can stop or unplugg machines. They can work together to stop them. The Bully Machine can be used with 2 or five or an entire class in pairs. - Bully Free Zone:
Tips/What would you do?/Talk About It?/Act It Out ( the toughest situations) - Chill Skills:
What Would You Do?/ Talk About it/Share/Tips/Act it Out
From Southern Poverty Law Center www.TeachingTolerance.org:
Fall 2010 “Fighting Back Against Bullies”
Video for 6th grade and up “Cyberbullying”
“Middle School Confidential” by Annie Fox
National Lawyers Guild “You Have the Right to Remain Silent”
Examples of people who took a stand:
- Conscientious Objectors to War
- Katherine Gun, former British Intelligence
- How a Neighborhood Stopped the Army
Magazine Resources:
- Skipping Stones
- Yes! Magazine
- Fellowship
Summary of Research on Relational Aggression: (source: www.opheliaproject.org)
- Girls are as aggressive as boys- they just express it differently: through relationships.
- Relational aggression is as harmful as physical aggression.
- Relational aggression may be related to depression, loneliness, peer rejection, anxiety, substance uses, lack of school connectedness, and maladaptive eating behaviors.
- Girls are most likely to use RA “within” their friendship groups, turning the entire group against one individual.
- RA can be noted in girls in preschool, appears to peak in middle school years, and can be seen in all ages of women.
- The “KIM” kid in the middle- intervenes in aggression situations about 15% of the time, yet does have a high success rate of making a positive change.
- Some children use high levels of relational aggression: these children are likely to show serious adjustment problems and worsening problems over time.
- Kids in the middle and victims experience negative effects and may show lasting effects.
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