“Today I shall behave, as if this is the day I will be remembered.” ~ Dr. Seuss
From kindergarten to high school I was bullied. I love books, wore bifocals for a long time, won a lot of academic awards, and always made the honor roll. Yup, I was a pretty good candidate to be bullied. I learned later to make friends with the toughest and most popular. This sometimes involved doing their homework, going to detention for some, etc. I know you might think that is morally wrong, but when you are bullied you will do what it takes to make it stop. In kindergarten it started with a girl who always pinched me. In 6th grade, it escalated to two girls a foot taller than me and 2 grades above me who made each school day hell. Each day I walked home, they would call me horrible names. In gym class, I dreaded any kind of sport, because it meant I’d get hit by a ball or hurt by them “accidentally.” In high school, it was seeing my name scribbled on the bathroom wall with obscenities. The kids in my schools were not nice. They knew how to bully. I wish my experience was the worse I had seen but I knew kids who were bullied worse than me.
Bullying in the school environment and online is a problem we must continually strive to solve. Bullying has lead to numerous suicides as well as impacts the learning environment. October is National Bullying Prevention Month. The National Bullying Prevention Month Infographic below, created by the Liahona Academy for Boys, highlights some of the different campaigns that help people get involved in the stop bullying movement. My favorite is the Choose Your Own Adventure Texting game. Below the infographic, I share more resources and ideas.
Bullying Prevention Infographic October 2013
Provided by:Liahona Academy
Additional Resources:
These are more resources to get students reflecting on the issue. The idea is to get students to feel the impact and confront these feelings.
- Powerful video- Kaelynn and My Secrets
- Video- Sticks and Stones? Words are Worse
- To This Day Project– App, Poetry, and more
- An Open Letter to the Mom Who’s Kid is Bullying My Son
- That’s Not Cool- Kids are faced with video scenarios then choose an option
- 5 Ways to Use Cell Phones to Combat Bullying by Lisa Nielsen
- Bullying, Victims, and Voices: My Father’s Advice
- Goal 21: Cultivate Relationships #30GoalsEdu
- 10+ Getting to Know You Activities for Kids
- 10+ Getting to Know You Activities for Teens
Challenge:
Do at least one activity, even if not from this post, to help your learners reflect on the impact of bullying.
