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5.4 Battle the Bullies: Part 1

Items Needed: 

 

Set the Stage: 

Distribute the Peer Reaction Questionnaire to each student to complete.

Tell students not to put their names on the Peer Reaction Questionnaire and to work alone.

Remind students there are no right or wrong answers and to answer as honestly as possible.

Collect the questionnaires when students are done.

Introduce the activity by having a general discussion about bullying.

Tell students that even in a positive classroom and school community, negative peer interactions can sometimes occur.

Display a blank Peer Reaction Questionnaire on a projector or interactive whiteboard.

Share that in this scenario, a student is being bullied by another student on her walk home from school.

  • Can you imagine something like this happening? Have you ever witnessed or heard about bullying at our school?

Tell students that bullying is something that occurs in schools and neighborhoods all over the world.

Write the following questions on the board, and have buddies turn and talk while you tally questionnaire responses.

  • What is bullying?
  • Why does it happen?
  • How does it make us feel?
  • What can we do about it?

Use the Teacher Reference Guide to tally and summarize students’ responses to the questionnaire.

 

Activity: 

Discuss the first of three roles in a bullying situation: the bully.

In most situations, there are three types of people involved. One is the bully. Who is the bully in this situation?

  • Olivia is the bully.

What is a bully?

  • A bully is someone who physically, verbally, or socially abuses a peer; a bully intends to harm his or her victim and does so repeatedly over time.

Why do you think Olivia is bullying another student?

  • She is bullying to feel important, to have others think she’s important and cool, to get an emotional reaction out of the target, to get peers’ attention, to make kids laugh, to be popular.

 

Review and discuss students’ responses in the Peer Reaction Questionnaire regarding the bully (Olivia).

Provide students with a summary of their responses and elicit their reactions.

  • 50% of the students in this class thought Olivia was popular.

Emphasize that bullies usually care a lot about what their peers think.

Communicate that usually, the bully’s main goal is to be perceived as cool and popular and that one way to stop bullying is to not give the bully what he or she wants.

  • Do not support the bully’s behavior or reinforce the idea that his or her behavior is cool.

 

Discuss the next role in a bullying situation: the target.

Who is the target in this situation?

  • Julia is the target.

How is Julia feeling in this situation?

  • Julia is scared, sad, angry, embarrassed.

Explain that this is an awful experience for Julia.

  • Would you want to be Julia in this situation?
  • Would you ever want to make someone feel like this?

Review and discuss students’ responses in the Peer Reaction Questionnaire regarding the target (Julia).

Provide them with a summary of their responses and elicit their reactions.

Communicate that supporting and being friends with the target of bullying is one way to help him or her cope with bullying and feel confident enough to defend him or herself.

 

Discuss the third role in a bullying situation: the bystanders.

Explain what a bystander is.

  • Bystanders are those who witness bullying.

Who are the bystanders in this situation?

  • Tommy and Natalie are the bystanders.

How do Tommy and Natalie react to the bullying situation?

  • Tommy encourages Olivia; Tommy laughs and seems to think that Olivia’s behavior is funny and cool; Natalie looks uncomfortable; Natalie stays out of the situation.

Do you think Tommy or Natalie are helpful in this situation? Why or why not?

  • No, they don’t help Julia; Tommy makes it worse; Natalie just stays quiet and doesn’t support Julia.

Review and discuss students’ responses in the Peer Reaction Questionnaire regarding the bystanders (Tommy and Natalie).

Provide them with a summary of their responses and elicit their reactions.

Communicate that bystanders are important— bystanders can help put an end to bullying by supporting and defending the target, and by not encouraging and reinforcing the bully’s behavior.

Discuss the behavior of each person in the scenario and how their behaviors could affect repeated bullying.

Do you think Olivia will likely bully Julia again? Why or Why not?

  • Yes, because Olivia was reinforced for her behavior, no one stood up to her, Olivia was encouraged, Olivia probably thought she was cool since no one challenged her, she got a reaction out of Julia.

 

Explain that this is a very negative situation and that we don’t want things like this happening at our school and in our classroom.

Let students know they will now change how the characters reacted in this situation so they support the target and stop the bullying.