Bullying in Schools

Dealing with Bullying

In recent months it is almost impossible for a day to go by without a story in the newspaper or on television about a student who has been bullied in school or on the internet (cyber bullying). Tragically several of these events have led to the victim committing suicide. Sometimes the targets are overweight students . Sometimes they are recent immigrants who do not know the language and culture and are labeled as” different.” Other victims include gay and lesbian students or students with different religious beliefs or social customs.

Ashlynn Conner, a fifth grader in Illinois,  11 year old Matthew Wilson, and 14 year Jamey Rodemeyer were just a few of the school children who decided that death with a preferred option to the constant  taunting, bullying and harassment that they were subjected to in school, on the playground, in the neighborhood or via computer.

 The Teaching Tolerance Program is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Teachers can find interdisciplinary lesson plans with objectives for several grade levels. The Southern Poverty Law Center   also has lesson plans  on other related topics. This is an excellent resource. You can access this source at the following web address: http://www.tolerance.org/activity/bullying-survey

The New Jersey State Bar Foundation has an exemplary anti- bullying curriculum for use in the schools. A downloadable pamphlet about the program may be obtained by accessing the following site: http://www.njsbf.org/images/content/1/1/11442.pdf. The organization also offers training programs for teachers and administrators as well as community organizations. Bullying is not just a school problem; it is a community wide problem that needs to be addressed at multiple levels. That being said, according the  to the NJSBS the most effective programs are initiated through the schools.

The Clemson University Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life is the sponsor of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program-  http://www.olweus.org/public/index.page. The program’s goals are to reduce and prevent bullying problems among school children and to improve peer relations at school. The program is suitable for elementary and middle school students. For more information about the programs and research taking placed at Clemson, please check out  http://www.clemson.edu/olweus/

Education World, the on- line magazine, has a host of articles and lesson plans for classroom teachers seeking materials for use in the classroom. You can find this at http://www.educationworld.com/a_special/bully.shtml

Kid’s Health is a site sponsored by the Nemours Foundation, a DuPont family entity dedicated to the health of children. There are those who see bullying as a health issue on several fronts.  One because of the physical harm to the victims and two- the emotional stress that is a byproduct of being constantly bullied. Check out http://kidshealth.org/parent/emotions/behavior/no_bullying.html

Teachers also may want to check out the myriad of books at all grade levels that  deal with the topic of bullying.