Bullying can happen anywhere, any place. It mostly occurs in school. It is important to handle the situation correct way to help everyone involved. We will explain the correct way to handle different bullying situations to help both the person bullying and the person being bullied.
Bullying, Cyberbullying, Racism, Teen Dating Violence, Speak Up
Bullying is still happening today everywhere we go. It can be subtle, it can be obvious, or somewhere in between. For example, in high school 1 in 5 students reported getting bullied in the last year. Bullying can come in physical, verbal, or social varieties. (CDC, 2020)
Figure 1
Although there are many different programs to prevent bullying, it still happens in school, at work, online, in relationships, and other social gatherings. Some may think that racism and dating violence, are not bullying, but they are still some of the most common types of bullying going on in today's world. I have taught health for 9 years and one of our units every semester is focused on bullying and how to respond to it. This learning module can be used for any age in high school
As we talk about bullying, you will see it is good to find a way to end it early. If we can get the person bullying and the person being bullied help early on, it is more likely to prevent it again in the future. There are many programs around to help prevent bullying, but it is the caring, dedicated people that are necessary to stop bullying behavior (Espelage & Swearer, 2011). Dr. Espelage explains in her video below that even though bullying is not an epidemic because of the varying bully rates, it is still a problem. Many cases go unresolved or even unreported because 50 percent of bullies are Machiavellian bullies, or those that are popular or of high social status (Education at Illinois, 2017).
Education at Illinois. (2017, April 12). Perceptions, Definition and Prevalence. Retrieved July 13, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=g7iRs1jMUc0&feature=emb_logo
This is an issue that sometime only 50% of bullies are reported just because of social status, and we need to change this. This learning module will cover different ways to identify, prevent and stop bullying in the places where it may occur.
Throughout this learning module, we will discuss bullying in different environments. With the information you will be able to:
The state of Illinois has their set of Learning Standard for PE/Health. Goal 24 directly relates to bullying with preventing and resolving differences. The two specific Physical Development and Health Performance descriptors for high school are (Illinois State Board of Education, 2014):
24.A.4b Formulate strategies to prevent conflict and resolve differences.
24.A.5a Compare and contrast strategies to prevent conflict and resolve differences.
Pedagogical uses in the learning module: There will be some didactic teaching along with collaborative learning between the students. The students will then create a multimodal peer- reviewed project to help them understand bullying resolution and prevention further.
Before we begin, take the pre- survey
After you have completed the survey, start thinking about ways you or someone you know may have been bullied.
It is important to know that the earlier bullying can be stopped the better. It will help the student who is bullying along with the student being bullied get the necessary help. The CDC recommends a combination of strategies to help prevent bullying in schools.
Adding a combination of these programs to a school setting can help prevent bullying early on. There may still be some bullying later on in high school for some that may find other ways of bullying. It is important to then know how to revolve differences in an appropriate and civil manner.
In any situation, talking to the person in a respectful manner and asking them to stop can be a good first step. Being confident and direct can help stop the bully.Humor may also be used to help stop the person bullying without bullying the person back. If this does not work, you can tell a trusted adult for and ask for help either communicating with the bully better or what the next steps can be. The adult may be able to stop or more help may be needed from school administrators or counselors.
You may not always be the one being bullied. You may be a bystander. You can help the person being bullied by becoming an upstander. An upstander is someone that intervenes, interrupts, or speaks up to stop the bullying (Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA), 2020). Speaking up can stop the bullying right then and there. There are many commercials made to encourage people to speak up against bullying. An example is below:
Cartoon Network. (2013, September 30). "It's What You Do" | Stop Bullying: Speak Up | Cartoon Network. Retrieved July 14, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZUYEUtOIRg
In order for these bullying interventions to work, it is necessary to know:
1. Bullying is not ok- no matter what
2. Bullying includes an imbalance of power: physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity
3. Bullying in retaliation does not work, and may make the situation worse
4. Violence is never the answer!
5. Be kind and considerate to all involved. Do not label someone as bully or a victim. Labels can send a message that behaviors can not change, they fail to recognize the multiple roles children might playing in different bullying situations, and they disregard other factors that may have influenced the bullying behavior (Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA), 2020).
With all of this, bullying can be prevented as soon as possible if the correct interventions are used.
Comment: Think about a bullying situation you have seen on television, in person or something that may have happened to you. Describe the situation. What could have been done different to stop the bullying sooner? Was there another technique used that worked? If so, explain what worked. Comment on 3 others posts responding in at least 100 words
Meaning of the lesson: An introduction to how to handle bullying in schools. It will be discussion based along with some didactic teaching put into the lesson.
Discuss these strategies with the students in detail as the CDC recommends using a combination of these to help prevent bullying as early as possible
1. Promote family environments that support health development
2. Provide quality education early in life
3. Strengthen youth's skills
4. Connect youth to caring adults and activities
5. Create protective community environments
6. Intervene to lessen harms and prevent future risk.
Discussion: SPEAK UP on Bullying: Encourage the students to be confident and firm when speaking to someone who is bullying to stop. They can use humor to help make the person bullying stop. Make a joke without making fun of the bully. Ask the students for some examples that may work?
In some cases that Speaking up to the person bullying may not work and you will have to talk to a trusted adult for help. The adult may give some other direction on how to talk to the person. If the bullying is more serious there may have to be intervention with counselors, administration and parents to help resolve the issue to see what the underlying problem is.
Ask for questions regarding the what to know when responding to bullying. Be prepared for answering questions associated with the five necessities.
APA Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program. (2014, January 22). Workplace Bullying. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bhrqQ5zNmc
Although most bullying for school aged students happens at school. There are many studies done about workplace bullying. As the video stated one major national study showed 35% of people have experienced workplace bullying. Some studies have even show up 60% of people experiencing workplace bullying including this study by Unison. With about half of people experiencing bullying while at work, this is a major problem and we need to know how to handle the situation well. Once again, bullying is related to a power struggle. It can come from both coworkers or supervisors. It is important to handle the situation as professional as possible. A person being bullied should
Avoid retaliating as this will be a detriment to fixing the problem and may cause discipline for you also.
Although there are no specific laws about bullying in the workplace, bullying can fall under discrimination and harassment laws if it needs to go that far. Every situation is different and sometimes it may be better for some to separate themselves from the problem and find a workplace where they can feel safe and happy. Everyone has the right to be safe and happy in their place of work
Comment: Scenario- You are needing a job to start paying some bills. You start a job at a local restaurant. You are experiencing bullying from the owner of the restaurant you are working at. Research some options of best practice for this situation and describe what you can do to stay professional while still stopping the bullying at your workplace.
Introduction:
This may be the hardest situation to handle for young people for multiple reasons.
Discuss these problems and have the students brainstorm some more issues that come up as a young person in the workplace and address those also.
As the lesson progresses towards the guided discovery of finding ways to help prevent bullying with the owner of the restaurant, make sure students are staying on the right track by asking some questions such as:
As new technology and new social media application are developed, it makes more possibilities of being bullied online, which brings us to the topic cyberbullying. This is becoming more prevalant becuase it gives the person bullying something to hide behind. Cyberbullying can take place in school, or out of school.
There are many places online that cyberbullying can happen. New apps are developed every day which makes it hard to know what the app can end up being used for. Stopbullying.gov has a list of apps that can possibly be used for cyberbullying and should be used responsibly by students. Some common apps that you may use are SnapChat and TikTok where cyberbullying could happen very easily.
If cyberbullying is happening to you or someone you know, you should:
Speaking up is a main theme across the board. Be firm and confident when speaking up
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2017, October 2). Be Someone's Hero. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64LNwrd0fHg&feature=youtu.be
Comment: Research a new App that has just been released this year. Describe how it may be used by people cyberbullying. How can you help your friends from getting involved in the dangers of this app? Comment on 3 others posts responding in at least 100 words
Introduction: Cyberbullying is an ever evolving process. New ways for cyberbullying come out every day. It is important to use the apps reporting feature, screenshot bullying experiences, report to schools or work supervisors, and never to retaliate.
Have the students come up with reasons why TikTok and Snapchat might be sources for cyberbullying. Some common answers:
They may come up with some other ideas as they may use the apps frequently and may have seen other ways of cyberbullying on there.
Bullying can also happen in relationships. Teen dating violence happens in about 1 in 10 couples (Stomp Out Bullying, 2020). It is important to know that it is not ok for your partner to be verbally, emotionally, physically or sexually abusive to you. This is bullying! There are many signs that point to violence or abusive behavior that some people don't even think anything of. Here are some examples from Stomp Out Bullying:
Figure 2
Jealousy is a huge topic that most never even think of as a sign of abusive or violent behavior. Jealousy can look different with different people. They may try to make you feel bad for talking to someone, they may get mad, they may get physical, etc. If your partner is showing multiple signs, you are most likely in a teen dating violence relationship. If you are in one of these relationships you should:
If your friend is in a teen dating violence relationship you should:
This type of bullying can be very tricky as you care for the person and can also become very dangerous if not handled the early or the correct way
Comment: Read this article. How could Lauren's friends have helped more in the situation? How could Nate's parents have handled the situation better. Using things we have learned in this part of the module, if handled properly could auren still possibly be alive today? Comment on 3 others posts responding in at least 100 words
Introduction: Bullying in relationships can be the most difficult to get through. People dont want to admit that they are in a violent relationship because they feel like they love the person and they believe their partner's behavior is showing love back to them. If not caught early, teen dating violence can turn dangerous or possibly deadly.
It is important to handle all of these situations with care with both the parter being bullied and the partner who is bullying. It is important to follow all of the steps provided so that everyone stays safe.
Bullying can happen in any other social situation. It is important to know strategies to keep everyone involved safe as any types of bullying can happen in any environment. Racism and racist acts are a form of bullying we have not covered yet. Racism is still happening across the world even in 2020. It is important for everyone to be part of the change and prevention of racism.
Figure 3
As Rebecca Haslam states in her article and explains Figure 3, everyone must be involved in ending racism and getting to true equity which is liberation. The people wh have advantages in life, must speak up and break down barriers so that the people experiencing racism or equity issues can have true liberation. You should use the same strategies with racism as other types of bullying. As it may best for your safety if you find your self in an area where racism or bias may occur, you should:
Comment: In July 2020, there was a racist event caught on video video in Bloomington, Indiana that was sweeping national news. Read this article about the event and answer these questions
1. What could Mr. Booker and his friends could have done differently when arriving to the park and seeing it blocked?
2. What could the people at the park done differently?
3. How could this have been resolved without violence?
Comment on 3 others posts responding in at least 100 words
Introduction: Bullying can happen anywhere any place. It is everyone's responsibility to help prevent and stop it from happening. Even though racism can be its own category, it is still considered bullying because of power struggle. This may be a very sensitive issue for some students because they may experience racism every day of their lives. Be sure to know this topic may bring some strong emotion. It must be covered as handling the situation in a correct way could be life or death for some. Some students may not understand the seriousness of the topic so it will be important to go through things slow and explain what is right in society and what is wrong.
You will now create a pamphlet with information regarding information on preventing bullying for a specific topic. You can choose any of the topics we went over. You will be in your peer review groups of four people. Once you are finished with your pamphlet you will share it with your group so that they can comment and review using the rubric below
You will use Google Docs to create and share the pamphlet with your group members.According to the rubric, you must:
Once you have completed the draft, all of your group members have commented and reviewed your pamphlet, and you have made all necessary revisions, you can then share your pamphlet with the teacher for your grade.
After you completed the project you can fill out the post survey
Introduction. Make sure the students are placed in review groups of 4-5 students so that they can have at least 3 people review their work.
Pedagogy change: This part of the module will have the teacher as a facilitator. They will be researching and working independently as the teacher is there to ask challenging questions, help when a student has a mental block, and point them in the right direction for reliable material.
Closure: Bullying is a topic that can be an everyday experience for some. We need to not be afraid to speak up for ourselves or others. Everyone has the human right to feel safe and happy in every environment they encounter. Be part of the change for the world.
APA Psychologically Healthy Workplace Program. (2014, January 22). Workplace Bullying. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bhrqQ5zNmc
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA). (2020, July 01). Bystanders to Bullying. Retrieved July 14, 2020, from https://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/bystanders-to-bullying
Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (ASPA). (2020, June 30). Kids on Social Media and Gaming. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/kids-on-social-media-and-gaming
Cartoon Network. (2013, September 30). "It's What You Do" | Stop Bullying: Speak Up | Cartoon Network. Retrieved July 14, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZUYEUtOIRg
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2017, October 2). Be Someone's Hero. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64LNwrd0fHg&feature=youtu.be
Espelage, D., & Swearer, S. (2011). Bullying in North American Schools (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Education at Illinois. (2017, April 12). Perceptions, Definition and Prevalence. Retrieved July 13, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=g7iRs1jMUc0&feature=emb_logo
Government of Canada, C. (2020, July 14). Bullying in the Workplace : OSH Answers. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/psychosocial/bullying.html
Illinois State Board of Education. (2014). Physical Development and Health Performance Descriptors. Retrieved July 13, 2020, from https://www.isbe.net/Documents/Goals-19-24-and-Perf-Descrip.pdf
Setty, G., & Joseph, E. (2020, July 08). FBI investigating alleged racist attack in Indiana, lawyer says. Retrieved July 18, 2020, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/08/us/fbi-investigation-alleged-racist-attack-indiana/index.html
Spencer, M. (2014, September 13). Loved to Death. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/loved-to-death/
Stomp Out Bullying. (2020). Harassment and Teen Dating Violence. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.stompoutbullying.org/harassment-and-teen-dating-violence
Tomaska, J. (2020, July 13). Bullying. Retrieved July 13, 2020, from https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vHk9XeTBhYrHMmOXLM2OwFx32ApKNVl9nBFvVNEQ1lI/edit
Unison. (2013, July). Tackling Bullying at Work. Retrieved July 17, 2020, from https://www.unison.org.uk/content/uploads/2013/07/On-line-Catalogue216953.pdf