Bullying Prevention
Conflict resolution and bullying prevention are natural partners. A comprehensive violence prevention plan should include both. Schools that have a solid conflict resolution program in place are ideally positioned to engage in bullying prevention as a next step. Conflict resolution teaches students how to solve problems when power is fairly equal and when both parties have some interest in resolving the conflict. Bullying, on the other hand, occurs when one party has more power, that party has no interest in resolving the problem, and he is primarily interested in hurting the other. In these circumstances, conflict resolution techniques are not likely to be effective, so other methods must be in place. (To learning more about bullying prevention, please visit our online learning module.)
A bullying prevention program should teach students how to distinguish normal peer conflict, which responds well to conflict resolution strategies, from bullying violence, which warrants a different set of strategies. Once students understand which type of conflict they are dealing with, they can decide which strategies to use. There are several factors (for example, contextual factors and personality traits) that determine when some strategies are more appropriate than others.
Rethinking the deeper impacts that bullying has on our school culture is important for existing conflict resolution programs. While many such programs have a long history of creating safe and caring youth cultures and providing students and staff with specific skills to confront injustice, the recent attention to bullying has expanded the importance of this work and has provided language and additional strategies for surfacing and handling this more serious form of conflict and violence. Likewise, bullying prevention programs can benefit from the comprehensive experience that conflict resolution programs offer.
Videos of Possible Interest
- The Transformation of West Philadelphia High School: a story of hope
- On-the-Spot Bullying Prevention
- Girls Bullying
- Cyberbullying Toolkit for Educators
- Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History
- Another Bully Busters Song
- Help Increase the Peace Students Bullying Research Project
- Social Emotional Learning via The Heart Story (RCCP)
- Students Take on Cyberbullying
- Peaceful School Bus Program – Hazelden Foundation
- Cyberbullying (UNICEF)
- PAX Good Behaviour Game
- Overview of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
- Teaching Students How to “Stand Up” to Bullying – Webinar Archive
- On-the-Spot Mediation: how to use your skills in everyday life
- Cyberbullying Toolkit: Webinar Archive
- Puppet Show – Kids Against Bullying
See MORE VIDEOS...
Sample Catalog Resources
Below you'll find a randomized listing of up to 20 related items (we may have more...) drawn from our Resource Catalog.
| Resource Title | Description | Links |
|---|---|---|
| State laws related to bullying among children and youth | Pdf document presenting information on state laws that deal with bullying. | |
| Sample newsletter article: bullying among children and youth | Pdf document presenting a sample newsletter article on bullying. | |
| Exploring the nature and prevention of bullying: Significant identifying characteristics for victims | Word document that lists 21 characteristics of victims of bullying. | |
| Clique bullying scenario | Web-based interactive scenario which presents children reacting to a clique bullying situation and "taking a stand against the crowd." | |
| Kids Working It Out Resource Appendix | A listing of books, publications and websites provided in the appendix to Tricia S. Jones and Randy O. Compton (Eds.) 2003 book Kids Working It Out: Stories and Strategies for Making Peace in Our Schools. | |
| Sample responses for using the "Teachable moment" for responding to bullying: On-the-spot interventi | Word document that describes different types of bullying behavior and situations, with suggested responses for educators. | |
| Stop Bullying Now Activities Guide | A 12-page pdf of activity ideas for preventing bullying in schools and youth serving organizations. | |
| Working with young people who bully others: tips for mental health professionals | Pdf document with tips for mental health workers who treat bullies. | |
| Bully Prevention in Positive Behavior Support | A 52-page handbook focusing on giving elementary students the tools to reduce bullying behavior through the blending of school-wide positive behavior support, explicit instruction, and a redefinition of the bullying construct. | |
| The Young Peacebuilders Guide To Tackling Harmful Narratives | The Young Peacebuilders’ Guide to Tackling Harmful Narratives entails a concrete step-by-step methodology and tools to support young peacebuilders in their fight against harmful narratives, as well as four concrete alternative narrative campaigns that were developed by UNOY Peacebuilders members. Rather than creating the umpteenth resource that sheds light on the issue of harmful narratives, this by-youth-for-youth guide is a collaborative document that encapsulates the work and input of 11 UNOY members who took part in UNOY Peacebuilders’ capacity development programme—Youth Promoting Peaceful and Cohesive Societies in Europe—held between April and June 2022, as well as the insights of experts in disinformation and media development at large. | |
| Research-based articles and books on bullying/peer victimization | Pdf document listing articles and books on bullying and peer victimization. | |
| Steps to address bullying at your school: tips for school administrators | Pdf document with advice to school administrators on addressing bullying at school. | |
| Bullying in cyberspace | Word document examining bullying in cyberspace. | |
| Roles for health and safety professionals in bullying prevention and intervention | Pdf document discussing bullying with tips on what health and safety professionals can do to stop the behavior. | |
| Warning signs that a child is being bullied | Pdf document illustrating behaviors that may alert parents of bullied children and steps they can take to correct the problem. | |
| Exploring the nature and prevention of bullying: bullying quiz | One page true/false quiz on bullying. | |
| Cyber bullying | Word document examining bullying in cyberspace, with advice to parents and young people from Aman Batheja. | |
| Community-based bullying prevention: tips for community members | Pdf document, geared toward community members, discussing bullying prevention. | |
| Preventing and countering school-based harassment: A resource guide for k-12 educators, rev. ed. | 76-page PDF guide which "is the result of two conferences on racial harassment and numerous training-of-trainer administrator workshops conducted during the past eight years by the Equity Center (formerly the Center for National Origin, Race, and Sex Equity—CNORSE) where the intersection of the issues of racial and sexual harassment have been made clear by educators in the field. Although much national attention has been focused separately on the issues of racial harassment and sexual harassment, the reality is that when one form of harassment occurs, the opportunity exists for all types of harassment. Focusing only on one type of harassment can allow another type of harassment to go unchallenged. This guide addresses the more comprehensive issue of school-based harassment by capturing similarities in cause of, type of, and remedy for all forms of harassment while also addressing the unique and legal aspects of racial and sexual harassment, as appropriate. The hope is that the material will help school staff, families, students, and communities to create a safe and bias-free learning environment." | |
| Assessing the status of your school's comprehensive bullying prevention plan | Pdf document which presents a series of questions to help educators determine the status of bullying programs, based on Dan Olweus's, "Bullying prevention program." |