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
- Peaceful School Bus Program – Hazelden Foundation
- Puppet Show – Kids Against Bullying
- Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History
- Cyberbullying Toolkit for Educators
- PAX Good Behaviour Game
- Cyberbullying (UNICEF)
- Help Increase the Peace Students Bullying Research Project
- Students Take on Cyberbullying
- On-the-Spot Bullying Prevention
- Cyberbullying Toolkit: Webinar Archive
- Girls Bullying
- On-the-Spot Mediation: how to use your skills in everyday life
- Overview of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
- Teaching Students How to “Stand Up” to Bullying – Webinar Archive
- Social Emotional Learning via The Heart Story (RCCP)
- Another Bully Busters Song
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 |
|---|---|---|
| What we know about bullying | Pdf document with information on bullying. | |
| GIRC Annotated Bibliography of Conflict Resolution Resources | An annotated bibliography from the Global Issues Resource Center on conflict resolution resources covering the topics of bullying prevention, classroom management, and trauma & violence prevention. Includes books, curricula, videotapes, simulations and games. | |
| Bullying in our schools: protecting GLBT youth | Powerpoint presentation which discusses bullying in schools particularly involving gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgendered youth in schools. | |
| Bully Prevention in Positive Behavior Support for Middle Schools | This 45-page handbook focuses on school-wide positive behavior support, explicit instruction, and a redefinition of the bullying construct in a middle school. | |
| Best practices in bullying prevention and intervention | Pdf document outlining best practices for bullying prevention and intervention. | |
| 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. | |
| Digital Citizenship Poster for Middle and High School Classrooms | A poster targeting middle school and high school age youth that provides a flow chart to help students decide if sharing something (a photo for instance) online is appropriate or not. A larger poster is available for order - info at www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/middlehigh_poster | |
| 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. | |
| Bullying prevention | On-line learning module which teaches the user to "State definitions and types of bullying, list the short and long-term effects of bullying, describe places where bullying happens, state examples of effective and appropriate bullying interventions, describe the roles of parents, siblings and others in preventing bullying, recognize the requirements of a school bullying prevention program and locate resources for bully prevention." | |
| State laws related to bullying among children and youth | Pdf document presenting information on state laws that deal with bullying. | |
| What can students and youth do to lend a hand | Pdf document with advice to students and youth on bullying prevention. | |
| How to talk to educators at your child's school about bullying: tips for parents of bullied children | Pdf document that helps parents of bullied children address issues with educators. | |
| Scope and impact of bullying | Pdf document which discusses bullying. | |
| STOP: On-the-spot bullying intervention | Word document presenting actions and statements for on-the-spot intervention of bullying behavior. | |
| What should I do if I'm bullied | Pdf document with advice to children who are bullied. | |
| Tips for selecting materials from the resource list | Pdf document providing tips for choosing materials on bullying. | |
| Physical and verbal bullying | Web-based interative scenario which explores bullying. | |
| Educational resources: articles, books, films about bullying and teasing | Word document provides list of books, articles and films on bullying and teasing. | |
| SACSC Elementary unit and lesson plans | Web site developed by the Society for Safe and Caring Schools and Communities in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada whose mission "is to encourage home, school and community practices that teach, model and reinforce socially responsible and respectful behaviors, so that living and learning can take place in a safe, caring and inclusive environment. Achieving this mission requires the involvement not only of parents, teachers, and children, but of all the important adults in children’s lives." The site houses a number of lesson plans and educational units "focusing on adult modeling, the SACSC programs prevent negative social behavior through character education, conflict management training and building respect for diversity. They promote a problem-solving approach to discipline that encourages positive social behavior by expecting young people to fix the wrong they have caused, thereby learning from their mistakes." They focus on 5 topics: Living Respectfully; Developing Self-Esteem; Respecting Diversity and Preventing Prejudice; Managing Anger and Dealing with Bullying and Harassment; and Resolving Conflicts Peacefully for grades K-6. | |
| 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." |