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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.)

Olweus Bullying Prevention Program training session at Arizona State UniversityA 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

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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
Physical and verbal bullying Web-based interative scenario which explores bullying.
State laws related to bullying among children and youth Pdf document presenting information on state laws that deal with bullying.
Research-based books and articles on bullying and peer victimization Pdf document presents list of books and articles on bullying and peer victimization.
Bullying in cyberspace Word document examining bullying in cyberspace.
Scope and impact of bullying Pdf document which discusses bullying.
Stop Bullying Now Activities Guide A 12-page pdf of activity ideas for preventing bullying in schools and youth serving organizations.
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
Olweus intervention suggestions Powerpoint presentation providing guidelines for combating bullying in schools, from the Olweus Bullying Prevention Group.
Clique bullying scenario Web-based interactive scenario which presents children reacting to a clique bullying situation and "taking a stand against the crowd."
Research-based articles and books on bullying/peer victimization Pdf document listing articles and books on bullying and peer victimization.
Documenting bullying at your school: tips for school administrators Pdf document which introduces the idea of assessing and tracking bullying behavior at school for administrators.
Community-based bullying prevention: tips for community members Pdf document, geared toward community members, discussing bullying prevention.
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.
Bullying prevention and intervention: TeamMates Mentoring Program Lincoln Public Schools 9-page PDF case study which, "looks at one program in Nebraska, Lincoln Public Schools (LPS) TeamMates, that has decided to address bullying at several schools through mentoring, using volunteers from the community to reach out to bullies and victims alike."
Advice from our "tween" and teen experts Pdf document with advice on bullying from the Youth Expert Panel.
Flirting or hurting?: Teacher guide, grade 6-9 9-page PDF teacher's guide which accompanies 3 filmed programs on sexual harrassment, "two of the modules target students, and one targets teachers. Throughout the student programs, the host, an older sister character, provides definitions, explanations and insights based on her own experiences ... the two 15-minute classroom programs include breaks for discussions or activities. These programs are appropriate for coeducational Health, Guidance, Family & Consumer Science, English, Social Studies, Physical Education, and New Student Orientation classes, or Vocational shops in grades 6 through 9."
What to do if your child is being bullied Pdf document with instructions to parents whose children are being bullied.
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."
Cyber bullying Word document examining bullying in cyberspace, with advice to parents and young people from Aman Batheja.
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.