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
- Another Bully Busters Song
- Help Increase the Peace Students Bullying Research Project
- Students Take on Cyberbullying
- Girls Bullying
- On-the-Spot Mediation: how to use your skills in everyday life
- Cyberbullying (UNICEF)
- Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History
- Puppet Show – Kids Against Bullying
- Peaceful School Bus Program – Hazelden Foundation
- Overview of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
- The Transformation of West Philadelphia High School: a story of hope
- PAX Good Behaviour Game
- Cyberbullying Toolkit for Educators
- Cyberbullying Toolkit: Webinar Archive
- Teaching Students How to “Stand Up” to Bullying – Webinar Archive
- Social Emotional Learning via The Heart Story (RCCP)
- On-the-Spot Bullying Prevention
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. | |
| Research-based articles and books on bullying/peer victimization | Pdf document listing articles and books on bullying and peer victimization. | |
| How to intervene to stop bullying: tips for on-the-spot intervention at school | Pdf document with instruction on dealing with bullying at school, how to intervene and follow-up procedures. | |
| 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." | |
| 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 | |
| Faith-community responses to bullying among children and youth | Pdf document which outlines steps that faith communities can take to stop bullying. | |
| Understanding bullying within the camp setting: tips for parents | Pdf document for parents about bullying in the camp setting. | |
| 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." | |
| Why is Everybody Always Picking on Me?: A guide to handling bullies for young people | This 10-chapter 131-page illustrated book, available as a pdf, is for youth ages 8-16. Lively color illustrations, exciting stories, and practical tips and role-playing exercises help give children the tools to avoid being victimized. Topics covered include: Cope with the "Schoolyard Bully"; Stop bullies by using the "School of No Sword"; Gain the confidence to win without fighting. Recipient of the Silver Benjamin Franklin Award. | |
| Working with young people who bully others: tips for mental health professionals | Pdf document with tips for mental health workers who treat bullies. | |
| 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. | |
| Measuring Bullying Victimization, Perpetration, and Bystander Experiences: A Compendium | This compendium (128-page pdf) provides researchers, prevention specialists, and health educators with tools to measure a range of bullying experiences: bully perpetration, bully victimization, bully-victim experiences, and bystander experiences. The compendium represents a starting point from which researchers can consider a set of psychometrically sound measures for assessing self-reported incidence and prevalence of a variety of bullying experiences. | |
| Involvement of law enforcement officers in bullying prevention | Pdf document examining ways in which law enforcement personnel can be involved in the prevention of bullying. | |
| 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. | |
| Misdirections in bullying prevention and intervention | Pdf document which discusses mistakes made in dealing with bullies and suggestions for alternative strategies. | |
| 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. | |
| International network on school bullying and violence: March 2007 overview | Powerpoint presentation overview of the work of the International Network on School Bullying and Violence whose aim is to, "stimulate and support more effective measures against school bullying and violence." | |
| 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. | |
| Intervention tips for law enforcement officers | Pdf document examining the role of law enforcement in bullying. | |
| Bullying prevention: CRETE training day 3 | Powerpoint presentation for educators on bullying and ways to prevent bullying behavior. |