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
- PAX Good Behaviour Game
- Cyberbullying Toolkit: Webinar Archive
- Help Increase the Peace Students Bullying Research Project
- Teaching Students How to “Stand Up” to Bullying – Webinar Archive
- Social Emotional Learning via The Heart Story (RCCP)
- Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History
- Overview of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
- On-the-Spot Bullying Prevention
- On-the-Spot Mediation: how to use your skills in everyday life
- The Transformation of West Philadelphia High School: a story of hope
- Cyberbullying (UNICEF)
- Girls Bullying
- Cyberbullying Toolkit for Educators
- Another Bully Busters Song
- Puppet Show – Kids Against Bullying
- Students Take on Cyberbullying
- Peaceful School Bus Program – Hazelden Foundation
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. | |
| Providing support to children who are bullied: tips for school personnel and other adults | Pdf document with advice on bullying prevention geared toward school personnel and other adults. | |
| 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. | |
| 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 | |
| Community-based bullying prevention: tips for community members | Pdf document, geared toward community members, discussing bullying prevention. | |
| Working with young people who bully others: tips for mental health professionals | Pdf document with tips for mental health workers who treat bullies. | |
| 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. | |
| Being an ally | Pdf document for students outlining steps and sample phrases to help diffuse bullying incidents. | |
| Five Critical Steps for Reducing Peer Aggression: Early Childhood Practitioner Training Program | STEPS for Early Childhood Practitioners is a comprehensive training program using The Ophelia Project's Five Critical Steps framework. Through this training, Early Childhood practitioners learn to observe aggression in the classroom and develop skills to carefully and consciously change the social climate of preschools and childcare centers. The training modules empower practitioners to integrate using positive language and pro-social norms as part of their everyday interactions with children and also shows how to create lesson plans to promote empathy, conflict resolution, respect, civility, and manners. | |
| Stop Bullying Now Activities Guide | A 12-page pdf of activity ideas for preventing bullying in schools and youth serving organizations. | |
| 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. | |
| Bullying in out-of-school time programs: tips for youth-serving professionals and volunteers | Pdf document that examines bullying in extracurricular activities with tips for professionals and volunteers. | |
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| Assessment toolkit for bullying, harassment and peer relations at school | 170-page pdf "designed for teachers, school administrators, and ministries of education... Developed in partnership with the Canadian Initiative for the Prevention of Bullying (National Crime Prevention Strategy), this free kit provides a standard way to measure the nature and prevalence of school peer relationship problems, standards for quality programs, and a common set of tools to assess the impact of school-based programs. From a public health perspective, it provides an overview of what works and what doesn’t, foundations for best practice standards, and outlines the core school components. CPHA’s toolkit includes tips for students, parents, teachers and administrators in the form of a handout and checklist that can be posted on the fridge at home, in the student’s desk and on the chalkboard at school." | |
| Olweus intervention suggestions | Powerpoint presentation providing guidelines for combating bullying in schools, from the Olweus Bullying Prevention Group. | |
| Bullying in cyberspace | Word document examining bullying in cyberspace. | |
| 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. | |
| STOP: On-the-spot bullying intervention | Word document presenting actions and statements for on-the-spot intervention of bullying behavior. |