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
- Social Emotional Learning via The Heart Story (RCCP)
- Cyberbullying (UNICEF)
- Cyberbullying Toolkit for Educators
- Peaceful School Bus Program – Hazelden Foundation
- Overview of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program
- Puppet Show – Kids Against Bullying
- Teaching Students How to “Stand Up” to Bullying – Webinar Archive
- Another Bully Busters Song
- Bullied: A Student, a School and a Case That Made History
- PAX Good Behaviour Game
- Cyberbullying Toolkit: Webinar Archive
- Girls Bullying
- Students Take on Cyberbullying
- Help Increase the Peace Students Bullying Research Project
- On-the-Spot Mediation: how to use your skills in everyday life
- The Transformation of West Philadelphia High School: a story of hope
- 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | |
| 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. | |
| Best practices in bullying prevention and intervention | Pdf document outlining best practices for bullying prevention and intervention. | |
| Exploring the nature and prevention of bullying: bullying quiz | One page true/false quiz on bullying. | |
| 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." | |
| Research-based books and articles on bullying and peer victimization | Pdf document presents list of books and articles on bullying and peer victimization. | |
| Tips for selecting materials from the resource list | Pdf document providing tips for choosing materials on bullying. | |
| Educational resources: articles, books, films about bullying and teasing | Word document provides list of books, articles and films on bullying and teasing. | |
| State laws related to bullying among children and youth | Pdf document presenting information on state laws that deal with bullying. | |
| Community-based bullying prevention: tips for community members | Pdf document, geared toward community members, discussing bullying prevention. | |
| Sample newsletter article: bullying among children and youth | Pdf document presenting a sample newsletter article on bullying. | |
| What should I do if I'm bullied | Pdf document with advice to children who are bullied. | |
| Physical and verbal bullying | Web-based interative scenario which explores bullying. | |
| SACSC Toward a safe and caring secondary curriculum | 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 "purpose of the Society for Safe and Caring Schools and Communities Toward a Safe and Caring Curriculum Secondary Unit and Lesson Plans web-based resource is to provide units, lesson plans and other resources that integrate safe and caring knowledge, skills and attitudes into all subject areas in the Alberta secondary curriculum... this resource was developed by Alberta reachers in whose classrooms the accompanying lessons have been field tested." The lessons address 6 topics: Living Respectfully; Developing Self-Esteem; Respecting Diversity and Preventing Prejudice; Managing Anger; Dealing with Bullying; and Resolving Conflicts Peacefully for junior and senior high school students. | |
| Being an ally | Pdf document for students outlining steps and sample phrases to help diffuse bullying incidents. | |
| 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. | |
| 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." | |
| 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." | |
| 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. | |
| What to do if your child is being bullied | Pdf document with instructions to parents whose children are being bullied. |