“Bullying happens when someone hurts your body, your feelings, your reputation, or your friendships repeatedly and on purpose.”

There is often an imbalance of power.

More information on the topic of bullying:

http://www.trudyludwig.com/author_bullybasics.html

The book “Confessions of a Former Bully”, by Trudy Ludwig (sequel to My Secret Bully) is a great resource told from the unusual point of view of the bullier rather than the bullied. Katie gets caught teasing a schoolmate and is forced to meet with the school counselor so that she can make right her wrong and learn to be a better friend. It doesn’t take Katie long to realize that bullying has hurt not only the people around her, but her, too.

In Katie’s plan to make things right, she ends up creating an informative guide book to help kids understand more about the different types of bullying, the motivation of a bully, and tools to deal with bullying situations.

The practical empower tool belt is a great area to focus on with your students.

Polling other classes in the school or having them come by the “Empower Tools” posters and decide on their preferred tool or strategy to deal with bullies is a great follow-up.

Cyberbullying

This short but powerful video addresses the topic of cyberbullying and is a good opening for a discussion on the topic.Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices. It can occur through SMS, Text, and apps, or online in social media, forums, or gaming where people can view, participate in, or share content. Cyberbullying includes sending, posting, or sharing negative, harmful, false, or mean content about someone else. It can include sharing personal or private information causing embarrassment or humiliation.