Do the students at your school need clarification about what bullying really means? Do they refer to any mean act as bullying? Maybe they keep severe bullying under wraps because they don’t think it’s a big deal. Teaching kids the definition of bullying will help you reduce the confusion. It will also help students to become better at identifying and responding to bullying.
Why Teach the definition of bullying
When kids don’t know what something is, they won’t be able to identify it when they see or experience it. For example, I have struggled with anxiety for my whole life but didn’t realize it until I was in college. No one had ever told me what anxiety was or what it looked like.
The same can be true for bullying. Kids can see or experience bullying and not know it’s bullying. If we want students to report and confront it, they need to know what it is.
While some students may not realize something is bullying, others might think any unkind action is bullying. This can lead to students telling an adult about a minor incident immediately instead of using their own conflict resolution strategies. This can also lead to students referring to someone as a “bully,” even though what they did was not bullying.
When thinking about bullying, many students may think solely of physical bullying that they have seen on TV or in movies. While this is one way that bullying occurs, kids must know that it can happen in other ways, too.
A clear definition of bullying will help your students learn to identify and respond to it appropriately.
What Bullying Definition Should I use?
According to Stopbullying.gov, “Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. It also is repeated or has the potential to be repeated.”
I love how clear that is, but it is difficult for kids to remember and understand. So, I like to break it down into four things.
- Bullying happens several times. It is a repeated behavior, not a one-time incident.
- Bullying is one-sided. It involves one person hurting another person. The person who is engaging in bullying has some power over the other. For example, they are bigger, more popular, smarter, etc.
- Bullying is mean and harmful. It causes the target to be hurt in some way, whether physical, emotional, or otherwise.
- Bullying is purposeful. For something to be bullying, it must be intentional, not an accident.
I combine these four criteria into an easy-to-remember acronym- STOMP. Bullying is behavior that happens several times, is one-sided, mean, and purposeful.
How should I teach about the definition of bullying?
Now that we know WHY we would teach the definition of bullying and its definition, let’s talk about HOW to teach it.
As I mentioned, using an acronym is a great way to help students remember the definition of bullying. You can also hang a poster about it in your office or make a bulletin board.
Teach about it explicitly
Although having the definition visible is a great idea, don’t forget to teach about it explicitly. Include the information in a bullying prevention lesson, or even do a whole lesson about bullying. This can reduce any confusion students might have about what bullying is. It also gives you the chance to answer any questions they might have.
In these lessons, discussing scenarios students might experience can be helpful. Giving students practical examples will help them distinguish between bullying, conflict, and a mean moment. Students can come up with examples, or you can give them scenarios. Then, they can vote on whether or not they think it is bullying.
Allow students to practice identifying bullying
Check out this Google slides game if you want an activity to help with this. It includes 30 editable scenarios that students can look at. They will then decide whether or not they think it is bullying, conflict, or a mean moment. After they click on their answer, they will learn whether or not their answer was correct. This is a great activity to use if you are doing distance learning or social distancing.
Putting up visual reminders and teaching explicitly about the types of bullying is a great way to ensure your students know what bullying is and is not.
By teaching kids the definition of bullying, we empower them to identify it when they see it so that they can effectively stand up to it. Don’t miss this important step in your bullying prevention lessons!
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How do you teach Students What Bullying is?
Drop your ideas in the comments below!
Thank you!