“What Would You Do, What If It’s You?” Strategies to Deal With a Bully

Accepted on December 8, 2008 Bullying can be defined as a repeated negative interpersonal relationship characterized by an imbalance of power targeted at a person that is perceived to be weaker or more vulnerable, without apparent provocation. One study reported that 30% of 6th-10th graders in the United States were either a bully, a target of bullying, or both.When bullying is not addressed, the effects are substantial. Bullying affects the targets (anxious, afraid, and failure to concentrate at school), witnesses (guilt, helplessness, and fear), and those who participate in bullying (leads to other antisocial/delinquent behaviors). Types of bullying include physical (hitting, tripping, and shoving), verbal (namecalling, taunts, teasing, and roasting), psychological (excluding, rumors, gossip, bossing, and threatening), ostracism based on sexual orientation, sexual harassment (taunts, touching, coercion, and slurs), and cyberbullying (through Internet, e-mail, and cell phone). In cases of school violence, the attackers felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others prior to the attack. One aspect of creating a safe school environment is increasing student efficacy and reducing all forms of bullying. This lesson was created to empower students to address bullying situations. In groups, the students will work to decide what they could do if they see bullying to others and then decide what they would do if they were being bullied. Each group will take a turn acting out both their scenarios and solutions, which will reflect the scenarios indicated in Table 3. On a piece of paper, each student observing will identify the type of bullying observed in the role play. Students observing will verbally explain other appropriate strategies in the observed situation.