This month we’re giving away a copy of Nobody! A Story About Overcoming Bullying in School to ten lucky readers. Nobody!, a companion to the Weird series, helps children learn to deal with persistent bullying, overcome insecurities, and express feelings without hurting others.
To Enter: Leave a comment below telling us how you help kids deal with bullying.
For additional entries, leave a separate comment below for each of the following tasks that you complete:
Each comment counts as a separate entry. Entries must be received by midnight, July 24, 2015.
The winner will be contacted via email on or around July 28, 2015, and will need to respond within 72 hours to claim his or her prize or another winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way affiliated with, administered, or endorsed by Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. Winner must be a U.S. resident, 18 years of age or older.
We welcome your comments and suggestions. Share your comments, stories, and ideas below, or contact us. All comments will be approved before posting, and are subject to our comment and privacy policies.
© 2015 by Free Spirit Publishing. All rights reserved.
Bullying is it a way of controlling others or our own insecurities as a child. All of us have been bullied or bullied someone throughout our lives. But the problem is did we have the correct tools given to us to become a better person and break the chains of bullying others . As educators we strive to help the child, be supportive of there decisions and help them grow, become independent, but or we allowing them self expression to speak up without judgement. Bullying is a very fine line for the bully and the bullied. Taking the time to talk things out and being open as to why we behave this way is just one of the ways we handle situations that might arise in my classroom
This book would be a great asset to our class and my coworkers 😊
I am a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist specializing in children, teens and families. I utilize play therapy, art therapy, biblio-therapy and talk to support both victims of bullying and aggressive children learn empathy, compassion, kindness and social skills.
I am a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist specializing in children, teens and families. I utilize play therapy, art therapy, biblio-therapy and talk to help both bullying victims and aggressive children learn empathy, compassion, kindness and social skills.
I loved the weird series – looking forward to this book too.
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proactive classroom lessons. I also have started an Leadership/AmbassaderTeam to help deal with conflicts on the playground. As a school we also work on definitions of being unkind, empathy and tolerance. It’s ongoing and everyone is on board.
I think the best way to prevent bullying is to teach kids ways to be their best selves. Books like this always help teach these lessons. Then teach them all a way for handling themselves when someone is disrespectful. Kids will think of any rude behavior as “bullying,” so I also teach the difference between disrespect and true bullying.
I focusing helping them understand teasing, conflict, mean behavior ,and bullying. Often times students use the term “bullying,” and the behavior doesn’t match the word. This has been super helpful. Then of course strategies to deal with each.
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I teach specific lessons on bullying throughout the year, as well as, infuse anti-bullying message and respect into my other lessons. I use books and impact counseling techniques to make concepts of bullying personal, concrete, and something they will remember for years to come! Different lessons include: bystander vs upstander (One), definitions of bullying, being careful with words (Mr. Peabody’s Apples), If You Really Knew Me iceberg lesson, Llama Llama and the Bully Goat to teach little ones how bullying hurts…those are just some of my lessons. This book would be a great addition to my counseling library and curriculum to use with my students and teachers! 🙂
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I use literature to help students learn about rel life bullying situations, how to recoginize them, how to deal with them and how to stand up for others.
I am entering my first year of being a school counselor for 7th through 12th grade. My principal has stated that we have a high rate of bullying within the lower grades and that we need a lot of help. Since I’m a newbie, I haven’t had the training or knowledge to know what exactly to do. This book will help me understand what we can do to make our school a safe environment and to show kids how wrong bullying is. Thank you for your consideration!
A must have and must read!
I try to teach my children to treat others the way we want to be treated.
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I often use children’s literature to support my counseling lessons on the topic of bullying. I also use real life situations with students to build empathy and help them see the world through another student’s perspective. Students really respond well to any current video and music resources (such as Kid President) in support of kindness and making the world a better place.
Providing resources for K-12, staff, classes and individuals…the school librarian can address issues of bullying and substitute random acts of kindness on many levels.
While I use the Weird Series in small group, this particular book I would find helpful on an individual basis as well.
I do not allow negative statements between my students. They will say things like “I was kidding” or I didn’t mean it” I explain that people don’t always take it as a joke and it is a bad habit to start.
I am a school counselor for grades K-12. I absolutely love the Weird series. My students identify with the characters and refer back to them throughout the school year. I have been excited about Nobody since I heard it was in the works. I would love to have this book and will share it with all my students!
I love this series! I have been an elementary/middle school counselor for 25 years, and find the Weird series to be the best example of bullying, bystander issues, and bullied issues. I would love a free copy of Nobody, because I already know that it is powerful and a great addition to my collection.
I am a Social Worker in an elementary school in Chicago. The community has a high level of violence. In school, I help students identify bullying behaviors, and to learn other ways to communicate their needs and feelings, as some students may not be aware that their behaviors are considered bullying.
I teach middle school. We try to focus on kindness and have events during Random Acts of Kindness Week and Unity Day. However, I also teach about bullying and cyberbullying in my class. We also have a school district walk against bullying and have invited a variety of speakers to our school.
I help kids deal with bullying by strategizing ways to deal with the behavior. We also just began writing formal safety plans this year, and this has helped children feel safer and parents feel less anxious about their child’s safety.
Ellen
I always encourage school staff to make use of children’s literature to address the difficult topics such as bullying.
As the school social worker, I work with students everyday to support them in overcoming dealing with a bullying.
I’ve also recently proposed a curriculum to work to support “the bully”. It is my belief if we help the bully feel better about themselves and assist them in making healthy peer connections, we could stop bullying completely.
I hope my children by talking about bullying and we read books and I also share with the parents what we are doing and give parent resources they can use at home.
I teach what bullying is and is not. What to do when you see it or it happens a to you!
I help kids learn how to advocate for themselves. I help them learn how to stand up to bullies and how to be confident.
As an elementary school counselor,
I help children ages 4-11 face bullying in everyday life. I strive to help students understand how to be an “UPstander” by standing up for themselves and others!
As a school counselor i work with students individually and in groups to overcome bullying. Im always looking for new resources to engage children in talking about this topic.
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I am an elementary school counselor, and I love the Weird series. I have taught school for over 30 years, and the Weird series has definitely impacted my students more than any other text, movie, or program I have used to prevent bullying in my schools. I use it in conjunction with the Bully Buster Shorts video, and Bully Busters. I have trained kiddos to use simple problem-solving steps when working with peers in a program we have at school called “Peacekeepers,” and during lunch recess if students have issues with each other, they can find the peacekeepers to help them. There are always adults nearby to help if needed. We also pair up kids who need a little more support with a special teacher or adult in the building to help make connections and give them another person in their life who cares about them. Mentors touch base with their kids at the beginning of the day, or at lunchtime, planned time during the day or week.
I work for a mentoring organization, so I match kids with a caring adult mentor who can walk with the kids through all of life’s ups and downs. Bullying is always one of the major issues they have to work through, sadly.
This is a daily issue in middle school. As a school counselor, I am always looking for new ways to talk to students about this topic. In addition to hearing the information over and over again from adults, it can be very powerful to hear it from their peers or a story that they can connect with.
at age 7 my daughter and a few others found themselves unable to handle being bullied by classmates and on the bus for being “different.” the school hired a counselor to work with kids to teach self esteem and “coping skills” and strengthened the school’s focus on values/respect for all students. we continually seek out resources for our daughter and provide to the school for others in need to share – our daughter is an avid reader and gains strength & comfort through books. this would be an amazing gift to utilize and add to the school’s resources.
By empowering kids to let them know that this type of behavior is not tolerated. We are constantly talking about bullying in classroom lessons and my students know that they can always come to me or any other adult in the building to help them with any issues they are having.
I teach high school learning g disabled students. I show motivational videos. I work on self esteem. I teach the incredible beauty of individual differences. I teach respect and that is the bottom line.
by not letting it happen and telling children it has to bestopped. Each fight is worth it … it sad everything takes time, and people are hard of hearing
Our school does a week if school wide activities against bullying and have student led activities that speak out against bullying all year.
I’m a school counselor at a K-6th grade Elementary School. Bullying is an issue dealt with daily. This book would be a great tool to have to help with this.
Our school does a book club using the novel The Misfits. We involve parents by having them read the book as well and offer four evenings when parents, students, and teachers can meet together.
We encourage community building at the youngest ages. By rewarding children that demonstrate kindness, it becomes part of the classroom culture.
I hold small group lessons weekly that focus on various topics, including bullying. I address all situations of bullying that are reported to me with individual meetings with each student involved as well as those bystanders that have witnessed. I involve parents as needed. Individual counseling (at the school level) of those affected from bullying has been helpful.
I try to teach the kids to treat others the way we want to be treated.
I talk about how we should all look out for each other and depend on each other. That my classroom is like a family and although sometimes like siblings we get annoyed with one another, we still need to care for one another. That may mean sticking up for each other and watching what we say so that we don’t hurt someone’s feelings.
The most powerful work I’ve done on bullying has been a unit devoted to bystanders! I noticed an increase in reporting due to the lessons (and in turn was able to help those students being bullied as well as direct teaching to help the aggressors to stop)!
I work to empower kids to stand up against bullying (both targets and bystanders). I do some year-long units to empower bystanders. I also work individually with targets so they feel heard and supported.
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I try to talk to the bullies, many times they are not even aware of what they are doing. Helping them understand personalities better helps them become better people.
I try to help them focus on what they can control.
Nip any verbal bullying immediately before it can escalate. Always be supportive
In my school I have held small group sessions on the topics of what bullying is and how it affects all involved. A student who quietly suffered from bullying for 2yrs worked on a strategy to anonymously report bullying. This helped to build her confidence as well as make her feel she was part of the solution. Bullying seems to be a reoccurring problem in the school as well as the community. Every year is like starting over with new children and new parent who we have to mold to a non-bullying environment within our school building. It is important to not only change the mindset of the person with bullying behaviors but the also the persons it directly and indirectly affects as well.
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I teach my K-3 students to be respectful and compassionate and to always be UPstanders!
I work with K-5 students as an elementary school counselor. Each month for classroom guidance we focus on a theme for the month with character education. This book would add a great lesson when we talk about kindness and compassion.
Unfortunately, bullying continues among young people–and is escalating. Any help we educators can receive to work to on eradicating this problem is very valuable.
I work with kids in various small group settings at an elementary school. I am the school counselor. My goal is to encourage those that feel they are being bullied to be stronger and believe in themselves. I like to role-play responses that can put an end to mean behavior, without using put-downs. I would love the opportunity to have stories to read to my groups that will help them to see that they are not a target, they just need to learn how to respond in order to stop the bullying and sometimes make a new friend instead. I like stories that teach why people behave certain ways. It helps in teaching empathy and encouraging the ‘golden rule’.
I love Free Spirit Publishing! SO many wonderful resources.
I teach classroom guidance lessons to educate students about bullying and the roles of the bully, the person being bullied, and the bystander. My students and I LOVE “The Weird Series,” and the books reinforce the lessons their regular classroom teachers teach them about Point of View.
I work with upper elementary school students. I help them build their confidence so they can respond appropriately when confronted by a bully. Children should always feel valued and supported!
I help kids deal with bullying through the use of picture books, stories, and poems to help teach compassion and empathy. We also celebrate diversity throughout the year.
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Cool. I use my own personal experience as a constantly bullied person (still am) to help my students understand bullying. While I don’t tell them about every experience like being spit on or ostracized from my neighbors, I do bring up how to deal with being ‘unfriended’ online and there are amazing things about everyone and to love yourself.
I am a lucky Principal of an awesome charter school in Hawaiʻi who collectively, -along with teachers, resource staff, parent leaders and student leaders, teach and promote diversity, tolerance, empathy, aloha for all, and respect for all. We expect our students, staff and families to uphold our school’s agreed upon values and behavioral expectations fostering student leaders and servants of our community.
As the librarian and tech specialist I provide support and materials but also have a special emphasis on cyber-bullying.
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I work with special needs children, so bully is a topic we deal with. I teach prosocial and bully prevention lessons incorporated in regular lesson plans. We focus on differences we all have and accepting others.
I do at least 3 lessons each year regarding bullying and separate them as follows: what to do if you’re the target, bystander and aggressor. Typically, I do the “aggressor” lesson last, but a survey I had students complete last year reveals that only one student (out of 80 intermediate students) acknowledged that he or she acted like a bully, while 65% of this population reports that they FELT bullied at school. Surely this one person isn’t doing all of the bullying behavior! Therefore, I am starting with the aggressor lesson this year and tying in how to take responsibility for one’s actions and words – to hopefully demonstrate that they are sometimes perceived as bullying behavior and promote being mindful of one’s intentions and actions.
I teach lessons celebrating differences, creating community, building self-confidence and practicing strategies for advocating for themselves and others. We discuss problem sovling and knowing when it is time to get help.
We have a zero tolerance policy at our school. We also focus on positive behavior, team building and relationships with others. It has been amazing for our children!
I teach lessons as well as provide students with a safe place to accepted.
We must teach our little ones to be respectful and fair to others as soon as they socialize.
I always take time to listen when a child has a concern about bullying. Then I work with them to consider as many options as we can think of together to make things better!
My kids would love this book and it would help them so much.
Classroom lesson; empowering students; teaching tolerance and mutual responsibilty
I have a kindness group at school
Stan Davis’s book Schools Where Everyone Belongs is the basis for our school wide bullying program. Davis gives great advice for dealing with teaching not only the bullies and their victims, but also the bystanders. Great material!
I teach classroom lessons and schoolwide interventions.
I am a school counselor in a school of over 700 students in grades K-8. I am in classrooms every morning doing Guidance lessons–including bullying–each school year. I teach/discuss bullying on grade level with the students through stories, role plays, games, making posters for the school, discussions, and other various activities. I would so appreciate adding another ‘storybook’ to my collection to share with my students.
My 4th & 5th Graders loved the Weird Series and I also had the Librarian order the set- it was always checked out. I know this would be too. Terrific.
Giving students an open door policy to my office or to me at any time as well as giving the “bully” the opportunity to discuss why they are doing what they are doing. A little listening goes a very long way.
Assertiveness training groups
I help students see the value in everyone. I am a school counselor and want each student to know they have value and to realize all the other students do as well. Everyone is unique and different but everyone has something that is valuable and needed in the world.
I try to explain the consequences of my kids’ actions to them and like to read books about bullying and talk about them with the kids afterwards.
I encourage my children to think about they way bullying makes them feel and analyze situations in which they may not realize that they are bullying someone.
I engage students in activities and discussions frequently & involve other adults – administration, counselors, parents, classroom teachers, community supporters as available and needed.
I teach and encourage children to stand up for themselves by helping them understand that just because someone says something does not make it true. I teach children to appreciate themselves and others and to realize we were made different, but can learn to work together. I want children to understand they are a wonderful creation that is capable of anything!!
free spirit Publishing produces and makes available very useful resources to all interested!
signed, a 30-year vet
I try to help students see the humanity and commonalities among their peers, and to develop empathy. These connections go a long way to reducing bullying.
I oversee a homeless shelter for kids and we provide individual counseling to help promote positive self image/self esteem, as well encouragement to use our “big voice” when we are the victim or witness of bullying.
I help my students deal with bullying be acting proactively. I set the expectation for behavior in and out of my classroom and teach it throughout my lessons and classroom activities. I also let students know that my door is always open.
I help children cope with bulling by providing an supportive environment that allows for free expression of emotions while helping identify positive ways to cope with bullying and involving adults that are in their lives.
Teaching them to talk about their feelings and what’s happening
I encourage teachers to empower students to be problem solvers through service learning experiences.
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I think reading books and having good discussions about bullying helps children. One great book I just read for young children is Frenemy Jane, the Sometimes Friend through Mascot Books. This one looks excellent.
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I engage students through classroom lessons and whole school activities. This book would be perfect to use with my students.
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I help kids deal with bullying by providing resources to support them, as well as making sure they know my door is always open if they need to talk.