About one out of every four US students will report being bullied this year, making bullying the most common form of violence experienced by young people in the nation. Many of you are charged with preventing and responding to bullying, and we want you to be equipped with the knowledge and tools you need to effectively intervene and foster a culture of respect. To support your efforts, we’re giving away our biggest bullying-prevention bundle ever! One reader will win a copy of each of these resources:
- Nobody!
- Weird!
- Dare!
- Tough!
- Zach Stands Up
- We Can Get Along
- I Don’t Want to Be Nice!
- Stand Up to Bullying!
- Cliques, Phonies & Other Baloney
- Speak Up and Get Along!
- Stick Up for Yourself!
- Bully Free Zone® In a Jar®
- Bullying Is a Pain in the Brain
- Words Wound
- Cyber Dilemmas In a Jar®
- End Peer Cruelty, Build Empathy
- Create a Culture of Kindness in Middle School
- No Kidding About Bullying
- Bully Free Classroom® Poster Set (choose elementary or middle school)
To Enter: Leave a comment below telling us how you prevent bullying.
For additional entries, leave a separate comment below for each of the following tasks you complete:
Each comment counts as a separate entry—that’s four chances to win! Entries must be received by midnight, October 19, 2018.
The winner will be contacted via email on or around October 22, 2018, 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 US 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.
© 2018 by Free Spirit Publishing. All rights reserved.
We use puppets and play games that require working together. In circle time we talk about feelings. Have scavenger hunts for the kids to find items working together as a team. Helping hands, when someone needs help ask a friend.
We work to end bullying through schoolwide kindness campaigns. Weekly lessons are sent out for teachers to complete that teach social emotional skills, empathy building, and support our culture of kindness.
I help prevent bullying by teaching kids how to be upstanders instead of bystanders. I also teach and model important values such as kindness and respect.
We work to prevent bullying by explicitly developing empathy, assertive communication skills, speaking up for others, and using healthy strategies to cope with negative emotions.
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We try to prevent bullying everyday, by teaching mottos, such as Choose Kind. Students are reminded everyday on announcements to use kind words and kind hands and feet. Students made posters in the halls for reminders of expectations.
Bullying prevention in my world (schools, home, workplaces and play spaces) means being aware of unkind behaviour, understanding what may be going on behind the behaviour and what can be understood and if appropriate what can be done to meet the need behind the unkind behaviour. Sometimes it means walking away and bucket filing self or connecting with those that fill our love tanks. And Sometimes it means being brave and talking through a situation with guidance.
I am a Mental Health Clinician and work with kids from 3 years old to 18 years old. With victims, I help to empower themselves by attempting to build up their self esteem and look at themselves as superheroes with superpowers; for example, having the superpower of being empathetic and visualizing themselves holding a “shield” to protect from unkind words. I work with kids who bully and explore the reason for their behavior while also holding them accountable for their actions. I always involve parents and educate them about how to hear out their kids while also advocating for them in the school system. I maintain clear communication with school administrators to address issues immediately and head on to prevent it from being an ongoing issue.
I also educate my own children about how to be nice to other kids and reach out to others who are alone and don’t have anyone to play with and to stand up to others who are teasing. My daughter just started kinder but I want her to be ready to confront these issues head on. It is a shared responsibility when it comes to bullying and everyone has a shared responsibility.
I put books in middle schoolers hands so they can experience and learn through characters how to handle life’s difficult moments at home, school, or within relationships.
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I am a school counselor at an elementary school grades k-5. I teach lessons to inform students about bullying and how to be an upstander. We also use the Bucketfilling fillosophy to teach our expected behavior for treating each other with respect and kindness.
At our school, we have adopted the Character Education Curriculum, with each month a difference characteristic for a positive change. In addition, I have a monthly calendar that has different ideas for them to practice the characteristic for the month The faculty has fully embraced this and I have handed them out to all the classrooms, so the teachers can also reinforce the character education traits.
I work with Early Childhood Educators and we include activities and resources for them to use with infants through 6 year olds on building empathy, SEL and mindfulness, all of which contribute to healthier communities on the micro and the macro level.
I teach pre-k in a rural school. I use puppets as I read social skills books all year long. I have several children’s books that teach about bullying. I have the children role play being the bully and the victim so that they can learn how to do things differently. Most young children do not have the skills to solve problems, nor do they have the words or the ability to stand up for themselves. These are important skills that must be taught. My main goal for the year is to teach the students empathy. Every student has a different job each week. One of the jobs is the STAR person. If they see a student who has a mad face, they use the magic star wand and sing the STAR song to help the child in need to do deep breathing. Another job involves the empathy bag. The child who is in charge of that bag, uses items in it to help any student who has a sad face. Another job is to be the kindness recorder. I have a large magnetic board with flower stems on it and the words, “flowers of kindness”. On the side of the board are magnets with the students’ faces on them. When someone gets caught being kind, the kindness recorder puts that child’s face on a flower stem. At the end of the day, the kindness recorder tells about the kind acts which were done that day.
These are just a few of the things that we do at school. I believe that we can make a difference if we work together.
I am an Academic Director for a Nursing school with 700 plus females. Students come from various backgrounds and I deal with student conflict on a regular basis.
I counsel the students in self-respect, self-confidence and self-control. These character-building traits naturally lead to better choices both in the prevention of bullying, as well as standing up for those who may be bullied.
We are a positive behavior intervention support school and I am the PBIS coach. I help teacher and students build positive relationships and I help students learn to be polite members of our school. I also mediate between students and directly address any possible or actual bullying issues.
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I find that the key is awareness.
Liked on FB. I like to use two full length mirrors and have children realize that everyone is different.
I am a School Counselor (PreK–2nd Grades). We have counseling classroom lessons based on social skills, friendship skills, bullying awareness, review the 4 school rules we have against bullying, review our PBIS 4 Expectations, and new this year: helping kids learn about the Buddy Bench and how to use it on the playground.
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I prevent bullying by empowering the bystanders and the victims to stand up against bullying. I also teach lessons focused on positive social skills such as kindness and respect
It helps to give the young child words for what they are trying to express. Most young children do not want to be bullies, but they don’t understand how to have appropriate interactions. So by modeling and giving words this shows children how to act appropriately.
I am a school social worker and special education coordinator and work with many students that have experienced bullying or have also been perceived as bullies. I would love to have more resources to use with my students to prevent this from happening as much as possible.
By addressing anything in class and in the halls that could be a possible form of bullying, I discuss with a student why that could be considered a bullying act. I also call out students who are bullying and I tell them bluntly to stop being a bully. This seems to have the greatest impact on students to stop their action.
Teaching empathy as well as how to stand up for yourself appropriately and use positive skills to solve conflicts
Being considerate, doing our best, owning our actions, and keeping safe are part of the everyday expectations at our school. We teach students what these expectations looks like and have a system in place for recognizing when kids demonstrate these expectations and to reteach when kids make mistakes. This is just one example.
On our campus, we prevent bullying by proactively monitoring behaviors. Students who are frequently not getting along are invited to a Lunch Bunch, headed by our behavior interventionist. They do team building activities and other social-emotional activities together. The students who are not getting along often leave as good friends after a few sessions.
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At our school we prevent bullying by having a common set of expectations throughout the building that students follow: Positive Impact, Aware of Self and Others, Wise, and Safe Environment. We model these expectations and catch kids doing well. In my own classroom, I model respect for all, and guide students to make good choices about how they treat each other. When problems occur, I use restorative practices to also guide students to solve problems.
I’m a guidance counselor at an elementary school where we tackle each bullying issue head on and talk it out. We have no tolerance to bullying and we try to fix every issue even though it’s impossible.
I am a Elementary School Counselor (K-5) at three small magnet schools and bullying is a topic I focus on all year long. I do lessons in all grade levels as well as promote peer buddy conflict resolution. I also work to educate parents on what bullying is and is not. All too often any unkind behavior is labeled bullying and I think expelling that myth will help to foster better problem solving with students which will lead to healthier more positive relationships. Educators and counselors are tasked with competing with movies, tv shows, music, books, and social media outlets that sensationalize bullying for entertainment and dramatic effect, unfortunately it is also causing our students to become desensitized to the feelings of others and how our actions and words are the causes of those not so pleasant feelings that we are perpetuating. At my schools I encourage students to be upstanders and not bystanders; I promote random acts of kindness; the students participate in lessons where they practice complimenting others; we work on understanding what empathy is and how we show it. I try to focus on the positive, healthy behaviors I want to see and hear from them so that their attention and focus is on what they should be doing and not what they shouldn’t be doing. This creates a much happier environment that leads to better decision making, healthier relationships, and ultimately safer schools.
Working with students to feel empowered!
I teach my students to use kind and respectful language. When we hear mean language we practice how to say things in a nicer way. We practice using our words instead of our hands.
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Each year we do Everyday Hero month for bullying prevention where we educate students about what it means to be an up stander, and what bullying is, but I’m always looking to build in more education for students.
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This year we are dedicating a bench to the school playground as a “Buddy Bench” to encourage inclusion. We will also be hosting a “Mix it Up” day in the cafeteria. On October 24th we will all wear orange to show that we care about bully prevention. Each classroom will participate in anti bullying lessons that encourage friendship skills as well as conflict resolution. We also provide all students will pencils, stickers, bracelets with anti bullying messages!!
First we must teach the students that everybody feels the same way, it doesn’t matter how you look, where you come from, who your parents are or where you live, every single person has a heart feeling the same emotions. How will you feel if it were YOU?
I prevent bullying by building a culture of respect within the school. All students know that each of them deserve respect. I also teach students how to be assertive and stand up for themselves and others.
I am a school psychologist who is currently trying to expand my role beyond testing. I am going into two 2nd grade classes at the moment for social-emotional lessons and I would love to incorporate these materials. I recently created a list of materials I would eventually like to purchase, and Zach Stands Up is already on it! Unfortunately, I don’t have funding to buy materials, so everything remains unpurchased. I would also love to use these materials for a club I sponsor at my other elementary building. We teach students empathy and kindness towards themselves, others, and nature. We want to do a lesson on diversity and inclusiveness, so bullying would be a great component to the lesson as well.
I teach fifth grade. We have a classroom meeting each week to problem solve relational challenges inside and outside of the classroom. We have dedicated one wall of our classroom to celebrating kindnesses we have observed each week among our classmates. We tell the stories and celebrate with the child who was kind by adding a star to our wall. We are learning there is so much power in choosing to be kind.
The school has a SADD club which present several activities and presentations throughout the school year. The school only has juniors and seniors, so more serious content and consequences are presented. We also have a positive referral program for students to be noticed for the good things that they do.
In conjunction with the guidance department, I curate and create cyberbullying lessons for the teachers to present to their student during the month of October.
we like to go around the room and ask the kids what they like about their friends. Of course there are those days that someone feels left out to which we ask them if they could include all our friends in our activities. Fortunately we work with toddler/preschool age so they are usually unaware that a friend is not being included. We also like to show positive reinforcement when needed. We as teachers will sit on the floor and show how easy it is to have fun and include everyone. Hopefully teaching at the younger ages instills this positivity which will continue in years to come.
Modeling kindness and respect for our students.
I have my students switch seats frequently so they get to know the other students in class on a bit of a deeper level (a/b partnering). Simple but effective!
Provide school based therapy services
Staying on top of the issues and being proactive when instances of bullying are shown in the school. Having anti-bullying lessons and talk breaks along with incorporating the kids native values also help. I teach in a remote Alaskan school where most of the kids are of Yup’ik Eskimo descent.
I seek oportunities on a regular basis to talk about being kind, respectful, and inclusive toward others in school, the playground, the community, etc. It’s an ongoing conversation we revisit often…when examples present in stories/books, videos, between kids, etc.
I help prevent bullying by sharing personal experiences with 5th and 6th graders. I try to encourage them to be upstanders now so it won’t be so difficult when they get to junior and senior high. I ask them to hear my voice in their ear when others try to convince them to Billy someone.
Teaching empathy all year long!
Focusing on character education throughout the whole year, helps foster an Anti-bullying message. In addition I read many books and practice filling out written bully report forms-recognizing the upstander. When I read the books about bullying, I emphasize the power imbalance between the target character and the bullying role to help emphasize mean moments vs bullying bh=ehaviors.
As a Family Child Care Provider, we realize the early that this is addressed – how to spot it/change it/delete it – the sooner this generation might see the need for it to be retired. Daily role playing and discussions help everyone to see all sides of the dilemma. It needs to be retired…from EVERYWHERE!!!
And now my correct last name…OY!
You prevent bullying by celebrating the authenticities of each individual, working to develop reciprocal respect and unconditionally accepting individuals.
I focus on character education with my students year-round.
I am a school counselor and I prevent bullying with classroom lessons on kindness, empathy and diversity.
I teach second graders. I prevent bullying by actively teaching social skills from day 1 in my classroom. I begin the school year by teaching empathy skills including identifying feelings and how feelings change This week our focus is how your actions have an effect on others and their feelings and vice versa. I will move into teaching problem solving skills and anger management as the year progresses. It’s amazing to see the social development grow throughout the school year. I believe by being empathetic, having problem solving skills, and dealing with anger and other feelings has a profound effect on social skills including prevention of bullying and how to deal with bullying when it occurs.
I prevent bullying by teaching positive behavior expectations and encouraging good decision making.
To prevent bullying, I read books to my class, such as Bad Apple, A Tale of Friendship, and many others. My students and I have class meetings and we role play what to do if they are being bullied. We also, discuss and role play what to do when they see someone being bullied.
Classroom lessons – differences between rude-mean-bullying – stop, walk and talk model and resilience skills
I prevent bullying in my classroom by reading books like Each Kindness and discussing the importance of being kind to one another.
I am a Certified Humane Education Specialist. Currently, I have created a project called BullyCrisis.com and we provide resouces. tools and skills to educators, parents and students so that they are equipped to confront bully behavior and create a safe and compassionate school climate. I have already used several of the books listed above as resources in creating the program and I would love to have the compkete set of materials.
I am a preschool teacher, what I do to prevent bullying in the classrom is by helping them solve social problema in asking them how they would feel if someone does that to them. Read book about ways we can help our classmates and have diacussions that yes we have differences sime might be taller or shorer than others but we are all the same in many ways and thata what makes us special and unique. We introduce you these kind of discussions on a daily basis when problems arise but more importantly in large groups and small groups by using our social and social motional curriculum Paths. Always commenting and praising children for their positive behavior with students, for example when they helped someone who is not feeling good or got hirt.
I am a Middle School counselor and teach Character Ed. lessons to all my 6-8 students each week. I try to address the importance of kindness aspect during Bully Prevention week, as well as assertiveness vs. using aggression and conflict resolution. This year we also did the Sandy Hook Promise “Start with Hello” week to address violence and social isolation in schools. Empathy & respect are addressed as well in weekly lessons throughout the year.
I started with my 4 year old (a year ago) by asking him over time, “What kind of friends do you want to be around? What are the qualities in a good friend? What kind of friend do you want to be?” I really wish that I would have been directly taught that in order to fully give kindness to others, I must extend the same kindness inwards. If I had been asked these questions, I would have understood very clearly what type of person was good for me, who I deserved to have in my life, and how to recognize a bully much earlier. Reading Dr. Michelle Borba’s book also pointed out to me that we need to always try to help our children notice the little everyday acts of kindness. Calling out the good and drawing a map of what is good for us really can help us attract the right kind of people to add to our life and not take away from it.
Preventing bullying starts at home, by modeling the golden rule. And when we make mistakes (grown ups too), we take responsibility, find ways to make it better so everyone feels heard and respected. I gotta say, it’s not always easy or perfect but world peace really is an inside job. It starts here.
As a public librarian I am working to prevent bullying with both my adult patrons as well as the children patrons by offering storytimes that center around character particularly respect for the children and Community Conversations to engage adults in discussions about tolerance, respect and patience.
Building community and empathy to fight bullying!
This is an Incredible offer! I have found that the students identify with the characters in the book and feel empowered. The characters appeal to their better angels and they genuinely want to take a role in social justice.
I prevent bullying by promoting resiliency, constructive coping techniques and pro-social skills with all students!
I am preventing bullying in a number of ways. The most important one is teaching my child not to be a bully to others and also to be an upstander for those who are being bullied. I also make sure tbat my child sees me being an upstander for others who are being bullied.
We are also a part of a non profit that works with children who have Alopecia. This foundation is very committed to going into the community and schools to teach what Alopecia is and to prevent bullying of kids with Alopecia.
I am the school social worker for a school grades PreK-8. I do the Weird! series with my students throughout the school year. We also have the NED show come visit our school each year.
Each and everyday in my 3rd grade classroom we have morning and afternoon “family” meetings as a community of learners. In our meetings we turn and talk and discuss how can prevent bullying and how we all can be upstanders.
In working with preschoolers I rely on good books, conversations, songs and even short snippets of video to help with children gain a better understanding. I have a range of books that support kindness, fairness and empathy.
The way I discourage bullying is to address it headon, we discuss respect, empathy and understanding with all children and especially staff. We discuss issues openly and make sure we create an open and accepting environment for people to share ideas. It’s important we lay a ground rule within our environment to help set tone of the school and people within it. People bully when they have issues themselves which they can’t resolve so they send the negativity onto to others, it’s important to realize the root cause of bullying and to fix from there.
We have a Junior Allies group at my library where we talk about strategies and do role-playing. We also made a video about what to say if you see someone being picked on.
In the library, we talk about bullying, opening the dialogue, and what it feels like to be bullied, and that everyone has the right to not being treated with such disrespect and selfishness. No one should be allowed to feel better about themselves by hurting someone else, and no one has the right to make someone else feel like less than they are. Respect, responsibility, and reciprocate the good.
We, the Kidsbridge Tolerance Center, work very hard to prevent bullying in society. Our organizations mission is to educate and empower children and youth through social- emotional learning, diversity appreciation lessons and bullying prevention skills training. The purpose is to create empathetic individuals and caring citizens who live in their lives without prejudice and discrimination and who are positive advocates for themselves and others. Our evidence- based programs address bullying, cyberbulling, bias, prejudice, discrimination, and many other topics and we love being able to bring these programs into the classroom setting or have students come to our center to learn more.
I am a school counselor in a preK-5 school and I teach every student weekly. We work all year on identifying feelings, using I messages and deescalating conflicts. I use many books in my lessons and get the kids thinking and practicing how to use appropriate words & kindness to solve problems.
I work for the public library in my city and have done displays this month that showcase books about bullies and bullying. I also make myself available for those who want to talk.
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I do classroom lessons on the difference between rudeness, meanness, and bullying. I spend a lot of time with the students making sure that they know the difference and how to handle each negative action. I also focus heavily on teaching the students to be Upstanders instead of Bystanders when they witness bullying.
I prevent bullying by teaching lessons to students at our K-5 elementary school about friendship, conflict resolution, empathy, respect, diversity, bullying definitions, the difference between bullying and conflicts, and what to do when they or someone they know is being bullied. I also teach teachers to support students and have lessons in their classrooms on the subject. I teach our school staff how to respond to bullying concerns, and support parents with any bullying concerns as well!
I also provide support and counseling groups for friendship and other supports to help those being bullied or who struggle with bulling themselves!
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For the little kids, I like to have real conversations in response to things that happen. I also love reading books about bullying and talking with them about how they can be a good friend
I teach kids that we are all alike regardless of gender, skin color, or beliefs. We all share this great big old world and we must learn to live with one another not against one another.
I am a guidance counselor at an elementary school (K-5). We do a variety of things for the month of October which include: saying quotes about respect over morning announcements, having guidance lessons centered around bullying, being an upstander vs being a bystander and treating others respectfully. For our 3-5 grades, we hold a coloring contest where the winning posters are laminated and hung in the cafeteria after the students are recognized over an announcement. For the K-2 classes, a peace dove printed on card stock is sent home for all families to write their own pledge for peace. Once the doves are returned, they are hung down the hall. We also hold a spirit week too which is really fun. Both the staff and the students participate in themed days.