Bullying Prevention and Empathy

Em-pa-thy (noun): the ability to understand and share the feelings of another

Why Teach Empathy?

In our world today it's hard to go on social media or watch the news without hearing the word "bullying" brought up. So how do we deter kids from bullying? One answer might be instilling empathy. Empathy can improve students collaboration, innovation, and problem-solving skills.

For more information on empathy and the impact it can have on our children check out Dr. Michele Borba.

Rude vs. Mean vs. Bullying - In today's world we hear about bullying on the news almost daily and it seems to be the go-to word when students are describing a situation. With bullying being on the forefront I believe it is important to teach students how to distinguish the difference between being rude, being mean, or being a bully.

In this lesson students learn the basics of bullying and what makes bullying different from being mean or rude. For the activity, students are given post-its with varying scenarios and each scenario can be categorized as "bullying", "being mean," or "being rude." In small groups students categorize their scenarios and place them under the type of situation they believe it is. Then as a class we go through each scenario and discuss whether or not it is categorized correctly and why or why not. During this lesson, students also explore the different options they can take in a bullying situation and what the consequence might look like depending on the role they choose.
Resource: Rude vs. Mean vs. Bullying Article

Torn Apart - The reality of bullying is not something that cannot be demonstrated during class so, this lesson is the closest I can get. The students that I have presented this lesson to have enjoyed it and even months later when I go in and ask what we did last time in class they bring up this lesson.

This lesson get students thinking about what it is like to be a victim of bullying and using empathy. In the activity, students are asked to "bully" Tabitha or Trent by ripping a piece of them off. Once each student in the classroom has ripped a piece of Tabitha off we have a discussion about how it felt ripping a piece of Tabitha off. Since Tabitha is just paper there are mixed answers, but once we put it into the perspective of a bullying situation they start sharing how they would feel being Tabitha. After the discussion students attempt to put Tabitha back together by taping her and giving her a compliment or apologizing. While we are putting her back together students start to realize that Tabitha is not going to look the same, so once all of the pieces are back up we have another discussion. The discussion this time is around how bullying can change a person and how apologizes don't always fix the damage that is done.

Dots - I cannot take credit for this lesson even though it is one of my favorite. I've done this lesson with a number of classes and groups and each time they cannot get enough. With bullying prevention comes empathy and this lesson does a great job of getting students to take on a different viewpoint.

In this lesson students gain and understanding of what it feels like to be included and excluded from a group. In the activity, students are asked to tape a piece of paper onto their forehead without looking at what is on the paper. Each paper has either a green dot, yellow dot, or red dot. Once each student has a dot taped to their forehead I ask the students to interact with one another based on their dot color.
- Dot Color Description:
  - Green Dots: "The populars." Everyone wants to be friends with the populars and you want to do all you can to make sure you are their friend.
  - Yellow Dots: "The okays." The okays are just that...they're okay. You can talk to them once in awhile and it's okay to be seen with them sometimes, but being their friend is nothing spectacular.
  - Red Dots: "The excluded." Nobody wants to be seen with an excluded. Do what you can to stay away from them, they are beneath you and don't deserve your attention.

Open Letters - This is a lesson that I came up with this year. To be honest, not the greatest lesson, but I like the idea behind. I might keep the idea of reading an open letter, but I'd like to add more to the lesson.

In this lesson, students are asked to read an open letter to a bully and then work on using their empathy skills in order to determine how everyone in the story is feeling. There is then a class discussion around bullying and the effects.
I really enjoyed the open letter we read and would recommend it to anyone looking for an open letter to a bully. (Link to letter)

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