The sixth grade students of Lakeview Junior High worked together to come up with ways to stop bullying in our school. Each Homebase created different tools to inform children, teachers, and parents about bullies, victims, and bystanders. We hope as a class, the products we created help students empower themselves and develop the leaders we know they can be.
Miss Coppoletta's Homebase:
Miss Coppoletta's Homebase created a bulletin board in the sixth grade hallway. The students focused on the traits of bullies and victims. Here are the picures representing their creation.
Mrs. Mesker's Homebase:
Mrs. Mesker's Homebase directed their efforts on helping parents understand bullys, victims, and bystanders. They created a parent brochure that is available to all Lakeview parents along with these facts and tips.
Bullying for Parents
Bullying, a form of harassment, verbal or physical, can harm anyone from boys to girls and even parents.
Bullying in elemetary school:
Studies suggest around 20% of all american children have been bullied at some point in elementary school.
Elementary school bullies normally pick on younger children. Boys are normally the bullies but anyone can be a victim.
Bullying in junior high school:
Junior high students have a tendency to pick on kids their own age rather than younger kids.
Girls:
Rather than fist fight or shove, girls most commonly verbally harass other girls.
Boys:
Boys tend to use physical attacks and threaten/harass of students, not only boys.
What it means to be a Bully :
Usually in films kids watch with heros involve heros beating up or killing others. Some children have learned to copy these actions. Research shows that bullies have trouble making friends, they gain popularity. Mostly among boys they enjoy having more respect and having peers admire them.
What it means to be a victim:
Most parents and school officals blame the victim of bullying for acting weak and not standing up for themselves. That and the fact that victims are told by the bully to not tell anyone, which makes it hard to talk to parents or teachers. About 10% of children are huge victims of bullies at least one time a week for a long time. These kids are usually younger and weaker than the bully.
Here are a few symptoms of a victim:
acts moody, sullen, or withdraws from family iteraction
becomes depressed
loses interest in school or grades drop
loses appitite or can't fall asleep
waits to use the bathroom at home
comes home w/ torn clothes and unexplaned bruises
asks for extra money for school or allowance
refuses to go to school ( 15% of students stay home because of fear)
wants to carry protection item like a knife
What parents can do:
Create a safe environment for you children to tell you about being bullied. Many times kids are embarrassed to tell parents what happened, thinking that their parents wil blame them.
Reinforce the idea that if they are being bullied, it is not thier fault. Don't make your child ever feel like a wimp.
Don't teach your kids to hit or fight back: it will only mkae things worse. Here are five steps that are good to suggest:
Ignore
Move away
Ask to stop
Tell firmly to stop
Tell an adult
Notify teachers whenever an incident happens, be prepared to be persistant until some action is taken.
If your child is unwilling to report another child's behavior to a teacher, offer to make the complaint yourself. Stress that it can be done in a way that is confidential.
Resource: DeHaan, Laura. "Bullies", www.ag.ndsu.edu (FS-570). Feb 1997.
Mrs. Bretl's Homebase created a Slideshow Presentation
The slideshow contains pictures and advice for victims of bullying situations. Please enjoy the show!
You can view their skit in the following YouTube video.
Mr. Urbas's Homebase
A book of shorts stories was created by Mr. Urbas's Homebase. Each stories contain a bully, victim, and positive message to teach techniques if a child is in a "bullying" situation.
Here is an student example of one short story:
Larry and the Park
There once was a kid named Larry. Larry was a normal kid but everyone else thought he was weird. But he was perfectly normal. Larry loved to go to the park. He went there because he could be himself. One day Larry was at the park being himself when he noticed Bob was there. Bob was the meanest and most hurtful person you would ever meet. Larry tried to ignore him but Bob was just standing there looking at him. So Larry just kept ignoring him. Well at least he tried.
When Larry got home his mom was terrified. Larry was all beat up and had bruises everywhere and had a black eye. But when his mom asked him what happened hi just said that he tripped into a big ditch. Even thought his mom was a little suspicious she trusted him. So when Larry kept going to the park Bob was always there. But when he got home all beat up he had to keep making some excuses to his mom. Soon Larry stopped going to the park but after school Bob would bully him more. Larry wanted to tell his mom but he was scared that if he told her she would make fun of him because he didn't stand up for himself.
Larry had enough of it. He couldn't take it anymore. So Larry had enough confidence to tell his mom and he was surprised that she didn't make fun of him. She actually was thankful for telling her so she could stop it. When Larry went to the park Bob was there. Right when Bob was going to hurt Larry his mom and and Bob's mom and the school principal were standing right there. They caught him! After that Bob got in a lot of trouble. Now Larry tells his mom all the time if something bad is happening or if he's being bullied again. So Larry goes to the park all the time without being bullied ever again. Also Larry didn't just save himself but everyone else because Bob doesn't bully anyone else anymore after what happened with him and Larry. Now Larry has a million of friends because they are thankful that Larry stopped Bob from bullying everyone else.
So if you are being bullied just like Larry you should do what he did and tell your mom or your teacher or any adult that you trust. Don't try to stand up for yourself because you can get yourself hurt. If you are bullying someone now you should stop because it is hurting his or her feelings and it is very rude. When you don't bully, everyone is nicer and it makes the world a little bit better. One time I was bullied for a while but I had to stop it because it was making me feel horrible and I was depressed. I wasn't being myself anymore. Even my friends were concerned. So I had to stop it. I told my mom and we stopped him from bullying me. Not I'm better and I have a higher self-esteem. Aslo I stp epople from being bullied by making them feel better about themselves. and tell an adult that can stop them from being bullied anymore. So I want you to take my advice and stop you or your friends from being bullied or stop youselves from bullying anyone else. If you do that, bullying could be stopped and certain events like death and something else could be stopped because they can happen from being bullied too much. I hope this story helps you understand more about bullying and how you can stop it. Also you could tell your friends and your family so they know how to be bully free and can know how to stop it.
Miss Casey's Homebase
The students in Miss Casey's Homebase created letters to be published in our school newspaper. Students created different scenarios consisting of possible bullying situations or problems we have here at Lakeview. As a Homebase, they responded to the letters offering advice and ways to deal with the situations. Here is an example of one of the letters.
Dear Spartan,
The little passing period time we have is being cut into. People arelocking other's lockers before they are closed. This horrible act of immaturemess is a sure sign of others getting enjoyment through other's pain. It takes time to open the lock on the locker, meaning we might be late to class. Bullies do this and this happens a lot. If this continues, other problems may emerge.
Your friend,
Lucy (6th Grader)
Dear Lucy,
There is only one true answer to end this horrible infestation! We must chop off their roots! That means we have to eliminate the reason people are lockering students. Students act this way for sheer joy. If they were already happy, they wouldn't locker people. We as a school must strive to meet the emotional needs of bullies by being nicer. If everyone was everyone else's friend we would be happy! So you must smile, say hi, or just nod your head if you see someone pass you in teh hallway, because he or she could locker someone, and that someone could be you. Tell an adult next this happens.
Your friend,
Spartan
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