How to Stop School Bullying
1. Begin a Stop Bullying Campaign: To help combat bullying, the first step must be to start putting a stop to it. All staff and students must be educated on what bullying is, what the school rules will be if bullying occurs, how to report a bully, how to respond to a bully and what zero tolerance means. There are many agencies that provide training on how to control bullying in schools. Many school districts offer training and have bully campaigns in schools already. If you school does not offer this type of training, a great website to start with is: http://www.kidpower.org/School-age.html. This site offers workshops and training for staff and students on how to handle bullying at school.
2. Get Parents Involved: Parental involvement is key in controlling bullying at school. The more parents who are trained in whatever bully program is implemented the better chance of success for the program. Parents also need to be made aware, just like all staff and students, what bullying is and the consequences of bullying at school. The more the parents know and the more the parents are educated about bullying, the more they can talk to their child about bullying at home.
3. Learn By Doing: Once the school population has been trained in the bully campaign, it is important to practice, practice, practice. Students and teachers a like, need to practice the steps one should take if bullying is happening to them or someone he or she knows. Teachers need to role-play with students exactly what he or she can expect from teachers should the student be bullied or perhaps, be a bully. Schools should weekly, if not daily, practice all aspects of how that school controls bullying.
4. Follow Through: Once a bullying program is implemented, it is essential that everyone follow through with his or her role. This means teachers must discipline, Principal’s must suspend (if that is a consequence) and parents must support the school policy. Students must also remember how important it is to tell someone when bullying occurs. Bullying can’t be stopped if no one tells.
5. Follow Up: Finding out what students, staff and parents think of how the bullying program is going is a great way to really get ideas on how it is working. Getting feedback from everyone involved is a great stepping-stone to successful bully control!
Bullying is a problem in many schools. Bullying can cause students and teachers much stress throughout the school year. One way to control bullying at school is to implement a stop bullying campaign and continue with it the entire school year. Bullying can be controlled- it is up to the school to see to that it is.
