Is It Bullying?  

Students and parents need to understand the definition of bullying before we can help solve the problems.  

When someone says or does something un-intentionally hurtful

and they do it once, that’s Rude.  

 

When someone says or does something intentionally hurtful

 and they do it once, that’s Mean

 

When someone says or does something intentionally hurtful and they keep doing it even when you tell them to stop or show them that you are upset, that’s Bullying.  

 

         How to Handle a Bully

 

We cannot control others.  We CAN control how we let others affect us.  

 

Our mission in bully prevention includes the 4 R's.  Develop and implement a shared schoolwide definition of RESPECT. Building positive RELATIONSHIPS for students and staff members. Building RESILIENCY through increasing positive connection and developing cognitive skills. RESPONDING effectively to negative peer actions.  

 

Our motto is "Don't let other people push your button."  This means do not let what other people say or do affect you.  Put up your shield and don't let others dip from your bucket.  If you do not give the bully a reaction then they cannot win.  Eventually, when you do not give the bully a reaction, they will stop picking on you and move on.  If this does not work then tell an adult who can help you.    

 

This is also called the Talk, Walk and Tell System. When your child encounters a problem with another student they must learn how to handle it peacefully.  Talk means to let the other person know that they have hurt your feelings, ask them to sto, and work to deal with the problem themselves.  We all need to develop skills to deal with difficult people in our lives.  If someone always comes to the child's rescue then they are not learning how to handle negative situations.  If the problem does not stop after the child has used "Talk", they are then instructed to walk away.  I teach the students to understand that we cannot control other people, but we can control how we handle the situation.  Walking away prevents further problems and shows the bully that the student respects themself enough to not engage in harmful behavior.  However, there are times when things need to be reported.  Tell means that there is a serious problem and the teacher or any adult needs to be informed.  Students are instructed to tell an adult when they have tried to talk to the person, they have tried to walk away, and the problem still persists.  This is not tatteling.  When students face problems that they can't handle on their own they need to report the situation to the teacher, counselor or principal at the school and report the problem to their parents at home as well.