National Bullying Prevention Month was created by PACER in 2006 with a one-week event which has now evolved into a month-long effort that encourages everyone to take an active role in the bullying prevention movement. Efforts are focused on encouraging both personal and community responsibility to prevent bullying. During this month, communities are urged to address the problem of bullying through media campaigns, classroom activities, workshops, and other special events. The following resources from NCTE and ReadWriteThink.org show other ways to stand up to bullying.
Tune into the Text Messages podcast episode “Books about Bullying” to hear insights on bullying from bullying expert CJ Bott, author of The Bully in the Book and the Classroom and More Bullies in More Books. You’ll also hear about a variety of fiction and nonfiction books for teens that explore the problem of bullying. After listening to this episode, be sure to print out this list of recommended titles to take to the library or book seller. Find more book suggestions from the English Journal column, Off the Shelves.
Children move from personal to social narratives in writing workshop to create stories as tools for social action, addressing inequities in their school lives in the Language Arts article “Social Narrative Writing: (Re)Constructing Kid Culture in the Writer’s Workshop”.
“[T]wenty-five percent of today’s teenagers have inordinate emotional baggage beyond the normal angst of adolescence.” This burden can lead to unhealthy escapes, including substance abuse, sexual activity, violence, eating disorders, and suicide. One healthy escape, however, lies in books, where students can read about teenagers living in painful circumstances who make healthy choices. Read more in “Teachers Offering Healthy Escape Options for Teenagers in Pain” from Voices from the Middle.
The July 2012 issue of English Journal is themed, “Preventing Bullying Behaviors”. This issue was guest edited by Nancy Mack. She assembled articles from a variety of perspectives that inform readers about bullying, some of its causes and consequences, and what English teachers can do to help prevent bullies from bullying, keep victims from feeling helpless, and encourage bystanders to actively engage in prevention.
The themed issue of English Leadership Quarterly, “The Deadly Power of Mean Words” provides resources to help answer “How can we best teach students about the power of words? What do we do when classroom talk becomes harmful? How do we stand up against negative language, and how do we teach that to students?”
The Council Chronicle article, “Stories of Us: Students and Film Director Collaborate The Problem of Bullying” shared how an anti-bullying film project can captivate students and also gives a glimpse of 21st Century Literacies in the classroom.
Learn more by reading NCTE’s “Resolution on Confronting Bullying and Harassment”. Offering a rationale and a list of actions for confronting the kinds of abuse that have become far too common in schools, this resolution is an important reminder and resource.