We’ve been talking a lot about how to prevent bullying. So I decided to search around on the web and see what others people are doing to prevent bullying. I came across the website edutopia which provides a lot of resources to school related topics such as bullying. One of the articles I found gives five practical ways to prevent bullying…..
#1. Recognize and Respond
It’s important to indicated what is considered bullying and to inform others to be aware of it when/if they encounter bullying. The site suggests making an action plan to follow if you are ever bullied. This will help you to have an idea of what to do if you are ever in the situation.
#2. Create Dialogue
I think that most issues can be resolved when there is dialogue. I think this is especially helpful if there is a 3rd party, such as a mediator, who can facilitate dialogue.
#3. Encourage Bystanders to Become “Upstanders”
The more people who stand up for those being bullied, and do not bully back, the easier it will be to end the bullying.
#4. Foster Safety and Inclusion
Environments that are welcoming and non-judgmental will encourage acceptance rather than fighting/bullying.
#5. Educate Your Community
If we all work together, then chances of ending bullying will be greater.
I think my favorite suggestion is #3 to encourage bystanders to become “upstanders”. If we see bullying and we don’t stand up for the victim are we not at fault for the bullying as well?
Looking at ways to prevent bullying is always a good thing because we hear too much about how we need to stop bullying once it has started, but what about keeping it from starting in the first place. I really like the point you bring up about bystanders becoming "upstanders." I understand that some people may feel scared to stand up for the person being bullied, maybe because they are afraid that they will get bullied themselves. I do not think they are necessarily at fault for the bullying as well by not standing up for those being bullied, but I think that they can do more such as befriend the person who is being bullied and help to prevent bullying by letting the person who is being a bully recognize that who they are bullying has friends who are not being bullied. This may allow the "bullyer," so-to-speak, see that their bullying is a result of their own insecurities and not because something is wrong with the kid they are bullying.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post! I liked all of the five ways to prevent bullying. I really think they will work and everyone should use these five steps if they are being bullied.
ReplyDeleteI think this is very realistic and I think that these steps provide hope in the fact that bullying is a very present issue in our schools.
ReplyDeleteReading through these 5 tips really makes you wonder why don't more schools focus on these. But then I thought even if they are focusing on them, there are many ways bullying happens and will lead to one of the other ways of bullying whether they are educated about bullying or not.
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