About Bullying and Social Aggression

Why Teach Bully Prevention?  Because it’s the law!  But also because…

I found one day in school a boy of medium size ill-treating a smaller boy. I expostulated, but he replied: “The bigs hit me, so I hit the babies; that’s fair.” In these words he epitomized the history of the human race.  —Bertrand Russell

School used to be great. I loved it. Now I hate it. The kids are mean, everyone picks on me, and no one does anything about them. —Danny H., 5th grade, 2005

BULLYING IS NOT CONFLICT;

IT IS NOT A NORMAL PART OF GROWING UP.

BULLYING IS THE ABUSE OF POWER.

BULLIES PURPOSELY TARGET OTHERS WHO HAVE LESS POWER.

BULLYING IS ABUSE!

Sometimes bullying is physical but more often it is verbal or social abuse through gossip and rumor spreading, shunning or excluding – directly, indirectly or through technology.  It is unhealthy behavior for all – the bullied, the bully, the bystanders and the community.  Fortunately it is not the majority of behaviors and it can be stopped!

Humans are incredibly compassionate and empathetic; we also have the capacity to hurt.  My bully prevention workshops and social skills training provide specific strategies to stop bullying and social aggression.

Bully Prevention Book - Bully Prevention Workshop Activities and Lessons

Look inside the book.

Accepting bullying as an inevitable part of childhood is no longer tolerated. The customary responses, “Boys will be boys,” and, “That’s the way girls are,” are outdated and ignore research that has shown the long-term negative impact bullying has on not only the bullied child, but also on the bully and those who witness bullying.

Ongoing bullying leads to low self-esteem, criminal activity, domestic violence, suicide, and other self-destructive behaviors as well as distrust in the ability of authority to create and maintain a safe educational environment (Nansel, et al., 2001). It is for these reasons that most states in America have passed laws that require schools to address bully prevention (www.bullypolice.org).

Bullying should be addressed in a proactive fashion. To that end, this website, my videos, and my books, share research-based ideas and fun, interactive activities that proactively teach behaviors that are expected in and out of school, including how to stand up to a bully, how to stop another student from bullying, and how (hopefully former) bullies can get their needs met in a peaceful, pro-social style.