Bully-Free Zones

Bullies:  Bully-Free Zones

Do think your school does a good job of dealing with bullies? Do students get the support they need when they go to teachers or counselors with bullying problems?

If they don't, then...why not change that?

With the help of parents and community leaders, kids all over the country are making anti-bullying programs happen at their schools. Here's how to start.

Start small:

• Raise the issue of bullying with student council and try to set up a "bullying prevention" or "student respect" group. You can also get a few friends together and talk to a counselor about setting up these groups.
• Work with a guidance counselor to develop an anti-bullying workshop that can be done in your class, grade, or school-wide.

Start bigger:

• Talk to your parents about whether the school's PTA can raise the issue in meetings.
• Hold a meeting with the principal, along with any friends, parents, and teachers who support you, to talk about starting a bullying prevention program at your school.

If you have trouble getting something going at your school, you can try working with a youth group, like Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, etc., to put together a workshop for people in the community.

Great Books About Bullies

Fiction Books
Attack of the Killer Fishsticks
by Paul Zindel
A fun-loving group of fifth graders confronts the Nasty Blobs, two of the meanest kids in school, and they help a new kid run for class office.

Blubber
by Judy Blume
A classic! Jill goes along with the rest of her fifth-grade class in tormenting a classmate and then finds out what it's like when she, too, becomes a target.

The Hundred Dresses
by Elinor Estes
Wanda Petronski stands out in her class--she has a Polish name, lives in a poor part of town and has only one dress to wear to school. To defend herself against her classmates, she brags that she has one hundred beautiful dresses in her closet.

Joshua T. Bates In Trouble Again
by Susan Shreve
The third book in the "Joshua T. Bates" series. After repeating third grade, Joshua struggles to fit in as a fourth-grader. Soon Joshua's uncertainties combine with a couple of bullies to get him in trouble.

The Night The Bells Rang
by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
During the final year of World War I, Mason's secure Vermont farm life is disrupted by Aden, a teenager who bullies him. After Aden runs away, joins the army, and is killed, Mason deals with his feelings and his confusion.

The Skin I'm In
by Sharon Flake
Thirteen-year-old African-American Maleeka has suffered through lots of teasing because of her dark complexion. Into her life walks Miss Saunders, a teacher whose rare skin condition also sets her apart.

Stepping On The Cracks
by Mary Downing Hahn
Set during World War II. When best friends Margaret and Elizabeth spy on the sixth grade bully Gordy, they discover that he is hiding his brother, Stuart, a deserter from the army.


Non-Fiction Books

LETTERS TO A BULLIED GIRL: Messages of Healing and Hope
By Olivia Gardner, Emily Buder, and Sarah Buder
Olivia Gardner is a northern California middle school girl who was subjected to merciless bullying after suffering an epileptic seizure at school. It quickly escalated when an "Olivia's Haters" page was created by classmates on a popular teen networking site. Unlike many bullying stories, OliviaÕs has a happy ending, thanks to Emily and Sarah Buder, two teenage sisters who read about Olivia's plight in the newspaper and decided to take action. Initiating a campaign to get their friends to write Olivia encouraging letters, their efforts took off beyond their wildest imaginings. This book collects some of the most powerful and inspiring of "Olivia's Letters," featuring the recollections of bullying incidents of every kind and for every reason.

Bullies Are a Pain in the Brain
by Trevor Romain (Illustrator) and Elizabeth Verdick (Editor)

Cliques, Phonies, & Other Baloney
by Trevor Romain

How to Handle Bullies, Teasers and Other Meanies : A Book That Takes the Nuisance Out of Name Calling and Other Nonsense
by Kate Cohen-Posey and Betsy A. Lampe (Illustrator)

Why Is Everybody Always Picking on Me? : A Guide to Handling Bullies
by Terrence Webster-Doyle

Bullying has been around for a really long time, but that doesn't mean it has to exist forever. Whether it's happening to you or someone else, you have the power to stop bullying now...and for the future.

Now let's look at how to deal with Online Bullying.