Bullying Prevention Lesson Plan: What to do If Someone Bullies You (page 3)

This lesson provides skills and strategies students can use if they are being bullied.

Students will:

• understand that the words of someone who bullies them should never be taken personally
• review what they can do if they are bullied
• understand that they don’t have to shoulder bullying alone 
• reflect on the fact that bystanders can become upstanders who help

Introduction and Discussion.

Remind students that if they’ve ever been bullied, they’re not alone. At least 50 percent of kids in all age groups are bullied (NYU Child Study Center, Jan. 2010). Consider sharing your own story if you’ve ever been bullied, too. Doing so will help kids who’ve been bullied feel less alone and safer about opening up.

If anyone reveals having been bullied, allow time for discussion. Say: If you’re being bullied it’s really important to remember that you have worth and value just as you are, no matter what the other person says or does. Discuss.

Say: Let’s take another look at the story from a real student you heard in the last session. I’m going to be asking several of you to play the roles of the kids in this story. Then we’re going to think about what the boy who was being bullied might have done to help himself. Read the story aloud to your class:

“There is a boy at school who gets bullied all the time. It started last year and still goes on. Everyone I know, except me and my best friends, tease him. I feel so bad for him. I think he should learn better comebacks.

“Last year I was hoping they’d forget about him over the summer, but right after summer break was over, they kept bullying him. I wish it could stop, but it doesn’t. I feel so bad for him.”

Ask for a volunteer to play the role of the boy who was being bullied. Have two groups play the roles of the kids who bullied and the bystanders. Afterward, ask students: What assertive comeback could this boy use to be an upstander for himself? (“I don’t deserve to be treated this way.” “I’m not listening to you anymore.”) Have the boy choose a comeback and speak up assertively. Then ask the class: What other things could he do to deal with the bullying? Discuss students’ ideas, focusing on the “Do’s and Don'ts."

Ask the bystanders to face the class next, and ask: What could these students have done to help instead of remaining silent? Finally, ask the kids who bullied to face the class. Have the class suggest what these students should or could have done differently, especially those in the group who had guilty feelings about contributing to the bullying. Discuss, addressing students’ fears about speaking out and their concerns about not going along with the crowd.