Dealing with Bullying in School: Language
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Bullying is a common issue that we encounter while teaching. Thus, as teachers, we need to be aware of ideas and strategies for dealing with bullying in school. One effective approach that can be used is to teach students about expressing themselves correctly.
Anger is one of the most common responses to being bullied. Here are some ideas that you can use to teach students more about how to respond.
EXPRESSING ANGER:
Teaching students to express their anger in a responsible way is one way to decrease bullying. Some of the points that you can highlight are:
- Anger tends to bring out anger from the other person.
- If you respond in anger that will make the bully angry and you will feel like, “Why are you angry with me as though you are the victim and I should feel sorry and apologize.”
- So if you get angry with them, you will get the opposite of what you want from them.
Thus, help students understand that responding in anger does not help them in any way.
EXPRESSING PAIN:
The next step is to help students understand that responding by expressing their pain, is a better way to respond. You could help students understand the following.
- When someone hurts you, instead of saying something in anger, tell them that you am hurt.
- Help them understand that you are not angry with them. You are not trying to scare them away or tear them to pieces.
Help your students reflect and understand that this response will make the person who hurt them feel sorry for them.
Furthermore, help them understand that if the person who hurt them is still angry , it may be because the student hurt them in first place. Talking about it will help to mend relationships.
You can also teach students to limit real physical damage by using language like: “Careful! You’re breaking my arm!” or “Careful! you are breaking my cell phone!”
Do you have some more ideas on dealing with bullying in school?
From Professional Learning Board’s online continuing education course for teachers: Bullying: The Golden Rule Solution
