Bullying Prevention 101

What is bullying?

Bullying is when someone keeps being mean to someone else on purpose.  The person it is happening to has not been able to make it stop.  It is unfair (an imbalance of power that could be age, size, ability, or social) and one-sided (the person it is happening to has not been mean back to the person who is bullying). 

How should someone respond?

Recognize - is this bullying?

Refuse - tell the person to stop in a strong, respectful voice.

Report - find a caring adult and tell him/her what is happening in a strong and respectful voice. 

What is a bystander?

A bystander is someone who sees or knows about bullying happening to someone else.

How can a bystander help to stop the bullying?

Report - find a caring adult and tell him/her what is happening in a strong and respectful voice. 

Refuse  - tell the person who is bullying to stop in a strong, respectful voice.

Include everyone - if you see someone sitting alone or playing alone, invite her/him to join you.

Be kind and respectful to everyone - even if the person is not one of your friends. 

What does bullying look like?

There are four primary types of bullying:

  •  Physical - hitting, tripping, pulling hair 

  •  Social or emotional - spreading rumors, excluding people from a group, getting others to gang up on someone

  •  Verbal - name calling, saying mean things to another person, excessive teasing

  •  Cyber - sending cruel emails, texts, posting embarrassing pictures or blogs about someone; using someone else's user name and password to spread rumors or lies.

Helpful Resources

 5 Do's and Don'ts for Helping Kids Handle Bullying - click the link below for some helpful tips.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/signe-whitson/5-dos-and-donts-of-helpin_b_9061828.html 

Third - fifth graders in Buncombe County Schools are assigned email addresses so that they can communicate with their teachers and share work electronically.  Parents often feel overwhelmed at the thought of their children starting to use email.  However, there is a way to monitor their emails.  Below are directions to forward automatically emails that are sent to a student's email account.

Directions on forwarding student emails 

Although most social media websites indicate that users must be at least 13 years old to create an account, many young people create accounts anyway.  Often parents are overwhelmed by how to monitor their students's activity on social media websites.   Below is an article and a link that can help parents monitor their child's technology use.

Tips on Monitoring Social Media 

http://dontbullyonline.com/blog/16-social-media-and-your-child-the-talk

To report bullying please contact Mr. Raymond, an admin, a teacher, or use the SAY SOMETHING phone # 1-844-572-9669 or the SAY SOMETHING APP at https://www.saysomething.net/