Stand up to Bullying

To help stop bullying, it is important to know strategies you can use to stand up to bullying and help someone in need.

Grade Level: K-5

Character Skills

Caring

SEL Skills

Relationship Skills
Social Awareness

Academic Skills

Effective Problem-Solving

Definitions

Caring

Be compassionate.
Be considerate of others’ feelings.
Be kind.
Express gratitude.
Forgive others.

Relationship Skills

Interpersonal and social skills to guide appropriate behavior and create positive relationships and meaningful connections .

Social Awareness

Assess the feelings of others and be sensitive to the feelings and needs of others.

Effective Problem-Solving

Employ critical and creative thinking skills to solve problems and make rational, ethical, and effective decisions that produce the best possible result.

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When we think about bullying we typically picture the bully, or the person being mean and hurting someone on purpose, and the victim, the person being bullied. There are, however, two other kinds of people involved in bullying – bystanders and upstanders. In this lesson, students will explore these roles and how to be an upstander.

Materials/Preparation

Video
Blank paper/poster board (one per group)
Markers/writing utensils

Instructions

Explain that when someone is being bullied, there are clear roles – the bully, and the person/people being bullied. There are also other roles that impact the situation – bystanders and upstanders. Explain these roles to students using these descriptions:
- A bystander is someone who sees bullying, but does nothing to stop it. They don’t help the bully, but they don’t help the target either. Most of the time when bystanders see bullying happen, they know it’s wrong, but they don’t know how to go from being a bystander to an upstander.
- An upstander is someone who stands up for and helps the victim. Upstanders can really have an impact on stopping bullying behavior.
Let’s watch this short video clip and see if you can identify the four roles of bullying: http://www.values.com/inspirational-stories-tv-spots/72-locker
Discuss the video using these prompts:
- Who was the bully in the video? The target? The bystander? The upstander?
- What did the upstander do to stand up for the person being bullied?
- What are some ways you can be an upstander? Here are some examples and reasoning if students need ideas:
  - Be a buddy. Bullies like to pick on people who are alone. Bring people into your group. Sit with lots of different people at lunch. Play with different people on the playground. Show people that they have a friend.
  - Interrupt. When you see bullying, you can interrupt it. Think of a way to help the victim get away from the bully. Invite them to walk to school with you, or sit next to you in class.
  - Speak out. If you see someone saying mean things to someone else, stop them. Tell them that what they are saying is not ok. Don’t let a bully hurt someone else if you can stop it. Sometimes speaking out even encourages other bystanders to become upstanders with you!
  - Tell someone. It is ok to tell someone if you see bullying happen. You are not tattling to get someone in trouble; you just want to make sure everyone is safe.
Split students into groups. Explain that they will make a poster showing others how to be an upstander. After students have completed this, give them time to share with the rest of the class and display the posters as a reminder to be an upstander.