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Online Resources for Battling Bullies
By Caroline McCullen, SAS inSchool Instructional Technologist

Bullying is a term widely used to describe the teasing, cruel put-downs, and thoughtless actions students direct toward their peers. Adolescents who are less outgoing or more physically awkward than more popular classmates are frequently tormented by bullies. Sometimes very bright students get picked on, too. But no student is truly safe from verbal and physical harassment and no school community should ignore the problems bullying creates. Left unchecked, bullying can escalate to violent behaviors. Students who feel powerless or insignificant may resort to violence to gain attention. Research suggests that by age 24, 60 percent of identified bullies have a criminal conviction.

We don't need any more tragic school shootings to remind us that we must teach students how to resolve disputes peacefully, work through their frustrations in positive ways, and respect diversity. Technology can help, particularly by giving schools access to the best information and strategies around the world.

At Nichols Middle School in Evanston, Illinois, Erin Murphy and Frada Boxer use the Internet to promote an anti-bullying campaign that reinforces reading, writing, and research skills. The two teachers began by surveying their students to find out how many of them had experienced bullying, then they used a spreadsheet program to tabulate and chart the results. The disturbing number of bullying incidents (see Figure 1) prompted Murphy and Boxer to ask their students to design an anti-bullying program and build a Web site to promote it. The resulting projects included "Bullying Angels," "The Shadow of Bullying," and "Let Every Voice Be Heard." Sound clips, videos, rubrics, and all the guidelines are posted on the Nichols Middle School Web site (See Web Clips).

Figure 1

At Benet Academy in Lisle, Illinois, Linda Brown, Daniel Nagis, and Deborah Sola created a WebQuest to get their students thinking about violence prevention. A WebQuest is an inquiry-oriented activity in which materials related to a specific topic are assembled on a Web page. WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well by applying information instead of just looking for it. These activities support thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, and usually include a simulation in which students assume the role of an imaginary person who solves an authentic problem. The model was developed in early 1995 at San Diego State University by Bernie Dodge with Tom March.

At Benet, students assumed various roles in a committee formed after a fictitious school shooting. The committee's task was recommending revisions to the existing gun laws. To make appropriate recommendations, teams of students had to research current gun legislation, gain group consensus on the plan, and make a formal proposal to the class. The WebQuest provided information about relevant laws and about organizations and libraries students could turn to for more details.

Your School's Approach to Violence Prevention

How can you initiate similar activities in your school or school district? The Teaching Tolerance Project, sponsored by the Southern Poverty Law Center, recommends that schools start by ensuring that their mission statements include an anti-bias focus. The goal should be creating a school community in which no child will be excluded, developing guidelines that will cultivate this inclusive environment, incorporating the guidelines into the curriculum, and enforcing them so every child feels welcome and valued.

Many anti-violence organizations provide free resources, training, and research to help schools build strong foundations of caring and support. Use the Internet to search the programs and resources, including videos and print materials. Here is a quick tour of some of the best Web sites (See Web Clips):

  • Bullying.org provides a quick way for students to share ideas about school violence prevention or to write about personal experiences with bullying. With its motto, "Where You are Not Alone," this award-winning site has become popular with students and teachers alike. Established by Canadian teacher Bill Belsey, bullying.org includes testimonials from adolescents all over the world, making students aware that bullying is an international problem.

  • The Anti-Bullying Network is part of the Positive School Ethos Programme at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. This group provides an information hotline, distributes newsletters to schools, and offers information packets and training activities to teachers. The Anti-Bullying Network Web site includes tips for dealing with a variety of difficult situations and shares testimonials from famous people who overcame bullying. Research conducted by The Anti-Bullying Network indicates that the most effective violence prevention programs involve students in their development and implementation. The group is developing a database of anti-bullying initiatives and materials.

  • The Center for the Prevention of School Violence was established in 1993 by the Governor of North Carolina and has served as a primary resource for information, programs, and research about preventing school violence. Now part of the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the center tries to ensure that every student is able to attend a safe school, free of fear and conducive to learning. Staff members recently testified before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Youth Violence.

    Although most violence occurs outside of school, the center warns educators about adopting the "it can't happen here" attitude. The center offers many strategies and services to help schools evaluate their violence prevention methods. The Safe Schools Pyramid recommends essential building blocks, such as a school resource officer, conflict management and peer mediation training, and student organizations such as Students Against Violence Everywhere (S.A.V.E.). The center also provides short descriptions of the most current research on violence prevention in schools.

  • Bully Beware was established by experienced Canadian educators who worked as principals, counselors, or teachers in the middle grades. The organization provides a list of current research and articles about bullying, excellent information about the factors that lead to bullying, and ways to get students involved in anti-bullying campaigns.

  • Kia-Kaha (Maori word for "stand strong") was established in New Zealand by the Telecom Corporation and the New Zealand Police Education Officers. New Zealanders have created guidelines and charters that urge schools to acknowledge their "moral obligation to reduce bullying." Hundreds of Police Education Officers are trained to implement the Kia-Kaha program in schools. They encourage the entire school community (students, teachers, school board members, parents, and others) to work together to establish safe emotional and physical environments. The group also suggests different intervention strategies to address bullying when it occurs and urges teachers to assume an active role in curbing violence through their interactions with students, staff, and parents.

  • Kidscape is a British organization that offers resources to teachers, parents, and students, in addition to social workers, police, and community workers who come in contact with youths. This award-winning organization provides practical, common sense advice for those touched by bullying. Kidscape focuses on tactics to use before abuse occurs.

If you are starting a violence prevention program in your school, consider these Web resources. With a few clicks of your mouse, you can get a global view of how others are successfully approaching this serious problem.

Caroline McCullen, a former National Technology Teacher of the Year, is an instructional technologist at SAS inSchool, SAS Campus Drive, Cary, NC 27513. The Web address is www.SASinSchool.com. You can reach her at 888-760-2515, ext. 12869 or at Caroline.McCullen@sas.com.

Web Clips


Reprinted from the October 2001 edition of Middle Ground, a quarterly magazine published by the National Middle School Association. Reprinted online with permission.


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