People who bully are looking to get under another person’s skin, and they might even feel encouraged if they believe they’re getting to you. It’s good to know that, even in the heat of the moment, you have a choice about how you can go about responding to bullying. This activity provides some helpful hints on how to choose how you respond to bullying.

Year level

7-10

Duration

5 minutes

Type

In class activity

Year assembly activity

SEL Competencies

Responsible decision-making

Social awareness

Self-management

Learning intention

Students will be able to explain practical ways to deal with bullying.

Key outcomes

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:

  • explain some practical ways to deal with bullying

  • identify practical strategies to use that resonate with them.

Materials needed

Mapped to

Australian Curriculum Health and Physical Education

  • Analyse the impact of changes and transitions, and devise strategies to support themselves and others through these changes (AC9HP8P02)

  • Refine protective behaviours and evaluate community resources to seek help for themselves and others (AC9HP8P08)

  • Evaluate the influence of respect, empathy, power and coercion on establishing and maintaining respectful relationships (AC9HP10P04)

Australian Curriculum: General Capabilities

  • Personal and Social Capability:

    • Social awareness

    • Self-management

  • Critical and Creative Thinking:

    • Generating

    • Analysing

NSW PDHPE Syllabus

  • Examines and demonstrates the role help-seeking strategies and behaviours play in supporting themselves and others (PD4-2)

  • Assesses their own and others’ capacity to reflect on and respond positively to challenges (PD5-1)

Victorian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education

  • Evaluate strategies to manage personal, physical and social changes that occur as they grow older (VCHPEP124)

  • Evaluate situations and propose appropriate emotional responses and then reflect on possible outcomes of different responses to health and wellbeing (VCHPEP147)

Show details

Activity 1

Instructions

5 minutes

  1. As a group, watch the ReachOut.com video ‘2 ways to deal with bullying’.

  2. Ask the students to vote on whether they think the best way to deal with bullying is by ‘standing up for yourself’ or ‘not responding’.

  3. Determine the response that’s the most popular with the students and ask them to write down three ways to implement this option.

  4. Ask the students to write down three ways to implement the least popular option.

  5. Ask the students to share with a partner which option they would feel most comfortable choosing in their life, and to explain why. Share their ideas as a group.

Debrief

It can be helpful for students to think about ways they would respond to a bullying situation before it happens. When they are experiencing a challenging situation such as bullying, it can be difficult to make decisions about how to solve the problem as effectively as they would when feeling calm and relaxed.

More information for students:

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