Introduction

There's always at least one bully around to make life miserable.  Have you ever wondered what to do to keep yourself from being a victim?  Do you know how you can help a friend who is being bullied?  What if YOU are that bully?  How can you help yourself?   

Could you help your school solve the bully problem?  Reading fiction and non-fiction pieces about bullying can provide some great advice.  Your job is to study articles and stories about this problem and create a brochure that your school can publish to provide advice which will help students deal with bullying. 

Now you will read about bullying in different contexts.  The reading selections will be fiction or non-fiction and will be in a variety of formats.  As you read your selections, look for behaviors bullies exhibit in each one.  Each member of the group should use a student worksheet to keep track of this information.  For each behavior you find, think of a response to help solve the problem. After each member has completed the reading, you will have a group meeting to decide on the content of your brochure.

Roles

The Fabler- Fables are simple stories which involve animals, as well as people, as characters used to teach a lesson. These fables can help us understand the behavior of people even today.  When you read these fables, think about how the interactions of the characters can provide advice for the bullying problem.

The News Reporter-Many news articles have been written about the problem of bullying.  Some magazines have covered this topic by reporting about schools that have tried to solve the problem. 

The Storyteller-People who have had problems with bullies like to share their stories.  Read these accounts of people who have been bullied for firsthand information that can help your fellow students.

The Advice Columnist-There are many experts that like to give children helpful hints for dealing with the problem of being bullied.  Read what they have to say about how children can avoid being the target of a bully.

Group Work

Each of you should now have some suggestions for dealing with typical bully behavior.  It is time to agree on the information for your brochure.  You must decide the following:

• a simple definition of a bully

• three common behaviors of bullies and a recommendation for how to deal with each behavior

• three general pieces of advice for dealing with bullies

Once you have come to agreement on the content of your brochure, you can begin your first draft.  Your brochure should be made from a single sheet of 8 ½ x 11 paper.  It should include a written message and graphics to get the information across to your reader. You may choose to use a word processing program, such as Microsoft Word, to produce your product.  

When you have completed your draft, share it with the principal, the counselor, a teacher, and a student for feedback.  Revise and edit your brochure using that feedback to improve it.  

Create a final copy of your brochure for publication so that it can be passed out in school.

Evaluation

Use this rubric to make sure that you have produced a quality publication.

Conclusion

Growing up is hard enough without being the target of a bully.  The more you look into this problem, the more you will realize it is an important issue that needs to be addressed.  You have become a problem-solver to help your schoolmates.  Compare your brochure with the other groups in your class. Does everyone take the same approach to giving advice?  Can you think of other problems in school you may want to publish advice for?