Bullying is every parent’s nightmare and every teacher’s challenge. Bullying is more than the stereotypical image of a five-year-old being picked on by an older kid. In this article you will learn how to hold a successful Anti Bullying Assembly as well as how you can make the utmost benefit out of it.
Bullying takes place in kindergartens, in high schools, in colleges, and even in the workplace. Bullying can make people do things they wouldn’t normally do like self-mutilation or breaking the law.
One bullying incident can last for years, and going unreported due to the victim’s fear of the bully.
Bullying Statistics
More than fifty percent of people have dealt with bullying at a certain stage of their lives. Most of these incidents occur to children under twelve years of age.
According to a Yale University study, bullying victims are 2 to 9 times more likely to commit suicide than non-victims. In 2010, it was found that homicide victims and perpetrators are twice more likely to have been bullied when they are young than not.
Importance of a Bullying Assembly
One of the most effective ways to stop bullying is to hold a bullying assembly where you could have activities for the entire family and at the same time generate awareness on bullying-related issues.
Advertising for a bullying assembly won’t require too much effort. You can start by contacting local colleges and schools. You can also ask for famous motivational speakers to have a guest spot on your event. You can also ask ex-bullying victims to come and speak out at your assembly.
A bully needs help, too, even though some people only choose to see him/her as the enemy. Bullies are the way they are because of how they have been treated. Most bullies have had chaotic family lives, been subject to abuse or molestation and came from troubled backgrounds. A bullying assembly would help create an environment where people from opposite sides of the spectrum get to recognize each other. Bullies can have a heart-to-heart conversation with the parents of their victims. Kids could open up about their dark pasts which would call for immediate intervention from adults.
If you are stuck on where to start while planning for your first bullying assembly, you can always use help from your students. Hold auditions for the best ideas for bullying assemblies and encourage the winners by asking them to assist you with the upcoming event.
Fear Leads to Bullying?
There are different methods of dealing with bullying, but the biggest accomplishment is overcoming fear. Bullying stems from fear. Bullies use fear to disempower their victims, causing the bullying to go on for ages. In most extreme cases of kidnapping, abductors have used mind-control to manipulate their victims into being scared out of their wits. They used fear to guarantee that their victims won’t try to escape even if the door is open.
A bullying assembly would tackle the intense subject of fear through simple yet educational exercises. As a teacher holding the class bullying assembly, you can try anything from mind games, to storytelling sessions, to even acting out a mini-play with your classroom as your supporting cast. Ask your students to write down their thoughts concerning this particular topic or describe a situation where they were really afraid.
Bullying Groups
Bullying groups should be offered as the follow-up place to go to after the assembly is over.
A good bullying group connects teachers with parents and students. There could be separate group meetings for parents and/or students. This would help in case of dealing with adult-themed topics and also in case of students making confessionals about things that they didn’t tell their parents about. This makes space for growth and energy.
Amazingly, these groups turn out to be more therapeutic than people ever imagined. Even bullies show up because they feel left out of something big. Confrontations would help in creating a healthier environment for both bullies and the bullied, where no cruel remark or casual act goes unnoticed.
There should be weekly or monthly meetings for the bullying group where you can catch up on what every student has been up to. This would be a great follow-up method for a complicated bullying case.
Bullying Games
Part of a well sought out bullying assembly would be a collection of educational and entertaining games focused on tackling strong bullying issues. However, among the most successful methods in dealing with bullying would be drama groups.
Rosalind Russell, legendary American stage actress, once said that acting is like standing up naked and turning around very slowly. She couldn’t be more right. Acting bares the soul out. By allowing your students to get out of their comfort zones on stage, you could be giving them the chance of a lifetime.
Drama clubs create safe-free zones for everybody. They allow for an overall tolerant and accepting environment where people take each other for who they are. You can also be cunning by reversing your students’ roles in real life, by allowing them to play the role of the “other”.
Allow boys to play roles previously written for females. You can also have all the straight students play the gay roles, and vice versa. Pick your most popular student -among his/her drama club peers- and put him/her in a vulnerable situation. You can have discussions pertaining to the subject matter of the play during rehearsals. By giving your students the chance to express themselves through art, you can discover hidden struggles and conflicts as well as loads of latent talents.
As a reward for your students’ efforts, you can have their play as the opening act for the upcoming school bullying assembly.
Bullying Assembly Free Writing Session
How would you end your bullying assembly? You might be wondering on how to have the “start big…end big” mindset while prepping a huge bullying awareness event. A free writing session would be the perfect way through which you could end your bullying assembly.
Allow all your attendee students to write down their feelings on bullying, truthfully and freely. They can write their bullying essay in the form of an article, a poem, a short story or even a song. After finishing, you can have them go up and read their bullying stories to the audience and facilitate interaction between audience members and your students. On your board of honors at the bullying group main office, hang on the best written notes and letters produced from the event. Watch your efforts and your students’ journeys flourish. As you reflect on the outcomes, plan another bullying assembly.