Blog – Latest stories tagged 'bullying'

Research suggests that nearly 70 % of children in the UK have had some kind of bullying experience – yet bullying is a sensitive and complex subject which can be difficult to talk about. One way to tackle it is through the inclusive and accessible medium of film. To tie in with Anti-Bullying Week 2014 (November 17-22) Into Film, an education charity supported by the BFI with Lottery funding, has developed a new resource featuring six carefully selected films – three for secondary - to promote discussion about bullying and related themes such as friendship, on-line safety, standing up for what is right and the power of groups, positive and negative. Films are free to order for all schools with an Into Film club.

Titles for secondary are The Social Network (2010, 12), about the founders and impact of Facebook, tense British drama UWantMeToKillHim (15, 2013) and futuristic sci-fi movie Ender’s Game (2013, 12). Related activities range from a Character crossroads discussion and worksheet to researching successful people who were bullied as a child, and creating an educational Talking Heads film about different types of bullying and how to stop them. Download the resource here.

Other great resources from Into Film which can be used for Anti-Bullying Week are InRealLife, which uses the hard-hitting documentary of the same name to explore a range of issues relating to the Internet including cyberbullying, and Staying Safe Online, with films and activities for primary and secondary linked to e-safety. All resources are available to download from the website.

Into Film is an education charity that puts film at the heart of young people’s learning. Into Film Clubs are FREE for all state funded schools and non-school settings and offer free access to thousands of films and education resources for learning through and about film, as well as opportunities to learn about filmmaking and go behind the scenes of the film industry. Inclusive and accessible for all students, film clubs help promote young people’s social, moral, spiritual and cultural development helping schools achieve OFSTED requirements.

Supported by the BFI with Lottery funding, together with funding from the film industry and a number of other sources, Into Film incorporates the legacy and staff of two leading film education charities, FILMCLUB and First Light, building on their experience and success in delivering programmes of significant scale and reach to children and young people across the UK.

For further information about Into Film and to start an Into Film Club visit: www.intofilm.org/schools-film-clubs or call 0207 288 4520.

Whether you have blond, brown or ginger hair or whether you are small or tall or maybe you’re into pop music or you’re a ‘Goth’. You may play football or prefer to play a guitar.

These aspects make us what we are, our characters, our personalities as individuals, each and every one of us are unique in some way. We may have things in common to others, but when you really compare each human being to the next there are far more differences than similarities.

17th - 21st November it is national ‘Anti-Bullying Week’ and so to assist teachers delivering lessons, here are a few ideas and resources that can be employed in order to engage students in this important subject area.

Bullying Classroom Discussions

We are all different, but what does that actually mean?
As a class discussion explore what the students believe is the meaning of that phrase and why differences such as those listed below may trigger bullying:

•Race, gender
•Hair colour, hair style
•Clothes we wear
•The things that interest us (Music, sport, drama, reading etc.)
•Where we live and who we live with.

Would we change?
Teachers could ask the students what they would do if they began to dislike their present hair style, the clothes that they were wearing or the music they were listening to, drawing from them the idea that these are things that they can choose to change, they are under their control. How do they think these changes would affect the behaviour of those around them?

What can't we change?
Teachers could then steer the discussion onto aspects that we can’t change about ourselves such as our skin colour, for example, the country where we were born, our sexuality, or disabiliities. These can often be triggers for bullies, but they are things that can't be changed. Why do bullies target these areas?

Dealing with bullies
How should students react if they are being bullied, they see someone being bullied or if they believe someone is being bullied? Should they walk away? Should they tell an adult? Should they step in and say something? Who should they tell? This could be a small group exercise with each group contributing their ideas to a class discussion.

Students could also be asked how they believe they should treat people and whether they should treat those with different skin colours, sexualities or disabilities etc. differently? Why is this important?

Cyber Bullying Competition

Internet Matters is helping to raise awareness of the important issues of online respect and cyberbullying by launching an exciting competition with the Anti-Bullying Alliance. The competition asks schools to create their own song, rap or poem on the subject of being respectful to others online to generate important discussions of this issue amongst students, teachers and parents, both inside and outside the classroom. The winners will be chosen by a panel of judges including singer and Internet Matters ambassador, Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The winning Secondary school group will enjoy a special daytrip to Sky’s TV studios in West London where they’ll make their own film.

The competition is open until 28th November 2014 with a lesson plan and full details about how to enter on the Internet Matters website. Start getting creative!

Anti-bullying Assembly

At Teaching Resources Support (TRS), you can download an Anti-Bullying assembly plan which aims to encourage students to think about the consequences of bullying, helps them understand how to tackle bullying behaviour and provides guidance for those who witness others being bullied. This is available to all TRS members, simply login or join free and download the teacher script and PowerPoint presentation from your dashboard.