Author Archives: Bruce

7 Tips to use drama and role-plays to teach social skills and bullying prevention

Ventura Park School students learn respect

Student role-plays and drama skits are a great way to help students learn social skills related to bullying. Here are some tips to get you started whether you are a parent, teacher, babysitter, caregiver, step parent, grandfather, daycare provider, grandmother, aunt, uncle or other interested adult.

1/ Next time a child reports an incident, whether it is bullying, teasing or other type of situation, take a minute to have them act out the scenario with one or two other people. The others could be children or adults or you could even pretend your pets are participants.

2/ As an alternative to #1 above, have the child act out the scenario with dolls, puppets or even paper cut-outs of characters.

3/ You be the narrator and set up the scene as described by the child. If you are not sure what comes next, let the child fill in the details.

4/ If the acted-out scenario starts to go in a mean direction or there is a nasty slant to the drama, just listen and then say: “now we’re going to do TAKE TWO which will be a bit different.” Explain to the child that it will start the same, but this time things get better when one character starts being a great role-model. Continue by giving the child a specific line to say which will change the direction of the drama.

5/ After the role-play has been acted out, let the child continue to focus on what has just happened by having them draw and colour a picture to go with the action.

6/ Use your iphone, android smart phone, flip cam or video camera to capture the drama and then plug it into the TV to show your child the action. Use this opportunity to discuss different directions the same situation could have taken. Give your child choices as to what they think would have been the best resolution to the situation. Take a still picture of the drama post a print-out on the fridge with a title such as “Great Role-Model”.

7/ Two or three days later, refer to the video role-play your child did and begin to discuss it again. Have your child re-visit the scenario by having them write a story about it. Tell them you’d like them to write a story to help a five-year who might be having some trouble getting along with others. This project can have meaning and value for a child who might otherwise not see themselves as a role-model or leader. Tell them that they are likely being watched everyday by children younger than themselves who learn from what they see.

Yesterday, we visited Ventura Park Public School in Thornhill (greater Toronto region) and presented assemblies which used role-play as a teaching tool.

We were so impressed with Principal, Ms. Kim Wagner and Vice-Principal, Ms. Sonia Kadela, who emphasize respect on a daily basis at their school.

Here is a quick video of Ms. Kadela commenting on the Stand Up Assemblies featuring Benny DL as DJ of radio station ATFM.
(Learn more about Benny DL at www.standupnow.ca)

Take a determined stand against bullying at school. These students did!

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I have a story to share with you about just a small number of students who really made a difference in their school.

We had visited the school last year and presented our ‘Stand Up For Respect’ assemblies to all the students. Apparently, some really got the message:

After seeing what they referred to as ‘too much meanness and too much bullying’, five students decided to set up a ‘Stand Up For Respect’ club.

At first, only about a dozen students came to the weekly meetings, but then word started to spread that some cool stuff was happening at the meetings and those students were starting to get noticed. They were speaking up and setting examples that made some positive impact.

After two months, between thirty and forty students were attending the meetings.

They spent their time making posters at some meetings. (The principal let them put the posters up around the school.)

Then they decided to record some commercials that could play on the school announcements.

One student suggested they work on a design for t-shirts, so they starting coming up with different designs. They thought it would make sense to get more people involved, so they put their t-shirt ideas up in the front hall of the school and let everybody vote on their favourite. Then there would be a draw, and one of the voters would win a ‘Stand Up For Respect’ t-shirt.

One week the students were able to get permission to have their meeting in the school computer lab, and they did research on-line. They found videos about showing respect and they decided to ask if they could show some at a school assembly. They had other ideas for the assembly as well. They thought it would be cool to do a skit about stopping bullying by being respectful and standing up against bullying.

They knew that a lot of kids in their school liked music, so they decided to make up some songs about respect.

More and more ideas came together and they thought they could do the assembly for students and maybe do another one at night for parents and kids.

The ‘Stand Up For Respect’ meetings had to start happening in the gym, because more than 130 students were coming on a regular basis, along with seven or eight teachers who were helping out.

They started a contest which each class could participate in called Respect Elect (ric).

Classes could think of a way to decorate their door on the topic of respect, but they had to use bright electric colours. Then the ‘Stand Up For Respect’ club would ‘elect’ the door they thought had the most impact. A picture was taken of every door and the pictures were put on the school website. The winning class got a pizza party. (The local pizza restaurant donated the pizza!)

Parents phoned the school and talked about how impressed they were that the school was being so active to encourage respect.

Just a little story about one school community that really got on board to make some great changes.

Bruce Langford is an anti-bullying advocate who presents bullying prevention assemblies and keynote addresses.

www.standupnow.ca

Student Survey Initiates Anti-Bullying Assemblies in YRDSB

How is bullying, racism, stereotyping, prejudice and bigotry related?

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rty In order to understand how racism, stereotyping, and bigotry are related to bullying, it is necessary to understand the following concepts.

What is racism?

Answer: Racism is based on the belief that certain racial groups are of less value or inferior to others. Racism often focuses on physical appearance such as skin color and certain facial or body characteristics. People who believe that certain racial groups are inferior to others are called racists. Racists think it’s okay to treat members of certain races with less respect than others.

What are racial groups?

Answer: The idea that humans can be divided into specific groups called races. These groups are usually determined by skin colour, facial appearance, skills and character. Back in the 1800’s many people believed that humans could be divided into three races: White, black and yellow. Others believed there were up to thirty different races.

What does prejudice mean?

Answer: The word prejudice means to make up your mind about someone before considering the facts. It means to pre-judge. Being prejudiced usually involves a negative opinion or conclusion about a person or group of people without really knowing what that person or group of people is really like. A person who is prejudiced will probably continue their incorrect beliefs even when others point out the truth. People who are prejudiced believe they know what people are like based on the color of their skin.

What is stereotyping?

Answer: Stereotyping is when people have a set idea about what a group of people are like. An example might be a belief that all African American people are less intelligent than white people. Even if the characteristic appears to be a positive one, it is still inappropriate and insulting because it labels all people in a group rather than identifying people as individuals. An example of this might be a belief that all Asian people are excellent mathematicians.

What is a bigot?

A bigot is a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from their own or intolerant of people of different political views, ethnicity, race, class, religion, profession, sexuality or gender.

Archie Bunker was a bigoted character in a 1970’s television show called ‘All In The Family’. He had shocking

Archie Bunker from All In The Family

false beliefs that were based on his prejudiced thinking. It was a comedy in the form of satire. This means it makes fun of people and situations that at first might appear to be acceptable. The show actually pointed out to the viewer how ridiculous Archie’s beliefs actually were.

Bullying is often a result of racism, stereotyping, prejudice and bigotry.

Inappropriate comments, jokes and so-called humor can sometimes make unacceptable beliefs seem okay. Bigotry can also lead to discrimination where people of certain descriptions would not be able to get jobs or be allowed into specific organizations. This can also lead to violence. Some of the behaviours that come from bigotry fall into the category of bullying.

It is easy to realize that bullying is sometimes related to being prejudiced against a group of people.

In order to stop this kind of bullying it is necessary for parents, schools, students, and community to all work together to end it. By keeping open communication with children, parents can determine when bullying is most likely to happen and therefore take necessary action. For example if a child gets bullied when they play at a certain park, arrangements can be made to have the child be accompanied by an adult or friend when they play at that park.

It is the responsibility of adults to help children learn the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behaviours related to bigotry and stereotyping.

Bruce Langford is a bullying prevention advocate who offers talks and workshops on bullying and respect.