Category Archives: anti-bullying

Cyber-Safety/Cyber-Bullying Presentations by Speaker Presenter Bruce Langford (Ontario)

William G. Davis Middle School, Cambridge Ontario

A Cyber-safety tip for you:
Don’t meet people you have met on-line.

You’ve been chatting for three months. You know the person so well you consider them a good friend. They read the same magazines you do. They watch the same TV shows. They play the same computer games.
Then why not meet up when you get a chance?
Answer: As strange as it seems, even though you feel you know this person as well as any of your friends, they actually may not be the person you think. This may not be a 13 year old girl, but instead a 43-year-old man who is trying to lure people to locations.

The above scenario is based on a role-play we did at William G. Davis Public School in Cambridge. The role-play has powerful impact when student actors play the characters, including the two police officers who end up meeting the 13-year-olds at the mall.

Following the grade 7/8 student Cyber-bullying assemblies, we received the following comments:
“Excellent presentations with very relevant information on many different aspects of the internet!”
Carol Hagerman, Vice-Principal, William G. Davis Public School, Cambridge

“I would absolutely endorse Bruce Langford’s assemblies. Your way of presenting really worked for our grade 7/8 students!”
Kim Stenhouse, Teacher, William G. Davis Public School, Cambridge

“That was great! I really liked your interactive approach with the live music and acting.”
Nancy McKinnon, Teacher, William G. Davis Public School, Cambridge

To book programs for your school, visit www.standupnow.ca or phone Stand Up Now at 1-800-901-8831

Tips about Put-downs in Respect Character Ed Assemblies

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Awesome Mural at Derrydown School

Remember to not be involved in put-downs. To do this, try not to use mean language, swearing or name-calling. Don’t even get involved in put-downs that are started by other people. Do try to include other people in activities and conversations and be friendly and respectful. I believe that if you make up your mind to avoid put-downs, you will earn respect.

We included these tips about put-downs in ‘Stand Up For Respect’ assemblies at Derrydown Public School in the Toronto District School Board. Students and staff were very upbeat about the assemblies and we received these comments afterwards:
Bruce Langford’s presentations have the wow factor. You really captured our students at Derrydown!
Al Copeti (Teacher)

The kids just loved Bruce Langford’s ‘Stand Up For Respect’ presentations and so did the teachers. Really engaging. I hope you come back soon.
Dorothy Pienkow (Teacher), Derrydown School, Toronto
Alla Ostrovsky, (Teaching Assistant) Derrydown School

We would be pleased to present character education assemblies at your school. Contact Bruce Langford at Stand Up Now Productions at 1-800-901-8831 or www.standupnow.ca

Five Bullying Tips for Teachers from Bruce Langford

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Hi everybody!
I have five proven tips to help teachers encourage respectful behavior in the classroom.

1. Talk about how rules can be important to help maintain a cooperative and respectful classroom environment. Use group discussion time to help children come up with appropriate guidelines for your classroom.

2. Help your children get to know each other with games and fun activities. Children who know each other will be less likely to be mean to each other.

3. Encourage your children to work together cooperatively, rather than constantly competing with each other.

4. Teach and encourage diversity. We are all different, so emphasize that diversity is a positive thing.

5. Be open and willing to listen to your students. Let them know they can talk to you about bullying situations.

Have a community member come in to talk to your students about respect or have your class plan a school assembly on respect. You could also arrange for Stand Up Now Productions to come to your school to present musical assemblies. Visit our website at www.standupnow.ca for more information.

When is Bullying Prevention Week in Ontario?

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Bullying Prevention and Awareness Week is actually in November.

Any week of the school year can be chosen as your school’s bullying prevention week. You can raise awareness and focus on the issues, but Bullying Prevention Week in Ontario is actually the 3rd week of November.

Here are some tips for your Bullying Prevention Week:

1. Have a ‘Gotcha’ campaign. Gotcha awards are given to students who are caught being nice, including others or helping children. Publish winner’s first names in the school newsletter.
2. Include bullying tips in morning announcements.
3. Hold a poster contest on the theme of helping others to be safe at school.
4. Challenge your students to write songs about bullying prevention.
5. Invite guest presenters to your school to do anti-bullying assemblies. We will come to your school to do interactive musical Stand Up Against Bullying assemblies.

Soccer World Cup 2010, Racial Abuse and Respect

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The Soccer World Cup in South Africa will be an exciting sporting event and Samuel Eto’o is one of the players to watch. He has scored over 100 goals in five seasons with FC Barcelona. As a member of the Cameroon national team, he was a part of the squad that won the 2000 Olympic tournament. He is a Cameroonian who plays as a striker for Italian Serie A club Internazionale.
Eto’o has experienced racial abuse while playing soccer. He has been the subject of racist taunts by people in the stands when he is in possession of the ball. It is unacceptable that racial prejudice continues to be present in our world. Take a stand. Make the decision that you will have the integrity to stand up against prejudice of any kind against any group of people!

We talked about World Cup Soccer and Respect at Valley Park Middle School in Toronto yesterday. Vice-Principal, Sandra Larosa was ‘totally thrilled with Bruce Langford’s assemblies’ and said ‘our middle school kids really connected with the message!’

Remember to ‘Stand Up For Respect’ in your world and with your friends. We will be happy to present musical assemblies about respect at your school. Call Bruce Langford at 1-800-901-8831 or email at info@standupnow.ca.

What Does Barbara Coloroso Say About Bullying?

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Barbara Coloroso is an internationally recognized speaker and author who talks about parenting and bullying. I recommend her books and agree with many of her ideas about how to deal with bullying.
She believes there are a number of ways to stop bullying.
After reading her books, I was left with some ideas which made me feel very positive and hopeful about what we can all do to help eliminate bullying.
It is important to encourage empathy and friendship skills in children and to closely monitor screen activities. She says that adults should help create opportunities for children to do good and help others. Discipline including restitution, resolution and reconciliation should be considered when dealing with bullying behaviours.
I encourage you to google Barbara Coloroso and read her materials. Barbara has extensive experience and expertise on the topic of bullying. Check out the writings of Barbara Coloroso!
I totally believe we can all make a positive difference by working together and making the right choices.

Programs to reduce bullying at www.standupagainstbullying.com

How Do I Teach My Kids Consideration?

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How do my actions affect others?
How do I learn to think before I speak?
How do I make the right choices?

These are questions that your children may be asking themselves more often than you think.
The answer is to remember to show consideration to others. Try to practice empathy. Try to imagine what the other person is feeling. Just remember that these are skills we can practice every day. We all teach children to build character by our own example.

We have taught these character ed concepts through music, videos and role-plays at hundreds of elementary school presentations across Ontario. We will present bullying prevention programs at your school. Contact Stand Up Now Productions at 1-800-901-8831 or email Bruce Langford at bruce@standupnow.ca

Primary Assemblies About Bullying Prevention in Toronto, Ontario

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Bullying at Percy Williams Junior Public School

Bullying Prevention at Percy Williams Junior Public School

What does tattling have to do with bullying?

At first glance they seem like totally separate issues. When we take a closer look, we realize that the two behaviors are closely linked.

Tattling is common with many children as the behavior is often a means of exercising power, an attention seeking mechanism or a self-esteem issue. From my experience, tattling behavior tends to slow down by ages 8-10. By the time children reach 12-14, some students will do almost anything to avoid being labeled a snitch.
Whether the tattling is attributed to power, self-esteem issues, or attention-seeking, children need to understand that when someone is in danger, reporting to a responsible adult is an absolute must. Sometimes bullying behaviours are overlooked because children choose not to report.

In ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ assemblies, we simplify the concept with practical examples so even young children can understand:
Tattling: Trying to get someone into trouble.
Telling: Trying to get someone out of trouble.

During today’s Bullying Prevention Presentation at Percy Williams Junior Public School in Scarborough (Toronto), we taught this concept with a song called “Telling or Tattling”. Following the assembly, grade two teacher, Elena Cherem commented:
“Bruce Langford’s ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ assembly was excellent for my children! My students started using examples about tattling right away after the assembly. It helped them have a clearer understanding of do’s and don’t about bullying.”
Teacher, Jacqueline King was also impressed with the ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ programs and will be a reference for Bruce Langford and Stand Up Now Productions.
Contact Bruce at www.bruce-langford.com to arrange student or parent school bullying-prevention presentations. Bruce Langford is a professional bullying prevention speaker and presenter located in Ontario, Canada.

Middle School Assemblies (Ontario) About Bullying & Bystanders

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Middle School Bullying Prevention Presentation

Bystanders can make a big difference if they decide to do something to stop the meanness. Our anti-bullying school assemblies for intermediate students using videos, role-plays and music will teach your kids how the bystander can make a positive difference. Students tell us they relate to the bullying scenarios in the role-plays we teach. In the video below, a kid gets bullied as he walks down the stairs, but wait … is there a twist? See what someone decides to do. See how one person can make a difference in a matter of seconds. This shows how bystanders can become winners.
Book school assemblies with Stand Up Now Productions telephone number 1-800-901-8831 or email info@standupnow.ca

Ontario School Speaker/Presenter Words of Encouragement

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Mountain of Inspiration

No matter what happens,
We have to keep going, keep positive, somehow.
We’ve got to keep up the fight to Stand Up Against Bullying!
We can do things; we can listen,
We can speak up when we see some of this stuff going on.
We can make sure that we encourage our kids,
Don’t use put-downs; don’t talk about other people in a cruel way.
It’s not acceptable, it’s not ok.
We can all do something to stop the madness,
We can all Stand Up Against Bullying!

We present programs in schools to teach about how to stop the bullying. We use music, videos and role-plays to get the message across loud and clear. We leave follow-up materials for teachers: www.standupnow.ca