Category Archives: bullying

Songs can help children deal with bullying

Music can help us learn & remember

Why do we use songs and music in our bullying-prevention programs? Songs can provide a hook so that children remember the messages. We have all used songs to help us remember facts and details like the alphabet, planets, number of days in a month and so on. Repeated phrases in songs really get the point across and help children remember the message. One example is our Passwords song. “Passwords, passwords, keep ‘em to yourself, tell no one else.”   When we visit schools a second or third time, students often come into assemblies singing “Passwords”, or “Stand Up” or “Confidence”.  We have another song which is a good example of learning through music. It is called “Be Kind Online”. I’ve posted a video below featuring this song. It is in the style of boogie woogie.
In my opinion, children can learn to deal with bullying by remembering the songs in our programs and singing them over. This will trigger memories of other details from our presentations such as videos, stories and role plays.
To book assemblies for your school, call us at 1-800-901-8831 or email us at info@standupnow.ca.
Visit our website at http://www.standupnow.ca/

Five Bullying Tips for Teachers from Bruce Langford

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?

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

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.

How Do I Teach My Kids Consideration?

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

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

Middle School Bullying Prevention Presentation

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

Character Education Programs in Ontario (Brampton) by Stand Up Now Productions

The PAWS Wall at Copeland Public School

Copeland School PAWS Wall

Character Education Assemblies about Respect were presented by DJ Benny DL of ATFM Radio. Bruce Langford was the DJ and the set for ATFM Radio was in the gym as the students cheered him on.

The Character Education Formula at Copeland Public School is tied in with their Coyote mascot. The message is “Follow The “P.A.W.S.” – Print to Success.” Here is what the PAWS acronym stands for:

P:  Positive Attitude
A: Act Responsibly and Respectfully
W: W.I.T.S. (See Below)
S: Self Belief

W: Walk Away
I: Ignore
T: Talk
S: Seek Help

After the Stand Up For Respect Assemblies, Principal Lynn Dirks said “I really liked the way you tied the show into our Character Education focus here at Copeland. I liked the way you brought music into it.”
One of the grade 5 students said “It really taught us to show respect, not bully. And you had really cool songs!”
Find more information about booking assemblies for your school at www.standupagainstbullying.com

Ontario School Speaker/Presenter Words of Encouragement

Mountain of Inspiration

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

Anti-Bullying Prevention Speaker at Windsor School Presents Assemblies and Parent Presentations

Benny DL in Stand Up Against Bullying

Bruce Langford speaks to students about bullying

 Bruce Langford (Benny DL) delivered bullying prevention messages at Hugh Beaton Public School in Windsor. 

One of the bullying tips he talked about was this: If you’re being bullied, talk to a trusted parent or other adult. Tell them what you’re going through and ask if there is anything they can do to help. Lots of times, just talking about it can make a difference. 

After the ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ assemblies at Hugh Beaton School, Vice-Principal Chris Konrad said: “The assemblies were fantastic. A very engaging way to deliver the message!”  He also said he would pass on the information about the Stand Up Now anti-bullying programs to other schools. 

Thanks, Chris Konrad! 

Remember to Stand Up Against Bullying! Arrange bullying prevention programs and parent talks at your school by contacting ‘Stand Up Now’ Productions at 1-800-901-8831 or email: info@standupnow.ca (website: www.standupnow.ca)