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A note to resource page visitors:
New material is always being added to this page. At present, there
are about a dozen Coalition
handouts, all available below, as well as some articles by Coalition experts and others. The three Advisory Group documents, in particular, are meant to provide expert guidance on basic aspects of understanding and addressing bullying. Note
that much more resource material is available by going to this site's Links page and clicking to other recommended bullying-related
websites. Almost all of the information you, a school, or community
need to address bullying effectively is available for free or at low cost. This
includes the handouts provided on this site and other sites, and
excellent books. The two most important books, in my view (and many
other peoples'), are Dan Olweus' Bullying at School,
and Stan Davis' Schools Where Everyone
Belongs.
(Descriptions and ordering information at Amazon and/or other common
sources.)
Coalition handouts and articles:
Guidance for Parents 5-12
Advice for bystanders - from stopbullyingdotgov
Advisory Group Document 2
Advisory Group document 1
Tips for Parents - Coalition Handout
Advisory Group Document 3
Helping Bullied Children rev 7-12
ABR Key Points 3-11
Community involvement and bullying
Letters Times SG 2003-2012
SG article 2012 Effective Intervention Bullying
SG oped Trenton Times 2011
What Works
Maine youth voices project
bullying in preschool
Greene climate change paper
Representing Students Who Are Bullied
NASP Bullying Statement Adopted Feb 2012
Legal Issues - Special Needs
For other good handouts, see national campaign note, and its document links, below.
And also visit the various websites (in addition to this one!) which provide excellent materials and information. Among the best are:
http://www.education.com/topic/school-bullying-teasing/
which has advisement by, among others, Susan Swearer, PhD, one of the country's most important researchers and advocates.
Stan Davis' own website - www.stopbullyingnow.com.
And the government's website, www.stopbullying.gov, which has the guidance of Sue Limber, PhD, another of the country's key advocates.
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RESOURCE ADDED 7/12:
The article linked here (below) is an excellent discussion of peer conflict and bullying in very young children, an issue not yet adequately addressed. The article, by Betsy Evans, published by an organization whose website is www.childcareexchange.com, is the best review I've yet seen of this issue. Blythe Hinitiz and Ana Berdecia, early childhood experts and members of the Coalition's expert advisory group, are presently working on further guidance in this area.
bullying in preschool
RESOURCES ADDED 10/11:
(mostly culled from UCLA school mental health site, a great resource)
Neft edwebsitearticle
bullying
embeddingbullying
bully_qf
bully_references
bully_programs
bully_class_resources
intermediate_student_survey
primary_student_survey
staff_survey
FS-SC08
Blueprints Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence CU-Boulder
the original review process which credited the Olweus approach (in the U.S.)
fs200127
lessons_learned_article
Quick Training Aid on Bullying Prevention
winter05
Behavior Problems
GLSEN CNJ sch dist liaison a new program from GLSEN (Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network)
spring11
Resources For School Engagement:
Resource Aid from the Center at UCLA 5-11-11
6/27/07 New Update: The Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is a national organization with local chapters throughout the USA, including northern New Jersey (glsen.nnj@yahoo.com, (973) 249-9107) and central New Jersey (cnj@njglsen.org, (609) 448-8243). GLSEN provides educational resources, curriculum tools and other resources for students, teachers, and administrators K-12. Although GLSEN’s primary goal is “a future in which every child learns to respect and accept all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression,” GLSEN’s programs encompass and are applicable to other forms of diversity including racial, ethnic, national origin, disability, body size, and religious diversity. Among GLSEN’s programs are No Name Calling Week (www.nonamecallingweek.org), a program schools can use to promote respect for diversity in school environments; a national network of trained workshop facilitators; development initiatives; professional development workshops; and resources for student organizations known as Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs). In October 2005 GLSEN released a report “From Teasing to Torment: School Climate in America” based on a survey of students and teachers conducted on behalf of GLSEN by Harris Interactive®, an independent polling organization. The full report is available through the national GLSEN website, www.glsen.org. Also available through the website are reports titled “Dealing with Legal Matters Surrounding Students’ Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity” and “Just the Facts about Sexual Orientation and Youth.”
4/07: It's been a while since any new posting on this page but in 2006 a Maine commission published a guide, recently distributed by Equity, a national listserv, which is the most comprehensive, useful, well-written and presented document on bullying I've ever seen. Not surprisingly, it relies heavily on the work of Stan Davis, one of the leading Olweus program advocates (though his work covers a lot else). If you are a school administrator, staff (or parent or ...), this document has all you need to full understand bullying and to know what to do.
Maine guide
11/1/05: Excellent article from Child Welfare League of America, accessed at cwla.org. Readable, accurate, tips for parents and communities: Child Welfare League of America
10/05 Update: Schools can implement effective anti-bullying programs without bringing in outside programs or consultants. Such 'home-grown' efforts can be completely adequate, assuming the commitment of school leaders, starting with the principal and administrative staff and - critically - extending to wide teacher 'buy-in' of the need and the approach. Materials available for free (on this site and other recommended sites) or low-cost (e.g., books by Dan Olweus - "Bullying at School" - and Stan Davis - "Schools Where Everyone Belongs" - among others) would be adequate to inform such an approach. However, there are a variety of sources of 'outside' expertise, programs and materials, which will be noted here (below, and only in part - the Coalition is a volunteer effort and time to review materials and programs is limited). If you are considering bringing in an outside program - and especially if you are considering bringing in a private consultant - you are very strongly urged to use the "Guide for Administrators" available on this site as a checklist of characteristics by which you can judge the quality of the available consultants, programs, etc. The single most critical point in distinguishing between programs and consultants of value and those of little -or negative - value is whether or not emphasis is placed on children being primarily responsible for addressing/ending their bullying. Examples of a 'negative' program would be those which emphasize martial arts classes, social skills training, anger management, or other 'individual deficit/pathology/vulnerability models'. E.g., a program which stated that bullied children could end their bullying by learning to ignore or befriend the bullying child as a primary means for addressing bullying would be a prime example of such a 'negative value' approach. To our knowledge, there is no evidence supporting the efficacy of such programs in addressing most bullying. (If anyone knows of any studies we may of missed, please email the references.)
In addition to the 'home-grown' approaches mentioned above, schools seeking help can reliably access the following. All are Coalition participating organizations. Though not all provide the ideal, which is comprehensive, ongoing guidance for a school's development and maintenance of a 'whole school' model, and not all meet every single 'guide for administrators' checklist point, all share the same basic understanding of bullying - as an adult-driven phenomenon which adults are responsible for addressing. All are non-profit organizations, unless otherwise indicated. Some non-profits charge fees for service, but typically considerably less than would be charged by private, for-profit consultants.
(1) NJ State Bar Foundation's free training for school staff (at NJSBF's site in New Brunswick). For information contact, Leisa-Anne Smith at lasmith@njsbf.org.
(2) Child Assault Prevention's 'No Bullies, No Victims' program, which provides workshops for children, parents and school staff, on site at the school. For information, contact cmojta@eirc.org.
(3) (South Jersey) Diocese of Camden's Catholic Charities unit, provides a Bullying Consultation Service which, uniquely, offers advisement for parents of children facing the problem. For more information, contact
Cheryl Dunican-Hein, LCSW at
cheryldunican@vhscd.org.
Bullying Consultation Services
(4) (Mid and South Jersey, Monmouth County) Prevention First offers school consultation. For information, contact Helen Varvi at hvarvi@preventionfirst.net.
(5) GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) provides anti-bullying workshops (and is the primary sponsor of the 'No Name-Calling Week' programs) and programs which promote tolerance and address gender bias and harassment. For information, contact glsen_nnj@yahoo.com.
(6) NJ Commission for Holocaust Education provides programs which promote tolerance. For information, contact Dr. Paul Winkler or Dr. Joan Rivetz at holocaus@doe.state.nj.us.
(7) NJ ADL also provides programs which promote tolerance. For information, contact acooper@adl.org or visit the website at www.adl.org.
(other resource programs to follow ... )
5/05: Good cyberbullying resource!
At the recent (5/17/05) Cyberbullying conference held in Trenton by the NJ Attorney General's Office of Bias Crime and Community Relations, one of the main presenters was the organization I-Safe (already one of our recommended resource websites - see below - at www.i-safe.org). Having previously reviewed their material (courtesy of OBCCR) and now having heard their presentation, I'm convinced it's a good resource, available right now, for schools and communities wishing to address cyberbullying. Their material is well-developed, sensitive to bullying issues, reasonable and useful. They are a non-profit provider, funded by U.S. Department of Justice, and their consultation (and materials) are therefore free (a very important consideration, both because it removes a barrier to implementation and ensures that no one is unduly profiting from addressing bullying) . They are also very flexible and willing to work with any interested parties, including parents. They can be easily contacted through their website: www.i-safe.org and their services are available nationally. There are still three caveats (or reasons for caution):
(1) that cyberbullying is still not much studied and we therefore have only limited evidence-based knowledge of it and how to prevent it (though we're assuming - with some reason - that the same methods known to effectively address bullying generally will also be effective for cyberbullying);
(2) organizations such as I-Safe were created to address internet safety (for children) generally and cyberbullying is sort of an 'add-on' issue (though a very reasonable one); and
(3) In a school in which bullying is not being adequately addressed (e.g., 'school-wide'), adding I-Safe alone will not adequately protect bullied children - even from its target, cyberbullying - and doing I-Safe in such a school essentially constitutes a 'one-shot' and therefore inadequate approach. However, even acknowledging these points, I-Safe has a lot going for it and would probably be very helpful. Strongly recommended.
3/05 Resource Note:
Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying is a relatively new form of bullying in which the bullying is done via computer, cell phone or similar devices, via instant messaging, text messaging, email, etc. Coverage in the media suggests that cyberbullying is growing rapidly, and some experts - including our Coalition's own Dr. Michael Greene - agree. Cyberbullying appears to have some unique qualities, including: the ability to bully anonymously, a large and quickly assembled population of bullies and bystanders able to focus on one target, the ability to quickly shift from one target to another, bullying which is less easily observable by adults and other observers, more difficult for helpful bystanders and friends to 'buffer' the target from the bullying, and more use of creative methods - such as internet videos - to bully. With few systematic studies of the phenomenon available at present, existing expertise in internet safety generally - much of it from a law enforcement perspective - is being used to create common sense guidelines for adults and children coping with cyberbullying. (See the Links page for cyberbullying website resources.) As noted on the Updates page, Barbara Buono, the state legislator who helped create and pass NJ's anti-bullying law, has proposed a cyberbullying law, not yet passed: it would extend the existing anti-bullying law to this new form. The major issue which needs to be acknowledged and addressed in dealing with cyberbullying is to make clear that schools must address cyberbullying, even though it mostly does not take place on school 'grounds'. However, the bullying is most often occurring between students, most often between students at the same school, often addresses or extends issues or conflicts which occur in school, and has great impact on relations between students. For those reasons, schools must address
cyberbullying. There are already some websites which contain some useful material about cyberbullying:
www.i-safe.org
www.mindoh.com
www.cyberbully.org Top
Resource
Note 8/20/04: The National Anti-Bullying Campaign:
www.stopbullyingnow.org
The note below (6/04) explains how to access the
excellent handouts/downloads available from the national
campaign website above. But since helping distribute
those handouts as widely as possible in NJ is one our
explicit goals, I'll place the pdf documents on this
site, here, as well:
Children
Who Bully
Core
Tips for School Administrators
Faith-Based
Responses
For
Law Enforcement Officers
How
to Intervene
If
Your Child is Being Bullied
Impact
of Bullying
Law
Enforcement Officers Intervention
Lending
a Hand
Misdirections in Bullying Prevention & Intervention
Selecting
Bullying Resources
Research
Articles and Books
Sample
Newsletter Article
State
Laws
Support
for children who are bullied
Talking
with Educators
Tips
for Health & Safety Profressionals
Tips
for School Administrators
Warning Signs
What We Know
About Bullying
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Resource
Note: Coalition Handouts: There
are 3 handouts which have been distributed for the past
few years at talks, continuously updated and 1 new one
(on hazing - see above). These days (2004), I always
give out some of the authoritative materials developed
by Susan
Limber of the Olweus U.S. Team for the national campaign
(see top of this page for those), but you may find our
Coalition handouts useful as well. There is a 'fact'
sheet, a 'references' sheet and a 'strategies for
parents' sheet.
Anti-bullying
strategies for parents
References
Bullying
- Key Points
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Resource
Note: "The
Bullying Industrial Complex": Here is an article which recently appeared in the popular press (an
Oakland-based weekly, East Bay Express), which includes
quotes I provided. The reporter did an unusually good
job of reviewing the issue, despite the provocative
title ("the 'bullying industrial complex'). The
article is useful, well-written, entertaining and
accurate.
eastbayexpress_com
The Bullying industrial Complex 2004-06-16
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Resource
Note: "10
Tips for Creating a Caring School": The article below, accessed from the George Lucas Educational Fund
website, is the best easy review I've seen of what needs
to be done to 'warm up' and strengthen the caring
elements of a whole school, excellent and necessary
preparation for implementing the most effective specific
anti-bullying program.
10
Tips for Creating a Caring School
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Resource
Note: Selected
Letters on Bullying: An
important way to raise public awareness of bullying, its
importance and profound effects on children and adults,
is to respond to media accounts of what is actually
bullying but often not referred to as such. In the
medical literature, good work on bullying increasingly
appears, but not always with reference to the
whole-school model (Olweus') or to adult responsibility
for childhood bullying. A selection of letters sent by
me (not all were published), most on behalf of the
Coalition, appear below.
NY
Times 1-5-04
Journal
of the American Medical Association
NY
Times 4-29-04
Letters
to the Editor
NY
Times 5-18-04
NY
Times 6-15-03
NY
Times 10-04-03
Op-ed
Submission NJ Star Ledger 10-03-04
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Resource
Note:
The LW Case: The
LW case is an
extremely important bullying-related development in NJ.
Click over to the 'News' page, for more
information. The GLSEN press release (below) provides a
powerful review of the issues, and here is also another
letter (to NJSL) about the case.
GLSEN
press release 8-04
NJ
Star Ledger letters re LW case 8-11-04
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Resource Note:
"Let's Get
Real": The new (a year or so old)
video "Let's Get Real'
is powerful and useful, and has a lot of organizational
savvy and support behind it, leading to the development
of good related resources. The video is available for
purchase, at a reasonable price, at the developer's
website, www.womedia.org.
There is curricular and press kit material, including a
nice recent, referenced selection of bullying-related
statistics you may fund useful.
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Resource Note: "Say
Something":
Activating child bystanders
(which works best and most consistently when adult
support is adequate) is critical. A new childrens' book,
Say Something,
by Peggy Moss ,
is helpful in raising this issue for discussion. Though
oriented to young children, the material is compelling
enough to be useful (with modifications in presentation)
to discussions in all age groups.
Click on the book to order from Amazon.com. |
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Resource Note:
"New Kid":
"New Kid" is a play for middle-school age produced and presented by George
St. Playhouse in New Brunswick, with funding from NJ
State Bar Foundation. The play, which can 'travel' and
be presented on-site at schools and in community
settings, as well as at the Playhouse itself, is an
extremely well-written, powerful and short (ideal for
kids, fine for adults) exploration of bullying in
school, and specifically as it applies to the situation
of an child in a new school, and ethnic differences. The
play, very well acted in the productions I've seen, is
remarkably emotionally compelling and interesting, and
educational. An educational presentation of the play
would include an (immediate) after-play encounter between
audience and performers, and a discussion between adults
and an expert panel. The play can visit your community
for a modest price and is well worth doing as an
anti-bullying activity to raise and strengthen community
awareness. We would caution that if the play is
presented in a school to children, there should already
be a bullying prevention program in place. If not, the
play would qualify as a 'one-shot' approach, arousing
emotions and expectations for addressing the issue
(especially in bullied children) which a school will not
yet be prepared to
meet.
Resource
Note 6/04: The National Campaign:
If
you are not yet aware, the website for the
national campaign (Lend A Hand, Take A Stand,
Stop Bullying Now at www.stopbullyingnow.org)
has developed excellent resources. There are 45
pages of free, downloadable pdf files, which
print out very well, can be saved on your own
computer, are extremely well organized, speak to
almost every important bullying-related issue,
and - most important - are reliable and
evidence-based. This is no surprise, given that
the lead consultant for the national campaign is
Susan Limber, one of Dan Olweus' major U.S.
associates. I can't emphasize enough the
importance of the free and easy availability of
these handouts. They provide a sufficient basis
for anyone to easily educate themselves about
the nature of bullying and what is needed to
intervene. As handouts, they provide all one
needs to educate schools and communities about
the issue, and spur action. These new materials,
along with the continuing availability of Dan
Olweus' Bullying at School, Stan Davis' Schools Where Everyone Belongs, and an increasing
number of excellent child-focused materials such
as the new book Say Something provide all we need to get the word out
about bullying and urge all schools and
communities toward appropriate action.
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Click
on the books below to order from Amazon.com
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Resource
Note 4/04: A new survey: An excellent new survey instrument has
been developed and is available for use at
school; email Michael
Greene of YCS Center for the Prevention of Violence for
information. Dr. Greene is a national expert on
bullying-related and youth violence issues and he and his
organization (YCS) is a Coalition participant and resource.
Resource
Note 2/04: "Schools Where Everyone
Belongs": A major new resource has appeared: a book by Stan Davis, Schools
Where Everyone Belongs: Practical Approaches to Reducing
Bullying. The book, self-published, can be ordered
at Davis' website (www.stopbullyingnow.com).
Davis, a school counselor in Maine, is an early U.S.
advocate of Olweus' work, whose web site, talks and
trainings have been an important contribution. In
particular, more than anyone, he has fleshed out the
consequences and discipline part of a school-based
intervention program (what Olweus calls 'serious
conversations' with children who bully), and what is
needed to support bullied children and those at risk.
His book is an extremely concise (129 pages), practical,
clear and passionate guide to bullying intervention,
with useful wisdom for parents and professionals
generally, beyond the bullying issue. Although Olweus' Bullying
at School is still necessary reading for everyone,
Davis' book may actually be the one to get if you're
only going to get one (in part, because Davis' book is a
guide for implementing Olweus' program).
Click
here to go to Amazon to order your books.
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