Title:
Let’s Stand Up Against Bullying!
This lesson plan will be intended
for middle school students in grades 7 and 8th. This is a program
that will allow students of understand the bullying paradigm. Within the
bullying paradigm are bullies, bully-victims, victims and uninvolved parties.
The students will first receive handouts on the bully paradigm. There will be a
PowerPoint presentation at the start that will define the bullying paradigm,
followed by a group discussion on the topic. The discussion is to reinforce the
knowledge of the paradigm as well as determine if the students have a grasp on
the topic. Students will then break into groups of 4 (the students will be
broken up into group depending on where they sit in the classroom). The group
of 4 will each be given a scenario and have to discuss act out (role-playing)
that scenario each being given a role within the paradigm. At the end of the
lesson there will be another open discussion on thoughts and feelings about the
paradigm. The different scenarios will include real life conflicts at school.
Health Topic and
Intended Audience
The audience will be middle
school students at Briarhill Middle School in Highland Village, Texas. These
students are 6th, 7th, and 8th grade, ages
11-13. Eighty sixty point twenty percent of the students are white, 4.22% are
black, 6.18% are Hispanic, 31% are Asian and 0.21% are Native American (Movoto,
2013). Briarhill Middle School is in the Lewisville ISD. There will be 12
students for one session. The students will be picked at random from each grade
level and class. The program will run through the entire school year and
throughout the school day.
According to Bullying has been
recognized as a major health issue (Klomeck, Sourander, & Gould, 2011).
Studies show that bullying is associated with suicide depression, suicide
attempts and ideations (Klomeck, Sourander, & Gould, 2011). Suicide is the
third leading cause of death for youths, ages 10 and 24 (Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2012). Recent number of suicides in youths have been
linked to Cyber bullying (Klomeck, Sourander, & Gould, 2011). The type
forms of bullying include verbal, physical, harassment via text or phone and
cyber bullying.
According
to Chen & Schwartz (2012) bullying and victimization affect students’
quality of life at school. Social, emotional, and academic developments are
crucial predictors (Chen & Schwartz, 2012). There are four types of
individual involved in the bullying paradigm. This includes the bully, the
victim, the bully-victim and the uninvolved parties. The bullies are the
students that believe they have the “higher power” they often come from upper
social class and/or popular in school and have a sense of entitlement. The
bullies are the ones that are aggressive to the victims. The victims are the
ones that being harassed by the bullies but do not fight back. The
bully-victims are those that are victims to bullying and in turn are bullies
themselves. The uninvolved party often observes the bullying and victimization
without action. The results of this issue can be devastating with the Columbine
and Virginia Tech shootings. These two events were believed to be due to
bullying. An estimated 30% to 40% of elementary, middle, and high school
students in the United States (U.S.) reportedly experience bullying and
victimization in school on a daily or weekly basis (Chen & Schwartz, 2012).
According to Berkley University
(2012) seventh graders (middle school students) have typically entered what may
be the most disorienting time of life. During this disorienting time in their
lives, middle school students can be more sensitive to bullying and stress. The
goal is to create a healthy environment for these students or to help them cope
with the environment they are already in. A healthy environment consists of
both physical and social aspects. Cyber-bullying is now considered one of the
major forms of bullying within the young adult community. A part of creating a
healthy environment would be to prevent cyber-bullying.
In recent news, young adults have
committed suicide due to bullying. Also, past school shootings have been
related to bullying. As previously stated, middle school students are entering
a disorienting time in their lives. A
student’s mental status can greatly affect their actions including the ones
that may be erratic during times of despair. The second goal is to improve
mental status for the students.
Berkley University developed a guide
to health teachers implement science to middle school students. The guide
titled “Know your student: nature of the middle school student” helps teachers
develop different types of techniques for their students by understanding how
this certain age group operates. This guide is not considered a program but as
a health educator this is an important tool to plan an intervention program.
Setting
The setting will be in a
classroom in a middle school during school hours, Monday-Friday. The classroom should consist of 20 seats and
room for students to break into groups. The classrooms much allow students to
be able to get out of their seats and able to have space to work. The
environment outside this setting must cater to the program because there will
be group activities that include role-play and discussion.
Estimated Time
The
estimated time for the program would be 4.5 hours.
0800-08:15:
Introduction to program. Explain to the students the purpose of the program
08:15-09:30:
Presenting the PowerPoint on bullying-paradigm and showing the Standup Against
Bullying Blog, which includes the Brochure and PSA for the Program.
09:30-10:45:
Break into group and discuss the group discussion assignment.
10:45-11:15:
End groups and discussion on their scenarios, thoughts and feelings about the
bully paradigm
11:15-12:00:
End of lesson questionnaire
12:00-12:30:
Evaluation
Materials Needed
Paper,
pencils, note cards, projector, PowerPoint, computer, and, chairs
Guiding Health
Education Theory or Model
There are several different
intervention strategies that exist, for this particular program the
environmental and community organization strategies will be considered. The
environmental strategy places attention on the physical and social environment.
According to Healey and Zimmerman (2010), environmental strategy includes efforts
that are supportive to health but discourage the actions that are not
supportive to health. The community-based health promotion intervention
involves the community working together. Schools are one of the multiple
settings in a community-based intervention strategy. The community-based health promotion
intervention will involve the support of the entire school district, it’s
teachers and the principal.
Goal
The overall goal of the program
is to help students identify the bully paradigm and how it affects each of
them. The students are to recognize the difference between each and the
important roles they each play.
Objectives
•
By
the end of the lesson, sixth, seventh and eighth grade students will identify
who makes up bullying paradigm by completely the questions on the worksheet
with 90% accuracy. (Cognitive)
•
During
the lesson, the sixth, seventh and eighth grade students will demonstrate their
understanding of the bully paradigm by acting out scenarios and playing
different roles. (Psychomotor)
•
Following the discussion of the bully
paradigm, the students as a group will verbally justify how each of the role in
the paradigm. (Affective)
Learning Domains
Cognitive,
psychomotor, and affective
Procedures
The instructors will first
introduce themselves to the 12 students. There will be a total of 3 running the
lesson, with one main instructor and two assistants. The assistants are Health
Studies master’s students at Texas Woman’s University. The instructor will give
state their credentials, why they developed the program and their background in
educations.
Following the introduction the
instructor will ask the students what they know about bullying and explain step
by step about the lesson plan. The students are first shown a blog that is
created by the instructor. This blog is for the “Standup Against Bullying” movement,
which includes an electronic brochure (which the students will get a paper copy
of the brochure to take home).
After the blog is shown and explain
to the students, they will then view a PowerPoint that goes into more detail
about the Bully Paradigm, which will be the main lesson. They will be a
question and answer portion to get the students to engage with their fellow
students and the instructors. This ensures that the student have somewhat of an
understanding before they break up into groups for the scenarios.
The students will break up into 3
groups of 4. The instructor and assistants will chose the groups at random.
Each group will be given one scenario each. The scenario will be different for
each group but the main lesson is bullying. The students will spend time
discussion and even acting out some of the scenario amongst themselves. The
assistants will help motivate and encourage them if needed.
After the group is completed with
their discussion, each group will discuss out loud with the support of an
instructor or assistant to the other groups. They will be asked the questions
at the end of the questionnaire and do an open discussion. Other groups can
chime in as well if needed. Each group has a different scenario so it is
important that the other groups are exposed to those scenarios too.
After the scenarios discussion the
students are to take a end of lesson questionnaire about what they have
learned. It is not a quiz so the students don’t feel threatened. Following the
questionnaire the students will complete an evaluation for the course.
Evaluation
Throughout the lesson, the lead
instructor will evaluate the students through visual observation. The assistant
about how each student interacts and is able to grasp the idea of the program
will take notes and it’s goal. The students will be given 30 minutes to fill
out the evaluation.
Anticipated
Problem(s) and Solution(s)
Problem:
Too little time to execute program.
Solution:
Make sure to communicate to the teachers and principal understand that the
program could run over. Allow 30 minutes of extra time.
Problem:
The material is not appropriate for that specific age group
Solution:
Keep the scenarios flexible and be willing to work with the students on the
“real life” bullying situation that they witness.
Scenarios
Scenario 1
A
fight breaks out between two students and this is a long on-going bullying
issues. Everyone knows that Zach beats up on Frank and his friend Jack. It’s
been seen at school. Other students have been noticing that Frank has become
more withdrawn and Jack just tries his best to make the best of the situation.
Frank started to become angry and his papers in creative writing class have
become more morbid. Suzie is friends with Frank and Jack and doesn’t do
anything when they are being bullied. She is sad for them but just walks away
because she doesn’t want to get involved. The friends of Zach, the bully, don’t
taunt the two victims but they also don’t help them.
Each
group read this and spends about 30 minutes discussing it and even role-playing
if needed. The group is to discuss what is happening and answered these
questions.
1.
Identify each member of this paradigm.
2.
Discuss what is happening to Frank and
Jack.
3.
Discuss the possible outcome of this
whole event and how it has related to past events.
4.
Discuss the importance of the uninvolved
players.
Scenario 2
Jared
is a feminine male 8th grader who has an older brother who is gay.
The students suspect Jared is gay and everyday he gets teased. Jared is blasted
on Facebook for being gay. Students from his schools are “liking” the status
that the bullies are putting on Facebook. Other students who are friends with
Jared, just don’t want to be part of the cruel joke and de-friend the bullies
from Facebook. Jared becomes very depressed and starts missing school. Some of
his friends just don’t know what to do, so they don’t check on him. Others
remain quiet as Jared speaks of wanting to kill himself. At home Jared starts
to bully his younger sister and take it out on her by yelling at her and being
aggressive.
1.
Which student is which of the roles in
the paradigm?
2.
What type of bullying is involved?
3.
What are the uninvolved parties doing
wrong?
4.
What is happening to Jared?
Scenario 3
Roman
is one of the few students in his middle school that comes from a lower-middle
class family. He gets assistance for lunch and bus fair. The students are
starting to pick up on the fact that he is from a lower-middle class family. A
few of the students start to make fun of him. They start to post on Facebook
indirect comments dissing the welfare system and speaking indirectly about a certain
student in school. Roman is greatly affected by this. He starts to become
depressed and not eat at school. His friends don’t tell any parents or teachers
about the Facebook post.
1.
Who plays which role?
2.
How do the school staff and teachers get
involved?
3.
Describe the important role of the
uninvolved students
End of Lesson
Questionnaire
1)
Explain the bullying paradigm.
2)
Who is involved? Please list the four
different types of individuals that are involved and the roles they play.
3)
Explain the importance of each role of
the person in the paradigm.
4)
For each of the 4 roles in the paradigm,
list 2 reasons how these individuals are affected
Evaluation of the
Lesson (to be given at the end of the lesson)
1)
How did you feel about the course?
2)
Do you feel you understand the Bully
Paradigm
3)
Did you feel the scenarios helped you
understand the roles of each and how to identify the program?
4)
Do you feel you are able to identify the
problems if it happens in reality and know how to handle it?
References
Berkley University. (1999). Know
your students: Nature of the middle school student. Retrieved from
http://undsci.berkeley.edu/teaching/68_nature.php
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Suicide Briefs. Retrieved from http://www.cdc/gov/features/suicidebriefs/index.html
Chen, P. & Schwartz, S. (2012)
Bullying and Victimization Experiences of Students with Autism Spectrum
Disorders in Elementary School. A Journal
of the Hammill Institute on Disabilities. 27(4). pp. 200-212.
Healey, B. J., & Zimmerman,
R. S. (2010). The new world of health promotion: New program
development, implementation, and evaluation. Sudbury, MA: Jones and
Bartlett.
Healthy People 2020. (2012).
About Healthy People. Retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/about/default.aspx
Klomeck, A., Sourander, A., & Gould, M. (2011).
Bullying and Suicide. Psychiatric Times. 28(2).
Movoto Real Estate. (2013). Briarhill Middle School. http://www.movoto.com/public-schools/tx/lewisville/middle/482730006977-briarhill-middle-school/2100-briarhill-blvd.htm
