Building a culture of responsibility and humanity in our schools A ...

Phase by phase ideas for learning and teaching about
responsibilities at school
Tell the students you would like them to pretend they are a Bullying Buster
machine. To form the machine, have children break into two lines facing one
another about three feet apart.
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It takes practice and courage to act strong without
being mean when you or another child are being treated
unkindly or bullied.
They should imagine that they have switches on their arms. When you
touch an arm, the Bullying Buster machine switches on.
You will walk down the aisle between the students, pretending to be a
bully.
As you lightly touch a child on the shoulder, they must respond to you,
the ‘bully’, in a way that is strong and clear without being mean.
Walk along the aisle between the students. Recite a scenario from the ones
listed below. Then choose a child randomly and switch him or her on with a
touch on the arm for a strong Bullying Buster response. Practice with several
students before moving on to another scenario. Some possible situations:
Someone calls you a mean name. (Possible Bullying Buster
machine response: “I feel hurt and angry when you call me that
name. Please don’t do that.”)
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Someone tells you to do something you don’t want to do.
Someone is calling someone else a bad name.
Someone is making fun of someone because she is blind.
Someone wants you to call someone else a bad name.
Someone tells you you can’t play in the game.
Someone demands that you give him your afternoon snack.
Someone is teasing a friend of yours.
Activity
idea
Being a Bully Buster
Note to the
teacher
An alternative could be to
divide the class into pairs
and for them to take turns
in being the bully busting
machine.
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