Bullying Prevention Month 2023: Bullying Prevention Stimulation Activities for People of All Ages
[Image Description: "Bullying Prevention Stimulation Activities for All Ages" in left-aligned white text overlapping a background of dark blue cubes outlined in black. My First Former Buddy Club President logo is in the bottom right corner of the image with "FIRST FORMER BUDDY CLUB PRESIDENT" in center-aligned italicized black font overlapping an enlarged light blue heart with several small red hearts and a lighter blue background in the background of the enlarged heart.]
TRIGGER WARNING ABOUT INTRO: If you are affected by bullying, the introduction of this blog post may be triggering. If you need support right now, please seek help from a therapist, and/or other mental health professional who is qualified to do so or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada.
If you have experienced any of the previously described scenarios at any point in your life, you are a victim of bullying. If you know someone who has experienced any of these previously described things at any point in their life, they are a victim of bullying too. Bullying can leave long-lasting and even permanent negative effects on not all but many victims' mental and physical health including but not limited to suicidal thoughts or attempts. Bullying is trauma and people who become traumatized by bullying never "move on" (as the common unsolicited advice saying goes even if people who say it mean well). They move forward meaning that they do not let what happened control them completely. However, what happened will always stay with them and typically leaves emotional scars.
Related Links:
- Bullying Prevention Month 2023: Adult Bullying Is Not Talked About Enough and Can Be Just As Traumatic or Sometimes Worse Than Childhood Bullying
- Trauma's Impact on Mental and Physical Health Can Be Really Scary
- Bullying is One of the Leading Causes of Suicide
- The Importance of Showing Respect for Other People While Advocating for Your Own Respect
In honor of Bullying Prevention Month 2023, I have created a list of stimulation activities to teach about bullying prevention and how it negatively impacts people. These activities can be used to teach about bullying prevention to people of all ages including adults and for teaching yourself about it! Please read below:
[Image Description: White wrinkled lined paper laying horizontally with 3 spaced out holes at the bottom of it.]
[Image Description: There is a yellow neutral face emoji with a two black dots to represent its eyes and a straight black line to represent its mouth. My First Former Buddy Club President logo is in the bottom left corner of the image with "FIRST FORMER BUDDY CLUB PRESIDENT" in center-aligned black Marker Felt font overlapping an enlarged light blue heart with several small red hearts and a lighter blue background in the background of the enlarged heart.]
Tell the participant(s) to say anything to you. Good, bad, or neutral while avoiding derogatory words and cursing. Have the participant(s) say a mix of good, bad, and neutral things about 3-5+ times. Keep a straight face on your face the whole time without expressing any facial expressions nor verbal reactions. After the participant(s) have stated each of their good and bad things to you, ask them, "How did what you say make me feel based on my facial expression?". The participant(s) will most likely have no answer. People in the autism (spectrum) community tend to struggle with interpreting body language, such as when someone is happy, sad, angry, etc. Sometimes even when someone is trying to express how they feel through their body language, people who fall into this disability category are unsure of how the person feels. This is especially true when their facial expression is a straight face. There are people in the autism (spectrum) community who also struggle with verbal and nonverbal self-expression. So, they may seem ok emotionally on the outside when they may be feeling hurt by what someone said to them on the outside. This stimulation activity gives participant(s) the opportunity to put themselves in the shoes of people in the autism (spectrum) community.
[Image Description: Part of a bathroom from a sink view with darkness in the room.]
[Image Description: A left hand typing on a black and silver keyboard with left-aligned or center-aligned white text on each key.]
[Image Description: A left hand holding a pen in its index and middle fingers over a dark brown table.]
[Image Description: Center-aligned red lips with white teeth overlapping an aqua background. My First Former Buddy Club President logo is in the bottom left corner of the image with "FIRST FORMER BUDDY CLUB PRESIDENT" in center-aligned black Marker Felt font overlapping an enlarged light blue heart with several small red hearts and a lighter blue background in the background of the enlarged heart.]
[Image Description: "The Blind Men and the Elephant" in center-aligned blue text at the top of the white book cover. Below the title, there is the front of a gray elephant's body facing to the right and wearing red, yellow, and blue felt on its back and a red and yellow headpiece on its head. There is a blind man with a black mustache wearing a yellow and white outfit with bare feet while touching the elephant's white tusk. There is another blind man with a black mustache wearing a blue and white outfit and blue hat with bare feet while touching the elephant's front right foot.]
[Image Description: "Emily is A GREAT Teacher" written in center-aligned black marker on a yellow sticky note. The dots of the i's are drawn as circles and a black smiley face with vertical lines drawn as the eyes and no circle is drawn center-aligned on the right side of the sticky note.]
[Image Description: Group picture of 19 people in front of a white board. One person is sitting on the floor and another person is kneeling on the floor.]
1. Wrinkled paper
Materials:
- Paper (any color is fine)
- Pens or markers (optional & any color is fine)
Grab a piece of paper and have the participant(s) verbally say mean words or sentences. Write them on the paper or encourage the challenge of having participant(s) to memorize the mean words or sentences. Then, wrinkle part of the paper each time that a participant says something mean or after you write all of the mean words. Wrinkle the paper until it is into a ball. Next, tell the participant(s) to say nice things and each time that they say something nice, undo a wrinkled part of the paper until it is completely opened. This should be followed by asking the participant(s) the following questions: "What do you notice that is different about the paper?" (Potential answer: "It has wrinkles in it."), "What do you notice that stayed the same about the paper?" (Potential answer(s): "It is the same color" and "It is still a paper."), and "Name any possible ways that the wrinkles permanently on this paper can be permanently removed" [There should be no answer, but if at first, any of the participant(s) insist that removing the wrinkles is possible, give them a chance to learn that they are wrong as part of the learning experience]. After confirming each participant's answers, something like the following should be stated: "The paper is still a paper after being wrinkled just like a person is still a person after being bullied. However, the wrinkles will always stay on the paper after being wrinkled just like bullying experiences will always stay in people's memories. Wrinkles symbolize emotional scars and bullying can cause emotional scars. Physical scars are marks that people can get on their bodies after their bodies get hurt and emotional scars are when the hurtful things that bullies say to victims always stays in victims' minds. Just like the scars on people's bodies remind them of how they got those scars when they look at them, emotional scars can remind people of what happened every time that they see or hear a bully, hear someone mention them, or see or hear their name. Other similar negative things can remind them of being bullied too and they will always remember the way that you treated them."
Other ways to have participant(s) do this activity are by writing the mean words/statements on the paper for them as visuals or having them write their own mean words/sentences on their own separate papers or working in groups to create statements on paper (Ex: One person writing the words/sentences and one or more people stating the mean words/sentences). If the participant(s) are students, they can participate in throwing the wrinkled paper balls around the room before reading the mean words/statements before wrinkling the paper for the purpose of movement to shake off their energy. After throwing the wrinkled paper balls around the room, the student participant(s) can say nice things as they open the wrinkled paper balls. The same above questions and influential statement can be stated afterwards.
FYI: Avoid ripping the paper instead of wrinkling it when using this stimulation activity! One time when I was prepping this activity, I tried that and realized that it will not make any sense to do that when it time to make the positive statements because the paper needs to be opened. The opening of the paper represents healing and that even though victims can heal, emotional scars can still be present.
Related Links:
2. Control, control, control
Materials:
- No materials needed
You will need yourself or one or more people to play the bully during this exercise. Tell the player(s) that you or someone else is going to say comments about them and tell them to do certain actions. The rule is that they cannot tell the other person that they do not like any of their comments or what they are doing, say "no" to doing any of the stuff that they are told to do, or choose what to do. The pretend bully will say negative comments about the other player(s) and they should carefully choose what negative comments to say (Avoid derogatory comments and cursing). Examples of negative comments that are okay to pretend to use include but are not limited to "(Insert thought/action) was a weird idea", "I do not like your hair", and "I do not like you." The pretend bullies can take the other player(s)' items away from them without asking (Of course give their belongings back after the exercise!), tell the other player(s) to name-call their peers, tell the other player(s)' that they cannot talk to or spend time with certain people anymore, and pretend to boss them around in any other ways. At the end of the exercise, explain that this represents what it like to feel trapped with no escape when being emotionally abused by someone.
Related Link:
3. Still face experiment
Materials:
- No items needed
4. ADHD reading with sound stimulation
[Image Description: Center-aligned black and light gray headbands with one yellow zigzag line on both the top left and right sides. There is an upside-down red book with white pages with 7 lines on each page and one of the pages turning below the headphones.]
Materials:
- Anything to read such as a book, newspaper, magazine, brochure, pamphlet, handout, etc.
- Music
- Electronic device
Give something to read to the player(s). As they are in the middle of reading, turn on loud music and prompt them to continue reading while the music is playing. Once the player appears to have given up, explain to them this stimulation activity represents the struggles with paying attention that the ADHD community faces. This stimulation activity can also represent the struggles with sensory overload that the autism (spectrum) community faces. It also represents the struggles with multi-tasking that many people in the disability community face due to cognitive, fine motor, and sensory difficulties. In addition, this stimulation activity can represent the Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) community's struggles with hearing multiple sounds at once.
5. Alone in a room for 10-15 minutes or longer
Materials:
- Empty room with a wide enough exit that accommodates wheelchair users
- Dimmed lighting
- No items to use
Put one player at a time or yourself in an empty room with a wide enough exit that accommodates wheelchair users and avoid telling them how long they will be left in the room for. Dim the lighting and the player must not turn the light all the way back on while they are in the room. Close the door halfway (AVOID LOCKING) and the player must stay in the room for 10-15 minutes or longer. After the time is up ask the player what it felt like being alone in the room. At the end, the player should have an understanding that this stimulation activity represents what it is like to be lonely for people with depression. It also represents what the experience of being segregated feels like. Depression, loneliness, and segregation are dark, scary, unpredictable, boring, and sad experiences.
Related Links:
6. Dyspraxia stimulation activity
[Image Description: I am writing with a black and white pen in a book with black text on white pages while holding onto and looking at a mirror stand with a black frame. The book and mirror are on a dark brown table.]
Materials:
- Paper
- Pencil
- Any safe object
7. Dyslexia stimulation activity
[Image Description: "My um want two he stop to bi fish, chicn, end egs." in black text on a white page with a black curser on the right side of the period.]
Materials:
- Paper or white board or computer
- Markers
8. 2 truths and a lie
Materials:
- Paper, pencil, or computer (optional)
Participants can be provided with a paper and pencil or computer to type on or use their minds for this activity. The participants will state two truths and one lie about themselves. Then, the other players will have to guess which fact is a lie. Since telling lies can be a type of bullying, this stimulation activity represents what life can be like for victims who are lied to.
9. Sign Language lessons
Materials:
- No materials needed
When I was a toddler teacher, teaching the toddlers was part of the centers' curriculums since toddlers of all abilities tend to have limited verbal communication skills. I taught Sign Language to my toddler students at circle time every day and incorporated the words that I taught them into our class daily routine. This also helped some of the young toddlers with disabilities and developmental delays in my class to communicate with their peers, educators, service providers, and families. Lessons about Sign Language can be beneficial to students of all ages and abilities so that they know how to communicate with their peers and other people with disabilities or developmental delays that affect their verbal communication and listening skills when it comes to inclusion.
Related Links:
10. Charades
Materials:
- Charades cards (optional)
Players participate in this activity with partners, in small groups, or in a whole group in multiple different ways. They can pick one charade card per turn without it showing it to the other player(s) in their group and acting out the picture or word that is on the card without talking while the other player(s) have to guess what is being acted out.
Another way to play charades can be by having people mime 2-3 facts about themselves without talking. Charades can be a great stimulation activity to represent what life is like for the deaf and hard of hearing communities as well as people with other disabilities that affect their hearing and verbal communication skills who use Sign Language as an Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) system.
11. One arm activity
Materials:
- At least any 3-5 or more objects
12. Doing tasks without using thumbs
Materials:
- At least any 3-5 objects
When I was younger, I knew someone who was born without one of her thumbs and the doctors had to use part of one of her fingers to make her thumb during surgery, which was kind of neat. When a doctor made my friend's mom aware that they were going to perform this surgery on her daughter's fingers, they explained to her the importance of having a thumb by asking her to see how many tasks are hard to do without using her thumbs. After trying to do this stimulation activity myself, I can see that my friend's doctor was right about this. It is impossible to handwrite, draw, spoon/fork feed oneself, cut food, and possible but hard to pick up items without using thumbs. This stimulation activity can be used to teach the importance of having thumbs to other people as well. You can even try it yourself.
13. Lip reading exercise
Materials:
- List of statements to mouth (optional)
14. Walking blind folded
Materials:
- Blind fold(s)
- An outdoor or indoor environment with lots of room to walk around
All players will need one partner. One partner will be blindfolded while the other partner will guide the blind folded person either arm-in-arm or verbally as they walk. They should tell them which directions to walk (left, right, straight), which directions to turn (left, right, turn around), and when to take big steps or walk slowly or carefully. At the end, the player should have an understanding that this stimulation activity represents what navigation can be like for blind people/people with vision loss. This stimulation activity also represents the importance of trust in all types of relationships and how scary life can be when trust is broken.
15. Using a clay throwing machine blind folded
Materials:
- Clay
- Throwing machine
- Blind fold(s)
- Outlet
Related Link:
16. Learning how to write and read in Braille
Materials:
- Paper (Any color should be fine)
- Perkins Classic Braille typewriter machine
17. The Blind Men and the Elephant children's book guided reading activity
Materials:
- The Blind Men and the Elephant (Backstein, 1992)
- Plastic toy elephants
- Paper with drawing space and sentence lines on them
- Crayons
- Colored pencils
- Markers
- Regular pencils
The Blind Men and the Elephant written by Karen Backstein and illustrated by Annie Mitra is typically developmentally appropriate for first to second graders and can used in a large group reading activity. To start out, the children can be encouraged to participate in a picture walk following sharing predictions of what the story might be about. As the story is being read, the children can be asked questions about what they see and what is happening. After listening to the story, the children can participate in a guided reading activity. For the guided reading activity, each child can be provided with a plastic toy elephant following being instructed to close their eyes and feeling all of the same body parts of the elephant that the blind men felt in the story. After feeling all of the elephant body parts, the children can draw a picture of and write about what one of the body parts feels like just like the blind men in the story describe certain parts as feeling like a snake or other things. After each child is finished drawing, they can share what they drew and thought that one of the elephant's body parts felt like.
18. Children's books about diversity, mental health, and bullying prevention
[Image Description: Thank You, Mr. Falker written and illustrated by Patricia Polacco and All Are Welcome Here written by Alexandra Penfold and illustrated by Suzanne Kaufman in the top row and My Monster and Me written by Nadiya Hussain and We're Amazing, 1, 2, 3! written by Leslie Kimmelman and illustrated by Mary Beth Nelson in the bottom row. All of the books are laying on a red, yellow, blue, and purple quilt as the background.]
When I started working in childcare, I noticed that there was an increase in children's books about disabilities and inclusion that exists in today's world. I was so happy to see this since there was a lack of education about disabilities as a type of diversity and the importance of including the disability community in school in my early childhood. I am so happy that today's generation of early childhood youth are learning more about awareness and acceptance of the disability community and all unique differences in schools. There are now children's books about disabilities in early childhood, middle, and high school classrooms and libraries. Barnes and Noble stores also have a separate book section of children's books about disabilities and inclusion, which is really awesome! In the third grade classroom that I did my Field Experience I-III at, my mentor teacher included books about people of all differences including disabilities in our classroom library and we took turns reading these books to the children. The children were definitely very engaged and passionate about learning about this cause, which did not surprise me since the Bryn Athyn community tends to take kindness so seriously. Reading developmentally-appropriate (DAP) books about disabilities, mental health, and bullying is a great way to teach people of all ages and abilities about the bullying prevention and inclusion. Books about diversity, mental health, inclusion, and bullying prevention can be found at any Barnes and Noble location, almost any child-friendly bookstores and libraries, and on Amazon.
Related Links:
19. Displaying, stating, and/or reinforcing the meanings of affirmations
[Image Description: "Everyone has different strengths, abilities, and challenges" in enlarged left-aligned dark blue text overlapping a background of pale blue and light pink rainbows. My First Former Buddy Club President logo is in the bottom left corner of the image with "FIRST FORMER BUDDY CLUB PRESIDENT" in center-aligned black Marker Felt font overlapping an enlarged light blue heart with several small red hearts and a lighter blue background in the background of the enlarged heart.]
Materials:
- Affirmation posters
- List of affirmations
- Affirmation resources
- Tape (If you plan to hang affirmation posters on walls.)
- Letter board with letter attachments
Reading and stating affirmations are a self-care technique used by many people of all ages. Many people, especially educators, service providers, mental health professionals, mental health advocates, motivational speakers, social media influencers, and parents/guardians, tend to use affirmations to uplift, validate, and reassure other people. As part of my professional philosophy as a teacher, I state affirmations to my students for these reasons since Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is so important. I also state them to my loved ones, audience members when I am motivational speaking, and think them in mind to use self-reassurance. Some of my favorite affirmations are listed below:
- "Everyone is going through a rough battle that no one knows anything about. So always be kind."
- "No one is perfect." (Redirect people to the idea that no one is perfect and that everyone has areas of improvement and strengths.)
- "Practice makes progress" instead of "Practice makes perfect."
- "Everyone can do hard things."
- "All feelings are valid."
- "It is okay not to be okay."
- "This is only temporary" or "This won't last forever" (Say this only when it is true.)
Related Links:
20. Teach about how to behave when listening and giving feedback to presenters
Materials:
- Social stories (Not all but some participants with autism and young child participants with visual learning preferences could benefit from being shown social stories during lessons and reviews about social expectations.)
For my first lesson in the high school Life Skills Support classroom that I am doing my Field Experience in Special Education internship in, I guided and supervised my students as they presented their National Hispanic Heritage Month projects. Before they presented though, my students and I reviewed what to do when giving a presentation and when listening to presenters as a social skills lesson. I let my students share their ideas before I gave my ideas. The social expectations that we identified for when giving a presentation included:
- Having one self's body turned towards the audience during the presentation and when listening to feedback from the audience [instead of forcing eye contact while it was encouraged since some students are capable and okay with using eye contact. Not forcing eye contact is culturally responsive and shows support of autistic students/students with Autism/ASD/students on the autism spectrum who tend to feel uncomfortable when making eye contact.)
- Speaking loud enough so that the audience members can hear the presentation
- The choice of sitting or standing while presenting
- I also reassured my students that it is okay to be excited or nervous when giving presentations.
The social expectations that we discussed for when listening to presenters included:
- Having their bodies turned towards the presenter when listening to their presentation and when providing them with feedback (without forced eye contact again)
- Avoiding teasing when presenters mispronounce words (I encouraged my students to wait patiently for the presenters to correct themselves or kindly help them to identify the correct pronunciation.)
- Giving positive feedback to presenters at the end of their presentations (Teach participants how to provide feedback constructively without making fun of, talking down to, insulting, or shaming the person. Also, teach listeners to receive feedback about their work without taking it personally as well and educate both sides that feedback should not be insults or negative comments about the person.)
While teaching social-emotional skills is a very important part of all Life Skills Support curriculums, students of all ages and abilities should be taught these lessons as well. Through my experience, I have also noticed that there are some employees, college students, and other adults who need these lessons as well for the purpose of bullying prevention.
21. Kindness catchers
[Image Description: Opened paper fortune teller with "Choose kindness" written in left-aligned cursive blue handwriting on the left opened side and "It is okay not to be okay" in left-aligned cursive blue handwriting on the right opened side. There is a light green dot drawn in marker on the left side outside of the fortune teller and light blue dot drawn in marker on the right side outside of the fortune teller. "I will participate in any hands-on activity for children" in center-aligned text in a dark gray rectangular caption box above the fortune teller. There is a grinning squinting face emoji, crystal ball emoji, and green heart emoji (left to right) on the right side of "children."]
Materials:
- Square shaped paper (Any light color should be fine)
- Pencil
- Crayons
- Colored pencils
- Markers
22. Implement a positive note system
Materials:
- Fake tree (to protect participants with allergies and for other health and safety purposes)
- Clothespins
- Paper
- Pencils
When I was in fourth grade, one of my teachers had a kindness tree where everyone wrote positive notes to each other. We had to write about specific things that we liked about our classmates with the goal for each student to write about each of their peers by the middle or end of the school year. We had to provide specific praise to each other by saying why we liked certain characteristics about our classmates instead of just saying such as, "You are nice", "You are kind", or "You are helpful." For example, we could use descriptive language and/or say things such as, "You were helpful when you helped me pick up my pencils that spilled", "You are artistic", "You are a hard worker", or "You have beautiful handwriting." We had the choice of signing our names at the end of the notes or writing them anonymously. At the beginning of each week, my teacher would give out the notes to us from our peers.
When I was working at Children of America Southampton, one of my directors made a positive note in one of our restrooms where staff, administrators, and families could write positive notes to each other. Incorporating a positive note system in workplaces can also help to prevent/reduce workplace bullying.
23. Motivational speakers
Materials:
- This is up to the speaker and other people in charge of supervising the event, but here are some listed below:
- Computer
- Projector
- Smart Board or something to show a presentation on
- Sometimes handouts
When I was younger, many motivational speakers would come to my school to speak to the whole school, grades, or classes about important social issues and inspiring, uplifting topics. I was always very moved by what they had to say and would leave the assemblies with a new sense of wisdom. They inspired to want to become a motivational speaker one day too and that dream came true in my adulthood. Every year as a board member of Bucks Community College's Newtown campus' AACHIEVE! program, I guest speak in front of the current and new autistic college students/college students with autism/ASD/college students on the autism spectrum who are members of AACHIEVE. I talk to them about what college life is like, how to apply for, receive, and use specific accommodations in college, how to self-advocate and self-regulate during the stressful times, what the transfer process is like, and many other important things about college life.
24. Starting a Buddy Club
Materials:
- Typically, this is decided by the Buddy Club advisor and Buddy Club officers.
As everyone who follows me knows that when I was in ninth grade, I joined my alma mater Lower Moreland High School's Buddy Club and that I was the first President of the club. Everyone who follows me also knows that after only two months of being a buddy, Buddy Club changed my life forever and inspired my dream job of wanting to become a Life Skills Support teacher. Buddy Clubs also known as Buddy Programs are a common club at high schools as well as some middle and elementary schools. Buddy Clubs are usually clubs that give students the opportunity to help and be a friend to the Life Skills students in their school district. Typically, students in Life Skills Support have intellectual and developmental disabilities and other potential diagnoses that limit and impact their academic and functional skills. Buddies' responsibilities tend to include but are not limited to greeting the Life Skills students with a smile whenever they see them in the hallways, eating lunch with them, treating the Life Skills students with genuine kindness, visiting their classrooms during study hall (if their high school has a study hall), attending as many Buddy Club events as possible, and making sure that the Life Skills students are being included in invitations to participate in all school, grade, and class events and activities.
Related Links:
25. Starting a Diversity Club or Diversity Council
Materials:
- Typically, this is decided by the club advisor and club officers.
This is similar to Buddy Club except Diversity Clubs and Diversity Councils acknowledge all types of differences and determine strategies, events, trainings, solutions, etc. for making sure that kindness, acceptance, inclusion, and bullying/discrimination prevention are occurring in elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, colleges, universities, workplaces, and communities.
If you or a loved one is affected by adult bullying, remember that you are not alone and there is hope. If you or someone you know needs support right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text "HOME" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 if you live in the USA or text "CONNECT" to the Crisis Text Line at 686868 if you live in Canada. You can also visit The Mighty's suicide prevention resources page by clicking on this link: https://themighty.com/suicide-prevention-resources/
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