Bullying Resources for Teachers

Teachers are important for bullying prevention as they spend the majority of time working with students. Below are steps and resources for teachers in preventing bullying.

• Be aware of your school’s bullying policy and procedures
• ​Set clear expectations for bystanders, victims, and perpetrators
• Create expectations that foster Autonomy, Competency, and Belonging
• Include your students in developing expectations
• Share expectations with parents

When implementing expectations make sure that they are consistent, fair, and that you follow through.

Having strong relationships with your students ensures that students  will develop a sense of trust and may help students feel more comfortable in reporting. Building relationships will look different at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

When building relationships it is important to:

1. Model appropriate behavior.

2. Follow through with your expectations.

3. Be consistent (reflect on your current relationships with students and develop a plan to  consistently engage in relationships building. For example, one-on-one meetings.)

4. Build trust.

5. Be careful of the language you use when you approach students. Ensure that it is sincere and lacking sarcasm, that it conveys interest, is culturally responsive, prompts reflection, and conveys a sense of possibility. Be sure not to shame students.

1. Intervene, bring it up, point it out (do not assign blame).

2. Make sure the student knows what the problem behavior is and refer to your classroom/school expectations.

3. Tell student that bullying is taken seriously and will not be tolerated.

4. Follow through with your school’s policy.

5. If necessary, develop social skills training for students engaged in bullying behavior and model appropriate behaviors; teach tolerance.

6. Continue to check in.

1. Intervene right away- don’t ignore it.

2. Take every report of bullying seriously.

3. Make sure student knows that bullying is not their fault.

4. Listen to them (gauge the severity of the situation to inform your response).

5. Follow through your school’s policy and procedures.

6. Ask the student being bullied what can be done to make them feel safe.

7. Develop a game plan with a team.

8. Check in with progress and document.