1. FOSTERING EMPATHY AND ACTION http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUy2ZWoStr0

2. 160,000 – estimated number of U.S. students who skip school daily to avoid being bullied. 32% - Students who report being bullied at school during the school year. 86% - Gay and lesbian students who report being bullied. 70% - Teachers surveyed who say that educators “almost always” intervene when bullying occurs. 35% - 9 th graders who believe their teachers are interested in trying to stop bullying. 66% - Bullying victims who believe school professionals respond poorly to the bullying they observed. 10 -20% - Bystanders who provided any real help.

3. What did you observe from the data? Do any of the statistics surprise you? Why? What conclusions can you draw? How do you explain the fact that 70 percent of teachers surveyed claim that educators “almost always” respond when bullying occurs while another statistic says 66 percent of bullying victims believe school professionals respond poorly? Do any of the facts in the bullying quiz relate to your school? Which ones?

4. Bullying happens when someone is subjected to negative actions from one or more people and has a hard time defending himself or herself. Bullying takes various forms, including: Teasing, taunting or verbal abuse Punching, shoving and physical acts Spreading rumors Excluding someone from a group Ganging up on others

5. Cyber bullying is when bullies use the Internet, mobile (cell) phones or other electronic devices. It can include: Sending mean text messages, e-mail, or instant messages Posting damaging pictures or hurtful messages on blogs (like Twitter) or social network sites (like Facebook) Spreading rumors or lies about someone, sometimes using a fake identity

6. Compared to their peers, kids who are bullied are five times more likely to be depressed. Bullied boys are four times more likely to be suicidal Bullied girls are eight times more likely to be suicidal (Bullying Prevention is Crime Prevention, 2003).

7. A bystander is a person who sees unacceptable behavior – including bullying – but does nothing to stop it Consider the following story…

8. When Steven Tower, a youth health coordinator visited a fifth-grade class as part of an anti-bullying program, he showed the students a photograph of an 11-year-old boy in a football uniform and invited the students to “write down as many things about what you imagine that person in the picture is like.” Later, he showed them a second photo of the same boy – but this time, the boy was in a casket. When the students asked how the boy died, Tower explained: “He was bullied. Some of the boys accused him of being gay, even though he wasn’t, and then mercilessly taunted him. And no one, no one, did anything. There were no leaders in that bystander group. All of you are bystanders,” Tower said. “All of you can be leaders.”  Adapted from “The Secret to Stopping a Bully?” by Neil Swidey, The Boston Globe

9. Speak up! Speak up! SPEAK UP! “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”  Sir Edmund Burke

16. STEP 1: read the selected text STEP 2: highlight three sentences that particularly stood out for you and write each sentence on the front of an index card or piece of paper divided into thirds STEP 3: On the back, write a few sentences explaining why they chose that quote – what it meant to you, reminded them of, etc. You may have connected it to something that happened to you in your own life, to a film or book you saw or read, or to something that happened in history or is happening in current events. STEP 4: In groups of three, label one student A, one B, and the other C. Invite “A”s to read one of their chosen quotations. Then students B and C discuss the quotation. What do they think it means? Why do they think these words might be important? To whom? After several minutes, ask the A students to read the back of their cards (or to explain why they picked the quotation), thus having “the last word.” This process continues with the B student sharing and then student C.

17. “How much abuse is too much when bullying is involved? When does the assault reach a threshold where it’s too much in society’s viewpoint? If an adult was to strike another adult twice, that adult would be in jail. You would have a restraining order; society would say that’s not acceptable. But some of these kids endure what amounts to torture. The daily abuse is significant. So when we talk about Ja’Meya, it’s a delicate conversation to have because obviously you don’t want to send the message that if you are being bullied you can pull a gun out, but [where] does a kid who’s not getting help from adults or from her peers... turn to?”

18. “When your children leave your house and disap­pear into school for the day, they face an array of tasks and an array of opportunities for pleasure, frustration, and pain. In one sense, each child faces these challenges alone. But in another sense they do so in pairs or in groups. Even lonely or isolated children are deeply affected by the status of friendships—or the lack of them. Connecting with a close friend or friends provides them with companions on the journey, allies, cheerleaders, someone to offer feedback to help them figure out just how well, or badly, they’re doing at the busi­ ness of growing up.”

19. “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  Ghandi

20. You may write me down in history With your bitter twisted lies You may trod me down in the very dirt And still like the dust I'll rise Does my happiness upset you Why are you best with gloom Cause I laugh like I've got an oil well Pumpin' in my living room So you may shoot me with your words You may cut me with your eyes And I'll rise, I'll rise, I'll rise Out of the shacks of history's shame Up from a past rooted in pain I'll rise, I'll rise, I'll rise Now did you want to see me broken Bowed head and lowered eyes Shoulders fallen down like tear drops Weakened by my soulful cries Does my confidence upset you Don't you take it awful hard Cause I walk like I've got a diamond mine Breakin up in my front yard So you may shoot me with your words You may cut me with your eyes And I'll rise, I'll rise,I'll rise Out of the shacks of history's shame Up from a past rooted in pain I'll rise, I'll rise, I'll rise So you may write me down in history With your bitter twisted lies You may trod me down in the very dirt And still like the dust I'll rise Does my happiness upset you Why are you best with gloom Cause I laugh like I've got a goldmine Diggin' up in my living room Now you may shoot me with your words You may cut me with your eyes And I'll rise, I'll rise, I'll rise Out of the shacks of history's shame Up from a past rooted in pain I'll rise, I'll rise, I'll rise