School Staff

Teachers, Counselor, Principal and other

support staff
Library Recommended Books
Bullies are a Pain in the Brain, Trevor
Romain (elementary)
Bully Blockers Club, Teresa Bateman
(elementary)
Bully on the Bus, Carl W. Bosch (upper
elementary/middle)
Bullying at School, Dan Olweus (adult)
Cliques, Phonies & Other Baloney,
Trevor Romain (elementary)
How to Handle Bullies, Teasers, and
Other Meanies Kate Cohen-Posey
(elementary)
My Secret Bully, by Trudy Ludwick
(elementary)
Nobody Knew What To Do, Becky Ray
McCain (elementary)
The Safe Child Book, Sherryll Kraiser
(adult)
Say Something, Peggy Moss
(intermediate)
Why is Everybody Always Picking on
Me?, Terrence Webster-Doyle
(elementary)

Web Sites
www.successunlimited.co.uk : Bully
OnLine
www.ncdjjdp.org/cpsv : Center for the
Prevention of School Violence

Portland Public
Schools is committed to
providing a safe learning
environment so that each
school is free of
discrimination, violence and harassment
of all.

A learning environment that is safe will
reflect the work of the entire school
community (students, staff and families)
and will promote responsible behaviors
and relationships within the community.
Words, looks, gestures and actions must
be respectful of all members feelings,
bodies, and things.

Handling disagreements through the use
of empathy, negotiation, compromise,
tolerance of differences, and by
communicating wants and needs supports
a healthy learning environment. These life
skills are important for respectful and
responsible conflict resolution.

Appropriate interventions and
consequences are necessary in handling
acts of peer violence and acts
of prevention.








Student Services Department
503-916-5460
2231 North Flint Avenue
Portland OR 97227
studentservices@pps.k12.or.us
www.studentservices.k12.or.us

Updated 11/7/08
What to Look For
Myths and Facts
How to Help
When Children are:
Bullying, Targets,
Bystanders

RESOURCES
Who is a bystander ?
A child who witnesses or has knowledge of
incidents of bullying.
A child who may be fearful or worried that
he/she will be targeted next or may feel
helpless to stop the bullying.
A child who may grow to believe that
bullying is a way to get what she/he wants
and may begin bullying.
What are the warning signs of a child
who is a target of bullying?
Responds with a wide range of behaviors
from withdrawal to acting out. Some
targeted children are passive; others
provoke.
Tries to avoid bullying by not wanting to
go to school, complaining of physical
symptoms, being reluctant to talk about
school, having nightmares, or crying
easily.
Feels helpless, powerless, worried,
fearful, and alone.
BULLYING TARGET
BYSTANDER
What is bullying?
Repeated acts of hitting, teasing,
excluding, taunting, gossiping, stealing,
etc. when one child overpowers another.
Acts that are face-to-face or behind-the-
back but always one-sided, harmful
and unfair.
Acts (such as name-calling, bragging,
self-centered conversations, always
needing his/her own way) by a child who
lacks empathy for others.
MYTH: Bullying is a harmless part of
childhood.
FACT: Patterns of bullying may lead to
continued violence.

MYTH: Children who bully will grow out
of it.
FACT: Bullying is a learned behavior
that requires consequences and
interventions for all involved.
MYTH: A child would tell me if she/he were
being bullied.
FACT: Many targeted children are fearful
that
reporting bullying will make it
worse.

MYTH: Fighting back is the best defense
against bullying.
FACT: The best defense against bullying
is to leave, join others, ask for help,
and to get safe.
MYTH: What happens between other kids
doesnt affect or involve my child.
FACT: All kids are affected by bullying
academically, emotionally,
socially.

MYTH: A child would tell me or another
adult if he/she witnessed bullying.
FACT: Bystanders may need to be taught
to report bullying. Telling about
bullying is not Tattling.
What you can do to help a child if
he/she is a bystander to
bullying?
Discuss the importance of respect in
relationships with others.
Listen to the childs concerns about
bullying. Remind her/him that by
reporting bullying, everyone is helped:
bystander, target, and bullying children.
Develop a list of interventions a
bystander might do (such as
encouraging him/her to report bullying
incidents to an adult, tell the student
who is bullying to stop, use humor to
stop the bullying).
What you can do to help a child if
he/she is targeted by bullying?
Listen, watch, and support your child.
Find out what the childs school does
with issues of bullying.
Help the child with assertive (not
aggressive) responses to bullying.
Involve the child in positive group
experiences.
Encourage the child to report all bullying
incidents to an adult at school.
What you can do to help a child if he/
she is bullying others?
Identify the behavior without labeling the
child.
Listen to concerns of other adults
involved with the child.
Model non-violent ways to solve
problems.
Evaluate the impact of media (TV,
video, computer games, movies) on the
child.
Work with the child on developing
positive peer experiences.