Teachers' Two to
the Power of Two
Four ‘Top Tips’ to tackle bullying
For talking to a pupil who has been bullying someone with a condition, injury or illness that affects the way they look...
1) Never talk about the pupil who is being bullied. Keep your own and your pupil's attention firmly on their own unsatisfactory social behaviour.
2) Discuss good social skills. Invite the pupil, as an important member of the social group, to set a good example to all their peers.
Encourage them to have something different to talk about to classmates, or a funny joke to share, instead of trying to improve their standing by eroding someone else's.
For talking with a pupil who is or has been bullied because of an injury or illness that affects they way they look
3) Teach your pupil some ‘good self-talk'. Good self-talk leads to more confident posture and body-language and makes people feel and act stronger.
Plan a few phrases or a couple of sentences that the pupil can learn them off by heart and repeat to themselves when the going gets tough.
For example:
"I'm okay. I don't need to listen to this. I can find someone who's okay to talk to."
"I'm okay. My team's off the bottom of the Premier League and I'm a loyal supporter."
The pupil should walk away from the bully, repeating this phrase in their head and find someone else to talk to.
Make sure you a have something in place during breaks, lunchtimes etc - a ‘Buddies Scheme' or ‘Peer Supporters' for example - so that an isolated pupil can always readily find someone to talk to.
4) Teach your pupil some ‘fogging'. Fogging is a non-aggressive way of taking the sting out of someone's bulling remarks.
In a cool manner your pupil responds to bullying remarks with a puzzled question, waits for the answer, and then walks calmly away, perhaps with a slight shrug of the shoulders.
For example:
Bully: "Hey, Alien. Which planet are your parents from?"
Fogger: "And your point is?"
Bully: "Hey, Picasso. You should be in an auction."
Fogger: "What are you trying to tell me?"
Bully: "Your face. You'd fetch some money in an auction of weird faces."
Fogger: "So?"
The pupil who was trying to cause upset through their remarks is left feeling that it didn't work.
Pupils with disfigurements have said that trying to ignore comments left them feeling more vulnerable but ‘fogging' left them feeling more empowered and satisfied.
Good self-talk and fogging take practice. Can you invite some fair-minded classmates to help with some role-plays? During the role plays children who are vulnerable to bullying should have the opportunity to play both roles.
