National Bully Prevention Month

It seems like bulling is becoming a bigger and bigger problem in today's classrooms and on the playgrounds.  Bullying is a topic that we need to take the time to discuss with our own children as well as the students in our classrooms.  One great way to start a conversation is through reading a book first.

The Recess Queen by Alexis O'Neill is a great read aloud to start the conversation about bullying with younger kids.  Mean Jean is your stereotypical playground bully.  She controls when everyone plays and if a kid did not listen to Mean Jean she would "push 'em and smoosh 'em," until they do what she wanted them to do, she always got her way.  Then tiny Katie Sue comes to school and she is unaware of Mean Jean's rules on the playground. When Katie Sue ran outside for recess and kicked and jumped and bounced before Mean Jean, Mean Jean made sure to inform Katie Sue of the rules and told her, "Nobody swings until Mean Jean swings.  Nobody bounces until Mean Jean bounces." But Katie Sue did not listen, instead Katie Sue just kept on playing, making Mean Jean madder and madder.   But then Katie Sue did something no one else had ever done, she asked Mean Jean to jump rope with her.  Mean Jean did not know what to do so she jumped with Katie Sue and that was the end of Mean Jean forever.

Not only does this book teach a great lesson about how to respond to bullies but kids love listening to it because of the repetition, rhyming and silly words like "lollapaloosh" and many more.  It is a must read for National Bully Prevention Month.

Here are some questions to start a conversation about bullying:

1) Has anyone treated you like Mean Jean treated her classmate?  What did they do?
2) Have you ever acted like Mean Jean?  What did you do?
3) What made Mean Jean change?
4) What should you do if you see someone being a bully?

Check out the NEA's website for some free resources on preventing bulling by clicking here.

Happy Reading!
Laura