Classroom activity: Songs about bullying
Using songs as stimulus material in the classroom can help to engage students with a learning
activity focused on bullying.
Bullying. No Way! has reviewed some popular recent songs about bullying that teachers can
consider for use with their class.
The songs listed below are freely available through sites such as YouTube. This list will be
updated periodically. Teachers should review any resource for suitability and effectiveness
before using with students.
Classroom activities with songs can include:
•
performance
•
text analysis
•
innovations on text.
Songs have been grouped by suggested learning phase:
1. For all year levels
2. For upper primary and older
3. For lower secondary and older
4. For upper secondary.
Which songs are suitable as teaching material?
Songs that are appropriate for use as classroom teaching material should:
•
have appropriate language and themes for the age group
•
relate to bullying or respectful relationships
•
explore a positive resolution
•
avoid sole emphasis on the negative
•
be unlikely to cause distress or harm to the audience
•
be suitable for use in an educational setting.
Songs that are not appropriate for use as teaching material:
•
refer to suicide, death or severe physical harm
•
depict abusive relationships
•
are likely to cause distress to members of the class.
Song list
1
For all year levels
Caught in the crowd
Shake it off
Artist: Kate Miller-Heidke
Written by: Kate Miller-Heidke & Keir
Nuttall
Artist: Taylor Swift
Written by: Taylor Swift, Max Martin &
Shellback
About being a bystander to bullying, not
standing up against it and looking back on it
later.
About people not liking who you are, but
letting it go and not letting it affect you.
Brave
True colours
Artist: Sara Bareilles
Written by: Sara Bareilles & Jack Antonoff
Artist: Cyndi Lauper
Written by: Billy Steinberg & Tom Kelly
Mean
Who’s laughing now
Artist: Taylor Swift
Written by: Taylor Swift
Artist: Jessie J
Written by: Jessie J, George Astasio, Jason
Pebworth & Jon Shave
About speaking up against how others are
treating you or someone else.
About being verbally bullied, but not retaliating
and ending up better for it.
About being yourself even if life or other people
are getting you down.
About being picked on and rising above it.
Who says
Mean girls
Artist: Selena Gomez (and the Scene)
Written by: Priscilla Renea & Emanuel
Kiriakou
Artist: Rachel Crow
Written by: Rachel Crow, Toby Gad &
Autumn Rowe
About just being yourself and no one having the
right to say you aren’t good enough.
Hey bully
Artist: Morgan Fazier
Written by: Morgan Fazier, Sherrie Austin &
Tiffany Goss
From the perspective of someone who has
been bullied about how the person bullying her
is a lot like her. About refusing to retaliate by
bullying back.
About not letting being bullied define who you
are.
2
For upper primary and older
Outcast
Invisible
Artist: Kerry Roberts
Written by: Kerry Roberts, Jason McArthur,
Cindy Morgan & Jeremy Bose
Artist: Hunter Hayes
Written by: Hunter Hayes, Bonnie Baker &
Katrina Elam
About remaining who you are regardless of
whether people ‘approve’.
3
Advice from someone who has been
bullied about getting through it.
For lower secondary and older
Dem haters
Born this way
Artist: Rihanna
Written by: Michael Flowers, Melanie Hallim,
Aion Clarke, Vincent Morgan, & Rogers &
Sturken
Artist: Lady Gaga
Written by: Lady Gaga & Jeppe Laursen
About people pretending to be your friend,
but really bringing you down.
One of these days
About being an individual and being
yourself. Reference to being bullied as a
result.
.
Artist: Tim McGraw (cover of Marcus
Hummon)
Written by: Marcus Hummon & Monty Powell
About how sometimes people bully because
they don’t like themselves.
4
For upper secondary
I saw it
Titanium
Artist: Barenaked Ladies
Written by: Jim Creeggan
Artist: David Guetta (feat. Sia)
Written by: David Guetta, Sia, Giorgio
Tuinfort & Afrojack
About not letting somebody down, from the
point of view of the bystander.
About being ‘bulletproof’ to things people
say. Caution: some lyrics could be
interpreted negatively.