INTERRUPT BULLIES PART 2
WINNING BEHAVIORS: LESSON 20
Quick Reference
Abstract:
Students warm up discussing different types of bullying. In the mini lesson, students
watch and discuss a powerful scene from the film The Interrupters and learn
Solutionary Tool #17. In the workshop, students work in two large groups to role play
interrupting bullying in a true-to-life scenario. The lesson closes as students identify
and share one action they will take as an interrupter to help stop bullying in their
neighborhood or school.
CCSS:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.9-10.1.C
SEL IL State Standards:
Students Will Be Able To:
2B.4a. Analyze the origins and negative effects of
 Explain why interrupters have the most true
stereotyping and prejudice.
power in a bullying scenario
2B.5a. Evaluate strategies for being respectful of
 Identify effective ways to interrupt bullying
others and opposing stereotyping and prejudice.
 Apply strategies to interrupt bullying
2B.5b. Evaluate how advocacy for the rights of
others contributes to the common good.
Essential Question of the Day:
How do my choices impact others?
Materials:
Preparation:
 Computer, Projector & speakers or Umoja
 Ensure the projector, speakers, and the
Course Companion DVD and TV*
following websites or Umoja Course
Companion DVD are functioning:
 Top 5 Forms of Bullying** (1/student)
o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k4 Solutionary Tool #17 (1/class)
Y2Ooe2c
 One by One (1/student)
 To save time in Step 1 if the Workshop, prepare
3 scenarios in advance
*Source: “The Interrupters: Ameena's Prayer
 Cut One by One
Vigil.” YouTube. 19 Jan. 2011. Web. 07 Apr. 2015.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k4Y2Ooe2c>.
**Source: “10 Ways to Limit a Member of an
Oppressed Social Group.” A CLASSROOM OF
DIFFERENCE Facilitator’s Manual. New York: AntiDefamation League, 2008.
Warm Up
Step-by-Step Procedures
Forms of Bullying
1) Share the objectives of the lesson with students (see SWBATs above). Ask
students if they need clarification.
2) Explain: “In the past several sessions, we discussed the importance of being
an interrupter; that is, interrupting conflicts, including incidents of bullying,
by using de-escalation behaviors. Today, we’ll talk about what it takes to be
an interrupter and practice interrupting bullies. To warm up, we’ll discuss
the types of bullying that occur. Any questions?”
3) Distribute Top 5 Forms of Bullying and read aloud.
9th Grade Winning Behaviors ● www.umojacorporation.org
42 Min
10 Min
Mini
Lesson
4) Facilitate a discussion using some or all of the guiding questions below. The
objective of this discussion is to have students reflect on the types of
bullying they have committed and/or experienced personally, as well as the
types of bullying common in the whole-school setting.
 Which types of bullying have you committed? Which types have you
experienced?
 Which types of bullying are most common at school? In your
neighborhood? Other locations?
 Which types of bullying are the easiest to recognize and stop? Why?
Which are the hardest?
 Which types of bullying do you consider most harmful? Why?
 How would Solutionaries interrupt these incidents?
The Interrupters
1) Explain: “Just as there are many ways for people to be harmed by bullying,
there are many ways to interrupt a bully from causing harm. Solutionaries
believe that no one deserves to be hurt and use all the tools in their toolbox
to interrupt harm. To get into the head and heart of an interrupter, we’ll
watch a scene from the movie, The Interrupters. This movie tells the story of
three violence interrupters from the organization CeaseFire who try to
protect their Chicago communities from the violence they used to practice.”
Facilitator’s Note: Invite students who have seen the film to introduce it.
2) Play video (1:59) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k4-Y2Ooe2c
3) Facilitate a discussion using some or all of the guiding questions below. The
objective of this discussion is to describe the power of the interrupter as an
agent of change and to brainstorm the skills required to interrupt a bully
(see Solutionary Tool #17).
 What moments in this scene touched you most?
 In this scene, who is/are the bully(ies)? The target(s)? The
bystander(s)? The interrupter(s)?
 How does this scene speak to/connect with your life experience?
 The interrupter in this scene is Ameena Matthews, daughter of a
former gang leader and a gang enforcer herself. What’s her message?
 Do you consider Ameena to be a Solutionary?
 What’s the difference between an interrupter and a bystander?
 About the young boy, the “lil’ shorty,” Ameena says to the group: “If
this brother right here catch a case, whose fault is it?” and members of
the crowd say “our fault.” Do you agree; are bystanders to blame for
bullying and other acts of violence?
 At the end of the scene, Ameena says to the group that their
responsibility to “lil’ shorty” is to “teach him righteous.” What does that
mean; how is ‘teaching righteous’ connected to being an interrupter?
 How do you teach someone righteous?
 What does the interrupter have the power to do, in an incident of
bullying or other acts of violence?
 What skills of the head and heart does it take to be an interrupter?
Facilitator’s Note: During the discussion, encourage students to brainstorm
specific, concrete actions they can take in their daily lives to be interrupters.
9th Grade Winning Behaviors ● www.umojacorporation.org
10 Min
Workshop
Closing
Record students’ ideas on the board.
4) Post Solutionary Tool #17 and read aloud.
Interrupting Bullies
1) Break the class in half and explain: “It is inspiring to be an interrupter, but it
is really hard to do in real life. That’s why we’ll spend the rest of our time
today practicing. Each group’s first task is to come up with 3 bullying
scenarios that happen in daily life. You have 3 minutes. Any questions?”
2) Use the following talking points to explain the role play:
o You will have an opportunity to challenge the opposite group with the
bullying scenarios you just made up. This means you will select a small
group from your team to bully another member of the opposite team.
o The task of the team being challenged is to interrupt the bully, using the
Solutionary Tools and the skills of the head and heart of an interrupter.
o Just like in real life, not everyone in this role play is an interrupter.
There may be multiple bullies, multiple targets, and multiple bystanders.
Pay attention to your own reactions to what is happening, and if you
feel able to interrupt the harm, go for it.
o *I want to make a clear safety statement before we begin: the purpose
of this activity is to practice preventing harm. Be extremely mindful in
this activity that this is for the purpose of helping, not hurting people.
When you target someone from the other team, you should not make
any personal attacks. No one is required to participate if he/she is or
becomes uncomfortable; this is a challenge by choice. Any questions?”
3) After each round, give feedback on the effectiveness of the interruption.
Refer to Solutionary Tool #17 to help students reconnect with the head and
heart of the interrupter.
Facilitator’s Note: To modify this role play to meet the needs of your class,
create scenarios and assign the bullies, targets, and interrupters in advance.
One By One
1) Distribute One by One and read the directions.
2) Time permitting, invite students to share the actions they will take as
interrupters to help stop bullying in their school or neighborhood.
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17 Min
5 Min
TOP 5 FORMS OF BULLYING
Directions: Read the definition of bullying and the types of bullying below. Place
a star next to each category of bullying that you have experienced in your own
life and a check next to the types you have done to others in the past.
Bullying:
a) Is an intentional act. The person who bullies wants to harm the target; it is no accident.
b) Happens multiple times. Bullying is not generally considered a random act, or a single
incident.
c) Involves an imbalance of power. A fight between 2 people of equal power is not bullying;
bullying is a fight in which the person who bullies has some advantage or power over the
person who is targeted.
1) Ignoring, Excluding, Avoiding, and Embarrassing
 Making someone feel unwelcome/unheard, giving the cold shoulder, treating someone like s/he
is invisible
 Not inviting/including someone in a group event
 Joking or making derogatory comments about another person and expecting the person to
laugh at him/herself
 Teasing a person in a way that s/he can’t protest without looking like a complainer
2) Stereotyping/Role-typing
 Making assumptions about the qualities, preferences, physical abilities, and habits of an
individual based on his/her ethnicity/nationality/sexual orientation/gender, etc.
 Telling him/her that s/he is not like other people from their group (or that s/he does not fit the
‘type’)
 Using racial, homophobic, or sexist slurs
3) Sexual Harassment
 Commenting on a person’s body or clothing, turning normal topics into sexual ones
 Touching a person in a sexually suggestive or inappropriate way
 Talking about sexual things in front of the person in order to make him/her feel uncomfortable
4) Anonymous Bullying & Cyber-bullying
 Using the Internet and text messages to threaten, embarrass, or pass rumors about someone
 Passing notes, gossiping, spreading rumors about someone
 Writing cruel statements on bathroom walls or on a person’s belongings
5) Physical Harm
 Any physical act designed to intimidate, like a fake punch
 Any action that comes in contact with another person’s body that hurts him/her…even pinching
or slapping
 Causing physical harm to someone by tripping him/her, throwing his/her belongings, slamming a
door, removing a chair, etc.
Source: “10 Ways to Limit a Member of an Oppressed Social Group.” A CLASSROOM OF DIFFERENCE Facilitator’s Manual. New York: AntiDefamation League, 2008.
9th Grade Winning Behaviors ● www.umojacorporation.org
SOLUTIONARY
TOOL # 17: INTERRUPT
BULLIES FROM CAUSING HARM BY
SPEAKING BRAVELY WHEN IT IS SAFE, ASKING FOR
HELP FROM OTHERS, AND BEING ROLE MODELS FOR
PEACE.
SOLUTIONARIES KNOW THE GREATEST
POWER—THE POWER TO INTERRUPT HARM—
BELONGS TO THE INTERRUPTER.
9th Grade Winning Behaviors ● www.umojacorporation.org
Name: _________________________________
Date: ______________
ONE BY ONE
Directions: In the space below, write what single action you will take this week as an interrupter to help
stop incidents of bullying in your school or neighborhood. Look back at the class brainstorm and
Solutionary Tools # 16 and #17 if you need ideas!
“Everything
starts with
one and
builds up.”
“This week, I will be an interrupter by…_________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Name: _________________________________
Date: ______________
ONE BY ONE
Directions: In the space below, write what single action you will take this week as an interrupter to help
stop incidents of bullying in your school or neighborhood. Look back at the class brainstorm and
Solutionary Tools # 16 and #17 if you need ideas!
“Everything
starts with
one and
builds up.”
“This week, I will be an interrupter by…_________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
9th Grade Winning Behaviors ● www.umojacorporation.org