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Lauryn Hernandez
Professor Peters
Capstone
10 December 2012
Using Literature as a Tool to Educate and
Transform Students’ Perceptions about Bullying
Bullying
As I make my way to school each day
To see the girls who break my soul
I wish I could tell the bullies in my school
Can you be kind and not so cruel?
And it starts and lasts all day
I cannot stand it, go away
Just close your eyes and you will see
All the memories that you have engraved in me
-Alexandra Galvis
Teen Project Writing Circle
Imagine waking up to the sound of your alarm clock violently beating in rhythmic pattern
to the aching pulse of fear in your heart. You hardly slept the night before, worrying about what
torment tomorrow will bring. It is time for school again, which means it is time for another day of hoping
you will make it past the girls that pull your hair and call you fat or the boys that shove you against the
lockers as others walk by and laugh. This happens to many students who are beat up physically and
beat down emotionally, when no one may be looking and those that see do not offer to help.
According to a 2010 ABC News special titled, “Bullied to Death in America’s schools,” the
U.S. Department of Education indicated that 160,000 children a day stay home from school
because they are afraid of being bullied (Dubreuil 1). In society today, bullying has become an
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epidemic with detrimental and often deadly results; such as, the Columbine High School
shooting on April 20th, 1999 and many recent adolescent suicides resulting from bullying.
After researching various book and education journals on bully theories, examining
adolescent literature, observing a local English teacher, and interviewing several students, I
found that one effective way for English teachers to educate students about anti-bullying is by
using literature as a tool to inform and transform students’ perceptions about bullying. In the past
decade bullying has received a large amount of media attention, specifically in schools, because
of the alarming effect it has had on students. This makes educators and parents question if
school districts are doing enough to educate students about the themes, consequences, and effects
of bullying. To do this, teachers must be stronger when implementing curriculum that promotes
an anti-bullying message in their classroom. As a future teacher, bullying is an important concern
to me because it will most likely affect the majority of students in my classroom; therefore, I
would like to use literature to teach them about the messages of bullying in hope of creating a
more peaceful coexistence among students.
Bullying is an issue that will always occur in schools; however, there are ways for
teachers to decrease this escalating and out of control behavior. Across the United States,
teachers have achieved this by coming up with creative ways to implement bullying into their
curriculum. For instance, one local teacher Mrs. Lomax at Anacapa Middle School in Ventura,
promotes peace education in her classroom by using literature and media to teach her students
about the harmful effects of bullying. Mrs. Lomax places the motto by Genevan philosopher,
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, “What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness” on a board in
her classroom to establish a sense of respect among her students. Furthermore, in the beginning
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of the school year, she had her students watch a video “Let’s Get Real” in which middle school
students discuss the harmful effects of bullying. In this video, students speak out about being
bullied because of their race, genders, sexual orientations, disabilities, religious differences, and
appearances. One Chinese student in the video said she was bullied by girls who used to be her
friends. They said they didn’t want to be friends with someone who was half Chinese and they
would stretch their eyes apart with their fingers to make fun of the way she looked. She
responded by saying “at school nothing happens, I can’t get anything to happen. If I had the
courage, then I would go up to them and tell them I don’t like that” (Chasnoff). In other words,
school officials were not doing enough to stop this bullying behavior from occurring in their
school. As a result, many of the other students in the video did not have the courage to defend
themselves or they were too afraid to ask a teacher for help.
Bullying often occurs when no one is around, and when students go to a teacher for help
they do not always get the assistance they need. For instance, another student in the video said he
was picked on almost every day and that “some teachers do something, some don’t.” He also
said that one time a peer choked him with a belt while another one punched him, and then said if
he had a gun he would shoot his bully in the leg. Furthermore, he said he would never want to
kill anybody but the bullying made him so upset that he wanted to harm the students that were
hurting him. This is alarming because this mentality is what gives many school shooters reasons
for retaliating against the students that bullied them. It is also disturbing to hear that many
students said that they could not get any help from adults or they were too afraid to ask for help
because they would be considered a “snitch” if they did. When it came to the bystander, these
students said they saw the bullying occurring but they were too afraid to help because they
thought they would be bullied too. The video also displays the bully’s point of view. For
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instance, one bully said he was bullied by his older brother who was much bigger and stronger
than him; therefore, he would bully others in order to be known as the person that people can’t
mess with. Another bully said that his step-dad would often call him a “faggot” so he used this
term to refer to other students as well. In this case, Mrs. Lomax’s students were able to see how
bullying leads to more bullying, creating an endless cycle of cruelty. This video also gives
students a chance to see bullying on all sides of the spectrum in order to understand what it is
like to be in the shoes of a bully, a victim and a bystander. As a future teacher, it is also
important to know the bully’s point of view as well as the victim because it will help me
determine why he or she is distributing this violent behavior. Knowing where the bullying
behavior comes from would ultimately help me come up with a resolution to solve the behavior
in my classroom. Furthermore, if students were educated about bullying, then it may diminish
the amount of bullying that takes place in schools.
After Mrs. Lomax showed this video about bullying to her class, the students were
prepared in what to look for when they read an adolescent novel that contained bullying. I was
able to see this after observing one of Mrs. Lomax’s class lessons examining Sherman Alexie’s
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, in which the students were able to see how the
character’s being bullied in the book were related to bullying in their own lives. In consensus
with the book, the class had a discussion about name calling and many of the students responded
by saying that they were “only joking” whenever they would say a mean or hurtful name about
someone and the ones being called the hurtful names said they often laughed to hide their true
feelings. However, Mrs. Lomax teaches her students the message that “something is not funny
unless EVERYONE is laughing.” As a result, the students were able to place events that
occurred in the story on a number line continuum graph that distinguished between isolating
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individuals and building community (as shown below in figure 1). The story is about a Native
American teen named Arnold Spirit, who becomes a victim of bullying when, an attempt to
discover his identity, he leaves the reservation to attend a mainly “white” school. For instance,
his reaction to being bullied by his best friend creates a detailed image that many of the students
in the class said they could relate to. Alexie writes,
What kind of idiot am I?
I was the kind of idiot that got punched hard in the face by
his best friend.
Bang! Rowdy punched me.
Bang! I hit the ground.
Bang! My nose bled like a firework. (p.52)
This scene not only showed the students the effect of physical bullying but also illustrated
how a bully can be someone who is considered their friend as well. Furthermore, the author
successfully portrays the voice of an adolescent boy, a model that the students were able to relate
to, better than if he were an adult being bullied.
After reading passages like this, Mrs. Lomax’s students were able to determine which
events belonged on either side of the graph by talking about how the behavior or action made
characters in the novel feel. For example, the students placed the time when Arnold is beaten up
by his friend Rowdy at a basketball game on the side of isolating individuals. They proceeded to
discuss that this event belonged on the left side of the graph because Arnold is being bullied for
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playing against his Native American community. The class agreed Rowdy is upset because he
feels like Arnold betrayed him by leaving him and his community behind. Moreover, the
students placed the time when everyone laughs together at a funeral on the right side of the graph
as an example of building community. They agreed that this event depicted a time when the
community was able to share a bonding experience with one another that they only understood
because it pertained to their Native American culture.
Figure 1
Line Continuum Graph of Isolating Individuals/Group vs. Building Community in Sherman
Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
Arnold's teacher picks
Rowdy’s dad
on him in front
calls Junior gay
of the class
Roger gives
Arnold $40
The reservation
because he
laughs together
has no money
at a funeral
Isolating
Building
Individuals/
Group
Community
Rowdy beats
Student's at Arnold's
Arnold creates a
Arnold's friendship
up Arnold at a
new school called him
cartoon for Rowdy
with Gordy
basketball game
racist Indian names
*This graph was put together by Mrs. Lomax English Language Arts students during a class lesson
comparing and contrasting characters that were isolated in the novel because of bullying and characters
that struggled to overcome bullying by building unlikely friendships.
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Since watching the “Let’s Get Real” video about bullying the students are now able to
determine bullying themes in the novels and stories they read, such as Alexie’s book. Most
importantly, the students have built rapport with one another since the beginning of class that
allows them to follow a simple set of rules that respect one another. However, I observed that
there is still one student who seems to be on a different page than the rest of the class. Mrs.
Lomax explained to me that he came into the class late; therefore, he did not get to watch the
video with the rest of the class at the beginning of the school year. As a result, the class was
having a conversation one day that made everyone laugh, the only difference was that this certain
student was laughing at the way the teacher laughed. She confronted him by letting him know
that he was making her feel isolated; however, the student continued to make fun of her laugh the
next day in class. Even as I observed her class on the lesson of Sherman Alexie’s novel, this
student continued to say inappropriate things that referred to his agreement with the actions of
the bully’s violent behavior. This is where it becomes difficult to educate students about the
effects of bullying who don’t seem to care or still don’t understand the importance of it. It is one
thing to teach a class the messages and harmful effects of bullying but then how do you
effectively educate a bully about bullying? In order to do so, it is vital that a teacher establishes a
clear understanding among students from the beginning that eliminates bullying and demands
them to have respect for one another; such as, creating a set of class rules that respect one
another’s property, listening quietly while one another is speaking and inhibit name calling in the
classroom. Providing a set of rules that establish an anti-bullying message in the classroom will
also prepare the students to know what to expect when it comes to discussing the anti-bullying
literature.
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Promoting an anti-bullying message in a classroom can be difficult, especially if many
students do not understand the wide spectrum of bullying. After observing a few class lessons
related to anti-bullying, I wanted to find out how the student’s felt about bullying in their school
in order to figure out how much they understood about it. With permission slips from their
parents allowing me to conduct a bullying survey, I was able to get twenty-two students to
participate in the survey, all thirteen or fourteen years old. First, I asked them to define bullying
and give some examples to see if they understood the broad definition. Many of the students had
vague and general answers about the term describing bullying as saying mean things to others.
Moreover, many of the answers referred to bullying as mainly verbal, rather than being physical
or cyber. One student specifically wrote that bullying is when “a kid calls someone names,
pushes them around, makes fun of them because of their race/ethnicity, calls them names online,
posts rude pictures online, or just laughs and points” (Hernandez). This answer stands out over
the other ones because it gives examples of how the term bullying falls under a wide spectrum by
referring to reasons that people can be bullied. This is why it is important as a teacher, to provide
numerous examples of how bullying is verbal, physical, emotional, and technological. This is
another case where literature can become an effective tool for teaching students how bullying
falls under many categories; such as assigning a novel that portrays a character who is bullied by
his peers because of his race or appearance, an article about a student who committed suicide
because he was bullied online, or even a play that gives the students an opportunity to perform a
bullying scenario that will help them decide what to do in that situation.
After conducting the bullying survey, I discovered that 50 % of the students indicated
that they had been bullied before. It was disturbing to read that one student said he had been
bullied his whole life and that one time when he was in 6th grade another student actually bit him
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in the face. Although there was still a bulk of the class that said they had never been bullied, 60%
of those students admitted they were actually a bully or witnessed bullying taking place at some
point. One of the students that said she was a bully described a time when she “went up to a girl
and punched her in the face for no reason.” Another student who said she witnessed bullying
stated that a group of students were surrounding another girl and pushing her but she didn’t do
anything because she was too scared. This fear often happens because the students may not have
been informed of how to get help. Therefore, I thought it was important to ask the question, “If
you were the principal, what would you do to stop bullying?” I was surprised to hear that many
of the answers were inspiring and hopeful. One student said she would have student clubs that
both bullies and victims of bullying could attend to get help and have them watch videos about
bullying in order to discuss how they felt about it. Another student said if she were the principal
she would have the “older students have a little buddy and learn what it is like to be looked down
upon again.” After looking at these answers, it appears that the students seem to understand what
bullying is on a narrow scale but are more concerned with how the issue is being handled. Ten
out of twenty-two students specified that they felt that their school was not doing enough to stop
or prevent bullying from occurring (Hernandez). This is why it is important that schools across
the country have anti-bullying programs that educate students about the extensive range of
bullying. Perhaps, if more teachers like Mrs. Lomax implement lessons that focus on the
messages of bullying to help students figure out the right choices when it comes to getting help,
it might eliminate the amount of bullying behavior.
Since many students are not taught about the messages of bullying and how to make the
right choices, bullying can often lead to violence. Looking back at the history of school
shootings we can determine why bullying has become an epidemic. According to Jessie Klein, a
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Professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Adelphi University in New York, in his book The
Bully Society: School Shootings and the Crisis of Bullying in America’s Schools, there have been
166 school shootings in the last three decades, 16 shootings from 1969 to 1978 in the United
States and 29 school shootings from 1979 to 1988. The amount continued to double from 1989 to
1998 with 52 shootings, and 63 new shootings from 1999 to 2008 (Klein 2-3). Furthermore,
Klein found that a majority of the school shootings were because the shooter had been bullied in
some way and took revenge on the students who abused them. In one familiar case, the two
young shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold took revenge on some of the students that picked
on them at Columbine High school in Colorado. They shot and killed 12 students, one teacher,
and injured 21 others on April 20, 1999, an act that marked the terrifying effect of social status
on two impressionable students who were never accepted by their peers.
Unfortunately, this form of violence is what transpired from the result of bullying. In
Klein’s chapter called “Social Status Wars,” he writes that after the shootings, one of Dylan’s
good friends Brooks Brown wrote a book called No Easy Answers: The Truth behind Death at
Columbine, in which he describes how the shooters acted out as a result of bullying. He
specifically examines how the jocks would bully their group of friends by stating that during
lunch, the jocks would knock their food trays on the floor, trip them, kick their chairs, throw
food at them, and push them down onto the table (Klein 13-14). Then he writes that they walked
into the library at their high school and said, “All jocks stand up. We’re going to kill every one
of you.” Harris and Klebold planned to kill the jocks because they were one of the main social
groups that bullied them the most. When students are relentlessly bullied and humiliated like this
in front of others, some of them can keep their feelings inside, while others can only put up with
it for so long before they decide to take action, as displayed in this tragic event. Most likely, the
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only way that Harris and Klebold felt like they could stand up to the jocks that picked on them
was to use a weapon against them. Consequently, a weapon was the only thing that made them
feel stronger and bigger than the jocks that were abusing them, so they were forced to result to
this violence in order to make it stop.
Most students who are bullied do not bring a gun to school to harm their bullies;
however, not every student that is bullied is going to know how to handle the situation.
According to Klein, both Klebold and Harris, as well as their bullies, “were in fact living in a
typical American high school culture where, in a microcosm of an authoritarian state, kids were
made to conform to constrained parameters of acceptable behavior that were often vicious and
hostile” (Klein 12). This eludes the hostile and violent environment that students are
continuously surrounded by when they go to school every day. It may not always be as extreme
as a school shooting; however, it can be as simple as saying a hurtful name to another student
that subsequently triggers a violent reaction. When examining this type of violent conduct in
schools, one might ask, where do children learn about this aggressive behavior? One obvious
answer to that question points an accusing finger at the media.
In middle and high schools, students often feel pressured to conform to a narrow set of
rules confined by the media that instruct them on how they are supposed to look or act; therefore,
they often become socially alienated. In the media, young girls and boys adopt certain social
norms that society has forced them to become because it is what they see being advertised as
normal. Movies and commercials teach males that they are supposed to be masculine, aggressive,
dominant, competitive, and successful in sports. They are forced to conform to these values and
if they do not then they are deemed feminine, gay, worthless or uncool. Females, on the other
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hand, are forced to believe the complete opposite. They are taught that they are supposed to be
“magazine pretty,” have nice clothes and beautiful hair, possess femininity, exceed in school,
and engage in gossip. If they do not conform to this set of values then they are deemed ugly,
masculine, and are often ostracized from their group of friends. These gender roles have played a
major role in school bullying because someone does not fit in to the typical appearance and
conduct of a young boy or girl. This is one area where literature and media can come into play,
as a way to teach students that these gender roles are being forced upon them.
One novel that exemplifies several of these issues is Gene Luen Yang’s American Born
Chinese. It is a graphic novel that contains detailed pictures of three different plotlines that
become intertwined with one another. The first story is about the most powerful monkey on
earth, who is a master of kung-fu and adored by his subjects; however, he does not want to be a
monkey and desperately tries not to be one. He knows that humans, particularly a man, hold the
most power, so he transforms himself into what society wants him to be, even if it means hurting
people or giving up his identity along the way. However, he is taught a valuable lesson about
what it means to accept who you are and not try to be what someone else wants. He says, “I
would have saved myself from five hundred years’ imprisonment beneath a mountain of a rock
had I only realized how good it is to be a monkey” (223). The monkey’s obstacles of constantly
trying to escape the reality that he could never be a man, demonstrates the message that students
should accept who they are. In school today, many students are discovering their identities and
often transforming themselves to fit into the roles that society considers acceptable because they
are often bullied for their appearance, ethnicity, or economic status. This is when literature
would be a great example of using a story like this to instill the value of accepting who you are
and where you come from, despite what other people think.
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The second story in this graphic novel is another great example I would use as a future
teacher to implement the values of accepting where you come from and respecting other cultures.
In this story, a young boy named Jin Wang forgoes a part of his cultural identity in order to be
accepted by his white dominant classmates. When he first arrives at the school he soon realizes
that being Chinese is not socially accepted after his classmates tease him about eating dog for
lunch and threaten to beat him up if he does not obey their commands. As a result, he does not
want to be associated with anyone else who looks Asian. When a Taiwanese transfer student
attempts to befriend him, Jin harshly replies “You’re in America, speak English (37). He knows
that he is an outcast and hanging out with other students that are seen as outcasts will only make
it worse for him. Furthermore, after realizing that being Chinese does not make him popular, he
decides to completely change himself into a Caucasian male by dying his hair blonde, getting a
perm and going out with an American girl that he has a crush on. He transforms himself to the
extent that he loses every trace of his ethnicity. Not only does his appearance change, the popular
students still do not accept him as part of their group. For instance, after going out with Jin, the
American girl’s friends tell her that she needs to “start paying attention to who she hangs out
with” (179). The dominant group knows that they cannot be friends with Jin because he will
stand in the way of their own access to power. They consider him to be “different,” therefore
they alienate him as well as anyone else who does not look like them. This novel would also be a
good segue into class activities that promote anti-bullying; such as, having students create their
own miniature graphic novels in which they can depict issues of identity, social status, and race,
ultimately illustrating the importance of expressing true identity.
Teachers can use novels like Alexie’s, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian
and Yang’s, American Born Chinese, to show a connection between characters in literature and
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how the media constructs these stereotypical gender roles. For instance, we see Asian characters
as shown in Yang’s novel, type casted into movies like Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Revenge of the
Nerds and Sixteen Candles, in which they are shown ridiculously nerdy, highly-intelligent, good
at Kung-Fu, and emotionally weak. This limits Asian actors from playing certain roles as well as
places them in a social category that forces them to look and behave a certain way at school.
Furthermore, Native American characters, like Arnold in Alexie’s novel, are often incorrectly
portrayed in movies with over-dramatization of hairstyles, clothing and war. These various
depictions of Indians are also incorrectly used to represent various sports teams’ logos and
mascots, defining Native Americans as those “mascots.” All of these extreme representations of
minorities teach people that it is acceptable to think this way. This is why characters like Arnold
and Jin Wang tried to forgo their cultural identities in order to be accepted by society. Providing
stories that contain these types of characters, shows them how the media is creating the way they
are supposed to look and act, eliminating and ruling out anything that is unique or different.
Reading novels and discussing themes about gender roles, race, social status, and identity are an
important part of the curriculum because they are part of the main reasons why students tease
one another. Most importantly, stories with these social issues present a truth about what group
of people hold the most power and show a way to gain access to power despite the social
institutions that may be holding them back. It is an exciting feeling to know that a teacher has the
ability to educate their students about this knowledge, and as a result, they will they be able to
decide for themselves if they want to conform to these rules that society has predetermined for
them.
After looking at how schools across America use literature to discuss these social issues
and the bullying that result from it, I found that there is an effective way for English Language
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Arts teachers to apply an anti-bullying program that includes numerous types of literature and
classroom activities. For example, in November 2006, school officials at Wood Oaks Junior
High School in Indiana accomplished this by developing an anti-bullying program in which they
used young adult literature as the centerpiece. They developed curriculum for sixth, seventh, and
eighth grade classes that teaches them about the messages of bullying. They incorporated stories
that were relevant to each grade by choosing engaging plots, memorable protagonists, and
thematic material that empower victims of bullying. For example, eighth graders read the story
“Satyagraha” by Alden R. Carter and applied the non-violent philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi to
show how it can be effective against a bully on the football team. Furthermore, students
examined the misery involved in being the victim of bullying and finding a friend to comfort
you, in the poem, “Everyday is the same,” written by two eighth grade students from their
school. School officials say reading the poem “reinforces the idea that anti-bullying programs are
not just for the victims and the bullies, but also for the majority of students who are passive and
who stand by and watch it occur” (Hillsberg, Spak 4). The following is an excerpt from the
poem:
Every day is the same.
Every day is the same.
Not one kid knows my name.
I’m the last to be picked in class.
I wish that this time would just pass.
Every night home alone,
Not one ring from the phone.
Gum stuck in my hair from a classmate,
All of this teasing is what I really hate.
As a future teacher, I would use the whole poem as a part of my curriculum to teach
students about the effects of bullying. After they discussed the effects of bullying as seen in the
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poem, I would have the students write their own poem about what bullying means to them and
have them share it with their peers. I am aware that everyone has a different definition of what
bullying means to them, so each poem would effectively teach the students about the different
view points to help them understand the extensive definition.
Since the English Language Arts classes had such an impact on their students in helping
them understand bullying, other departments of the same middle school were also inspired to
contribute in the anti-bullying program. For example, one social studies class created cartoons
out of specific incidents that occurred in history by depicting how they resolved bullying
situations. Foreign language classes discussed issues of bullying by relating them to topics such
as racial profiling, prejudice, and stereotypes. Furthermore, music classes combated the theme of
bullying by singing and discussing the lyrics of Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful,” Peter Paul’s
“Don’t Laugh at Me,” and The Beatles “We Can Work it Out.” Finally, the English Language
Arts classes created an inspiring quilt created by students with individual messages such as, “The
only way to have a friend is to be one,” and “A friend walks in while the rest of the world walks
out,” in order to promote peace and put an end to bullying (Hillsberg, Spak 5). As a result, we
see how the power of literature can be used to educate students about bullying in all school
subjects. Overall, this middle school anti-bullying program is one way of showing how much a
school can attempt to change students’ perceptions of bullying. By implementing curriculum
centered on stories, poems, and discussions that impact students about the themes of bullying,
they were able to create a message of peace and intolerance for bullying on their campus.
Although school officials may be able to decrease the bullying that occurs on campus it is
still inevitable in today’s society and they cannot prevent it from occurring outside of their
schools. With the advancement of technology, teens have instantaneous access to social
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networks that amplify this behavior such as, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and more. Because
they are free to voice their opinions, the internet becomes active reign for bullying. Ultimately,
malicious comments on the internet regarding fourteen year old Jamey Rodemeyer’s sexual
orientation are what lead to his suicide on September 2011 in Buffalo, New York (ABC News).
He was often teased relentlessly online by hurtful names like “faggot,” and told that he was
going to hell for being gay. Furthermore, he was told by peers his age, to kill himself because no
one cared if he died and everyone would be happier if he did. Jamey Rodemeyer’s death is not
the only one to occur in the media because of cyber bulling. On September 22, 2010 an 18 year
old student from Rutgers University in New Jersey, Tyler Clementi committed suicide three days
after his roommate secretly recorded him having a sexual encounter with another man and
broadcasted the video through a live stream on the internet. Tyler then posted his last words on
Facebook saying, “jumping off the gw bridge sorry.” While adolescents are discovering their
sexual orientation, there is controversy and sensitivity surrounding the topic in schools. This is
why it may be difficult for teachers and school officials to educate students about gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgender subject matter. Klein found that “everyday bullying behavior so often
involves gay bashing that some fundamentalist groups in the United States actually resist
bullying prevention programs because they fear the interventions will promote a ‘gay agenda’”
(p. 32). This is because sexual orientation is a delicate topic when it comes to teaching it in the
classroom. Many parents feel like it is an issue that they should discuss with their children on
their own and do not need teachers to talk about it; however, it is one of the major issues that
lead to bullying. Therefore, teachers can still use novels like, The Absolutely True Diary of a
Part-time Indian, which uses the word “faggot,” to extrapolate bullying and tolerance without
directly addressing sexual orientation or homosexuality. Besides using novels to address
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sensitive issues when it comes to bullying, teachers can also use the internet to educate students
about the dangers of online harassment. Since cyber bullying is becoming more prevalent in
society, it is important to educate students about the dangers regarding it.
In this case, teachers can use many forms of literature to educate their students about the
damaging effects of online harassment. This was achieved earlier this year, by a high school
teacher and a college professor in New York who teamed up to combat the issues of cyber
bullying. They accomplished this by creating an assignment called “The Cyber bullying Letter
Project,” in which students in Maureen Connolly’s tenth grade class wrote research based letters
to preservice teachers in Vicky Giouroukakis class. At the high school level, the students
researched recent cases of cyber bullying and informed the reader about the harmful effects it has
on people as well as offering advice on how to address the issue. Furthermore, they discussed
their personal connections to cyber bullying and included at least three facts about the topic.
Many of the students were inspired about the topic after reading the novel The Chocolate War, in
which a group of bullies known as The Vigils, physically and emotionally intimidate other
students (Connonlly 70). At the graduate level, preservice teachers; in other words, students
working on their teaching credentials, were asked to write the tenth grade students a reply as well
as a reflection on their reactions to the letters and how their perceptions changed. As a result, the
preservice teachers become aware of how cyber bullying affects students in order to find ways to
help and prevent this behavior. Overall, the teachers agreed this project is a great way for high
school students to develop literacy skills and connect themes within their reading to current
social issues in order to improve their understanding of the topic and empower them to take
action. Furthermore, it familiarizes preservice teachers for new standards and how they can
design lessons that address real issues while incorporating reading and writing activities
Hernandez 19
(Connolly 70-74). This project demonstrates that there are many ways to teach students about the
messages of bullying in order to create change. In addition, the letters are a great tool to help
students link their own thoughts and feelings after finding research about the effects of online
bullying and how to educate readers about it, even if they have never experienced it themselves.
When it comes to educating students about bullying, it may be difficult because not
everyone believes it is a problem that needs to be addressed at school. Moreover, many parents
believe that bullying is what toughens their children in order to face the harsh reality of problems
that continue to occur outside of school; such as, sexism, racism, discrimination and prejudices.
However, with the recent school shootings and teen suicides mentioned previously, the depth of
bullying has increased and generated a more damaging result, making it an epidemic in today’s
society. Therefore, school districts still have a legal obligation to teach and protect their students
from bullying. On April 4th, 2011 the United States Department of Educations Office for Civil
Rights, sent an urgent letter across the country to 15,000 school districts and 5,000 colleges and
universities informing educators of their legal duties to protect their students from bullying and
harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and religion. However, one
former school teacher and President of Peck Consultants, Suzanne Peck explains in her book
Stand Tall: Lessons That Teach Respect and Prevent Bullying, that teachers did not have time to
read this 10 page single spaced letter or they did read it but were unsure about what to do with it
beyond that (Peck 13). This has been a reoccurring problem for many teachers who may have
been told about implementing anti-bullying curriculum but never received the proper training on
how to actually apply it. Therefore, Peck offers several lessons in her book and video that exhibit
several interactive learning games that provide helpful ways of teaching children about the
messages of bullying and how to get help when they are being bullied or see someone else being
Hernandez 20
bullied. These games consist of acting out bullying scenarios, standing in a line and stepping
forward to state a special quality that is unique, and practicing ways to stand up for yourself and
each other. In my classroom, I would use a novel as the basis for teaching bullying but then I
would use games as a way to actively get the students involved as a way to help them understand
the consequences and what to do if they are in a bullying situation.
Although bullying has always occurred in schools, why are people focusing on it more
today? After looking at the number of high-profile school shootings and suicides, it has caused
the media as well as society to pay more attention to it. Following Tyler Clementi’s suicide in
2010, President Obama released his “It gets better” video in which he addresses the safety of
protecting students in schools. He says, “Recently, several young people have taken their own
lives after being bullied for being gay or perceived as being gay by their peers. Their deaths are
shocking and heartbreaking tragedies. No one should have to endure relentless harassment or
tormenting. No one should ever feel so alone or desperate that they feel they have nowhere to
turn. We each share a responsibility to protect our young people.” Furthermore, a presidential
task force on bullying prevention issued its first National Bullying Summit, introducing a new
website (www.stopbullying.gov) to figure out a way to bring an end to school bullying. This
federal government website managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
defines bullying, explains the risks, prevention techniques, and how to get help. There is also a
recent article that offers a fee training tool kit that provides teachers with the proper learning
skills to combat bullying because many teachers are not given the proper training on how to deal
with bullying in their classrooms. The free training consists of “Power Points, trainer guides,
handouts, and feedback forms” that gives teachers the appropriate skills to educate their students
about bullying (Temkin 1). With this training equipment, teachers can use literature to support
Hernandez 21
what they have learned. It is important for teachers to be educated about how to deal with
bullying behaviors in their classroom in order to apply what they have learned to educate their
students about bullying.
As a future teacher, implementing messages about anti-bullying is important to me. After
researching how bullying affects students I am aware of the problems that may arise during my
teaching career. Since the root of bullying can be found in the knowledge of what students
understand about it, the burden falls on the teacher to provide students with the awareness to
make the right choices when it comes to bullying. The best way to achieve this is by educating
students about the messages of bullying and applying a variety of literature and interactive
activities. If I were to teach a lesson on bullying, I would use theater, journal writing,
presentations, vocabulary, poetry, and fiction writing. For instance, I would focus on a novel or
short story such as Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel, American Born Chinese and first have the
students act out a bullying scenario. Since this novel has pictures as well as captions, the students
know what the scene looks like; however, acting out the scene would help them grasp the feeling
of what it is like to be bullied by someone. The students may focus on one scene with a group of
three or four students to present to the rest of the class; such as, one scene from Yang’s novel in
which Jin Wang is being discriminated for being Chinese as shown in the picture below (p. 32).
Hernandez 22
In a large classroom there is going to be a diverse group of students who have different
cultural beliefs and traditions; therefore, they are ultimately going to be bullied for being
different from one another. This scene provides the reader with information about a character
being bullied because he does not have the same cultural beliefs and background as the other
students that are making fun of him. As a result, he is isolated by them. In examining and acting
out this scene, the students will also be able to see bullying from the point of view of the
perpetrator and the bystander. After they are done, the class can discuss what role each person
played in the bullying scenario and how they would respond if they were in this situation. In
reading this novel, I would also have the students create their own miniature graphic novel with
drawings and helpful captions that display a bullying scenario. Whether I use a graphic novel,
and adolescent novel, or a short story, this form of literature will act as the foundation for the
Hernandez 23
overall theme of bullying. For instance, I would use other forms of literature to support the novel
or story in order to broaden their education about bullying. For example, I would also have the
students keep a journal along with reading the novel where they can use it as an outlet to write
down their own fiction stories, poetry, and lyrics about bullying as well as their own thoughts
and perceptions about how bullying has changed over time. Secondly, I would have them work
on vocabulary words related to bullying terms; such as, bystander, perpetrator, racism, sexism,
discrimination and prejudice in order for them to understand the extensive meaning of bullying.
Finally, the students would come together as a class and share some of their work with one
another in order to get an overall understanding of what bullying means to them and what they
have learned from the class. Ultimately, it is my hope and goal to someday use literature as an
innovative tool to construct an anti-bullying classroom that provides students with a safe place
where they can build friendships and share their learning and cultural experiences in a
collaborative and peaceful manner.
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Works Cited
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. 2007.
Carol, Hillsberg. Spak, Helene. “Young Adult Literature as the Centerpiece of an Anti-Bullying
Program in Middle School.” National Middle School Association. Middle School
Journal. P. 23-28. November 2006. Eric. Web.
Chasnoff, Debra. Dir. Let’s Get Real. Women’s Educational Media, 2004. DVD.
Connolly, Maureen, and Vicky Giouroukakis. “Cyberbulling: Taking Control Through Research-
Based Letter Writin.” English Journal. 101.6 (2012): 70-4 ProQuest Education Journals.
Dubreuil, Jim and McNiff, Eamon. “Bullied to Death in America’s Schools.” ABC News 20/20.
2010. Television.
Galvis, Alexandra. “Bullying.” Teen Project Writing Circle. Web.
“Gay Buffalo Teen Commits Suicide on Eve of National Bullying Summit.” ABC News. 21 Sep.
2011. Television.
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Hernandez, Lauryn. Personal Interview. 5 September 2012.
Klein, Jessie. The Bull Society: School Shootings and the Crisis of Bullying in America’s
Schools. New York: New York University Press, 2012. Ebooks Corporation. Library.
Obama, President Barack. “It Gets Better.” whitehouse.gov. Web.
Peck, Suzanne W. Stand Tall: Lessons That Teach Respect and Prevent Bullying. Thousand
Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2012.
“Stopbullying.gov.” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010. Web.
“Victim of Secret Sex Dorm Tape Post Facebook Goodbye, Jumps to His Death.”ABC News. 29
Sep. 2010. Television.
Yang, Gene Luen. American Born Chinese. New York: First Second, 2006. Print.