I know, I know, another ‘National Month’. But listen, it’s not my fault October hosts so many and that they are all important. So I’m covering them all and you are just going to have to accept that.

In addition to Adopt a Shelter Dog and Breast Cancer Awareness, October is also Nation Bullying Prevention Month.

I have written in the past about the issues with bullying in schools today. Mostly because I feel that bullying has evolved far beyond playground pushing and even nasty rumors in high school hallways.

It’s virtually (pun intended) impossible to escape your bully today as most kids are walking around with them in their pockets.

So what can we do, and what is involved in Bullying Prevention Month? Stompoutbullying.org has a lot of information to offer.

According to STOMP Out Bullying™ the goal is to, “encourage schools, communities and organizations to work together to stop bullying and cyberbullying and put an end to hatred and racism by increasing awareness of the prevalence and impact of all forms of bullying on all children of all ages.”

They also offer ideas of things kids can do to help the bullying situation in their schools each week.
The Week of October 7th (that’s right now!)
Make friends with someone you don’t know at school

If you’ve ever been isolated from others at school or you were new at school and it took time to make friends, you know what it feels like to be left out. Or even if you were never isolated, imagine how it would feel.

Make friends with someone at school who you don’t know. You probably wish someone had done that for you.

Be a leader. Take action and don’t let anyone at school be in isolation.
Challenge Others To Be Kind

Make kindness go viral with an act of kindness and challenge friends and classmates to pay it forward with their acts of kindness. Make a video of everyone doing acts of kindness and submit it. We’ll add it to our website.

The Week of October 14th

STAND UP for Others Week

When you see someone being bullied, be brave and STAND UP for them. Bullies have been known to back off when others stand up for victims.

If you don’t feel safe get the help of an adult immediately. Be part of the solution — not the problem!

It’s a time to see everyone’s differences and celebrate their similarities: Whether students are LGBT, African American, Asian, Muslim, or disabled — make friends.
Students can participate by

Creating positive messages on post-its and handing them out to students at school.

Hold a “kindness” dance at school.

Creating anti-bullying videos.

Sharing inspirational stories.

Create a kindness dance flash mob at school or in your community.

The Week of October 21st

Week of Inclusion

Don’t let anyone at school eat alone in the cafeteria or on a school field trip. Make it the week of #NOONEEATSALONE.

Include other students in school activities.

Include other students in after school activities.

Invite someone you don’t now that well to sit next to you on the bus. Learn about each other.

Everyone is dealing with something. Just because their problems may be different than yours, it doesn’t make them any less real, or important. STOMP Out Bullying™ encourages students to use the hashtag #HereForYou on social media to let others know that they have your support and a person to reach out to if they ever need to talk.

The Week of October 28th

Start the Week With Conversations Amongst Your Peers

Meet with fellow students and discuss how you can Change The Culture at your school.

Hold a discussion in your classroom where you allow students to openly speak and discuss their experiences with bullying and cyberbullying, and how these experiences have affected them and how they dealt with these moments.

If all else fails. Honestly, shut up. I’m not expecting everyone to like everyone else and sit around singing Kumbaya. This is the real world. There are always going to be people you don’t like. Sometimes, for no reason at all. And that is OK. No, really. It’s OK. BUT, what that doesn’t mean is that you have the right to bully, shame, intentionally hurt (physically or emotionally), or otherwise defame them. So. Shut. Up.

Yeah, yeah, I could have thrown around the old adage, “If you don’t have anything nice to say…” but let’s face it. That’s just a polite way of saying shut up.