Using books and film to prevent bullying
The stories we read, hear and watch when growing up go on to have a significant impact on our lives as adults.
The BBC said that:
"scientists have found that children who have fiction read to them regularly find it easier to understand other people – they show more empathy and have better developed theory of mind (the ability to understand that other people have different thoughts and feelings to us, which is essential for understanding and predicting other people’s thoughts and behaviour)."
BBC
We know schools often use the power of stories to help prevent bullying. There are many books and film that help raise the issue of bullying and either help children to empathise and become ‘upstanders’ in school, stop bullying behaviour or realise that they can speak out about bullying.
You can find some resources below to help you make anti-bullying change in school using books and film.
Choosing a resource
Bullying is a sensitive and complex area. There are a lots of ways of approaching the subject - and not everyone will agree on the best method. It may also be that a resource works well in one setting, with one group of children and young people, but works less well in another. For this reason we would urge you to take the following steps when choosing an anti-bullying resource from this website, or from other sources:
- Make sure you familiarise yourself with the resource (e.g. if it's a film - watch it all the way through).
- Consider whether the resource may provoke strong reactions in any students, or may lead to difficult discussions. How will you manage these?
- Consider whether you need to consult with parents and carers on using the resource.
- Consider whether the resource is suitable for the age group you are working with.
- Consider whether you need to adapt the resource in any way to make it suitable for the group or individuals that you are working with.
Resources for download
Jessica Kingsley (2014)
Scholastic (2017)