School Desk

A novel approach to bullying

Posted

Bullying can take many forms. Sometimes it’s obvious, and other times it can be more subtle — especially if it involves two friends. At Ampark Neighborhood School on Feb. 5, one third-grade class was getting a lesson from two teaching artists about how to handle that very situation.

Pretending to be younger children, Emilie Ward and Jose Aranda of the group Dramatic Changes acted out a potential conflict between friends. Mr. Aranda wanted to see the drawing Ms. Ward was working on and goaded her into showing him by promising not to laugh. When he broke his promise, Ms. Ward felt hurt and sad — but did not tell him how she felt.

After the scene, Ms. Ward and Mr. Aranda discussed how the interaction might have gone better. Taking comments from the class, they came up with some advice on how to handle a similar situation: you have a right to feel all the feelings; tell the other person those feelings; be assertive, but not aggressive.

Armed with new conflict resolution skills, Ms. Ward chose student Delphinium Sibley-Wilson to take her place in the scene and try to come up with a better solution.

“I want you to practice being assertive and standing up for yourself... and being nice at the same time,” said Ms. Ward.

Instead of acquiescing to Mr. Aranda’s nagging, Delphinium politely told him she did not feel comfortable sharing her drawing with him until she was finished. When he pressed her, saying he thought he was her friend, Delphinium held strong.

“I don’t mean to hurt your feelings when I say this, but I really just don’t want to show you,” she said.

Ms. Ward commended Delphinium for drawing the line and being firm with her friend, while at the same time not becoming angry.

At the end of the lesson, Ms. Ward had the students repeat the main points they had learned.

“I trust my heart and I set boundaries sometimes,” the class called back. “I don’t need to get mad and I can just tell someone what I need.”

After the class, Ms. Ward, who is also a drama therapist, said getting students involved — rather than teaching at them — is a constructive way to engage the class.

“It’s engaging, it’s safe and it’s interactive,” she said. “We’ve gotten really great feedback.”

“It’s empowering for them to get to be key stakeholders,” she added.

Ampark Neighborhood School, anti-bullying workshop, Dramatic Changes, Emilie Ward, Jose Aranda, Christine Taylor, Isabel Angell
Page 1 / 2

Comments