Help Prevent Bullying and Cyberbullying in Your School Community

 October marks Bullying Prevention Awareness Month, an important time to focus on and raise awareness of the risk of bullying and cyberbullying in school communities. Bullying is widespread in the United States, and the behavior can threaten students’ physical and emotional safety as well as impact their social and academic success at school.

Everyone at school can work together to create an environment where bullying is not acceptable – whether that be in the classroom, on school grounds, or online. Read on for resources, programs, and tools kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) schools, educators, parents, and students can use to help identify, prevent, and address bullying and cyberbullying.

Bullying

• StopBullying.gov: This interagency website provides information and resources on bullying, cyberbullying, prevention, and response.
• Preventing Bullying: This webpage provides background information on bullying, including bullying statistics in the United States, as well as prevention strategies to stop bullying before it starts.
• KnowBullying Mobile App: Through this app, parents, caregivers, and educators can find information to start conversations with children, share successful bullying prevention strategies, recognize the signs of bullying, and support children who are being bullied.
• The Relationship Between Bullying and Suicide: What We Know and What It Means for Schools: This resource provides school administrators, teachers, and other school staff with concrete, action-oriented information based on the latest science to help improve schools’ understanding of and ability to prevent and respond to bullying.
• Measuring Bullying Victimization, Perpetration, and Bystander Experiences: A Compendium of Assessment Tools: This collection provides the school community with tools to measure a range of bullying experiences, including assessing self-reported incidents and the prevalence of bullying.

Cyberbullying

• Dealing with Cyberbullies: These tips and recommendations outline what cyberbullying is, why it has become a problem, and how to protect students.
• Tips for Teachers: This webpage provides information for teachers, school personnel, and staff to identify warning signs a child is being cyberbullied or is cyberbullying, as well as strategies to prevent and address it.

Social and Emotional Learning, School Climate, and Mental Health

• National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: This program supports schools, districts, and states to build a framework to improve outcomes for students with, or at-risk for, disabilities, enhance school climate and school safety, and improve conditions for learning to promote the well-being of all students.
• School Climate Improvement Resource Package: This set of resources, reference manuals, and action guides outlines ways school leaders, personnel, and community partners can improve school climate and create an environment where students feel safe, supported, and accepted.
• Mental Health and School Safety: This topic page on SchoolSafety.gov features resources, best practices, and strategies to support the implementation of mental health support and access initiatives at your school.

Visit SchoolSafety.gov to access bullying and cyberbullying resources and guidance and follow @SchoolSafetyGov on Twitter for additional school safety updates.  

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