Book Provides Lesson Plans Focusing on Bullying

Newswise — A spate of foiled student violence plots across the country earlier this year should make educators question whether enough is being done to quell bullying in schools, says a University of North Texas expert on bullying.

Research shows that those who are bullied can turn into bullies, as seen seven years ago with the Columbine school shootings, said Dr. Doris Coy, UNT associate professor of counseling. She is the author of the newly published book, "Bullying: A Resource and Activity Book for School Counselors, Teachers and Parents."

With the seventh anniversary of Columbine on April 20, authorities across the country foiled several school violence plots, including plots in Puyallup, Wash.; North Pole, Alaska; and Riverton, Kan.; among others.

Bullying was once seen in the United States as a "rite of passage," Coy said, until a study from Great Britain in the 1990s showed the detrimental effects. Since then, schools have taken strides to reduce bullying. Some schools now hang "no bullying" signs, federal grants provide money to combat bullying and teachers are trained on what to do when they witness bullying.

"They thought that was addressing the problem, but you have to question, have we been as successful with this as we thought we have?" Coy said.

Coy's book provides 22 lesson plans that school counselors or teachers can use for increasing students' self-esteem and helping them deal with anger. For instance, children who are bullied should tell an adult, get themselves out of the situation, walk to and from school with another person rather than alone, and learn to say, "Don't hurt me" or "I will tell."

Coy, who is past president of the American Counseling Association and the American School Counselor Association, said research from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development shows that bullying happens on a regular basis to 1 in 10 students. Recent research studies reveal more than 160,000 children stay home daily from school because of bullying, and two-thirds of the children creating violence in American schools have been bullied in school, she said.