SAMPLE CALENDAR YEAR
If you choose to make bullying one of your major focuses for this school year, you may want to host events/activities each month. Below is a sample calendar of activities to promote bullying prevention in your school and community. You will find support materials as well as other ideas for activities in the bullying tool kit.
REMEMBER: Always get permission and support from your advisor and administration before doing any activities.
OCTOBER |
October Is National Bullying Prevention Month
- Develop a survey to give to students about bullying behaviors. See the sample in this tool kit. Use the statistics you compile to guide your activities throughout the year. Be creative!
- Create a pledge and encourage students to sign it, vowing to not bully their peers, to be a friend to someone who is being bullied, and to stand up against a bully.
- Partner with a local community coalition or advocacy center to create a press release about your plans to focus throughout the school year on the serious issue of bullying.
October 18, 2011, Is Mix It Up at Lunch Day
- Plan a way to mix up cliques at lunch. For example, have students draw numbers from a bowl and sit at that designated table. Have conversation starters on each table to encourage continued conversations. Use some of the statistics you compiled in October as conversation starters or choose topics that interest students across clique lines.
- Ask your administration about the school policies that are in place to discourage bullying. Are they effective? If not, begin the process to change policy in your school or school system. But don’t bring only awareness to the problem. You are the solution! You can also bring ideas that will be effective with your peers to eliminate bullying.
DECEMBER |
- Spread the message of the dangers of cyberbullying and create awareness of the correct way to handle a cyberbully’s attack. “STOP, BLOCK, and TELL!” Stop and take five. If you’re attacked by a cyberbully, don’t reply back. Take time to calm down. Then, BLOCK that person from being able to send you additional messages or end your session. Then TELL a trusted adult about the situation. Report cyberbullying to wiredsafety.org.
JANUARY |
- Host a rap competition! Encourage teachers to allow students about 10 minutes a day throughout one week to work on their submission. After selecting the winner, allow the student to perform his/her rap on the PA system.
FEBRUARY |
February Is National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and
Prevention Month
- Host a Valentine’s Day dance and promote a safe dating message. This could also be a great fund-raiser for your chapter! Have various activities during the dance that promote understanding and respect (e.g., have students dance with someone they’ve never met before or encourage everyone to participate in a line dance).
MARCH |
- Cross-pollinate! Bring student leaders of each club, organization, and team to a central location and have each talk about the mission of their group. Host a discussion about how the groups can work together.
- Spread your message to another school! Make plans to go to a local elementary school and work with a fourth grade class. Using a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle, have each person in the room write his or her name on the back of a piece of the puzzle. Then have students put the puzzle together and turn it over. Each person is interconnected with the other. Take this time to discuss diversity and acceptance.
APRIL |
April 20, 2012, Is National Day of Silence
- The Day of Silence is the largest student-led action to protest the bullying and harassment of LGBT people and their allies. Participants take a daylong vow of silence and distribute or wear speaking cards with information about anti-LGBT bias and ways for students and others to “end the silence.” Use the GLSEN organizing manual in this tool kit to plan your own Day of Silence.
MAY |
- In health classes or home room, have nametags filled out with hurtful words kids call each other (e.g. dumb, stupid, gay, fat, retarded, idiot). Randomly hand out the nametags and begin a dialog among the students: How did you feel wearing that nametag? Have you ever used one of these words to label your peers?
JUNE |
- Partner with a local community coalition to create awareness of the issues of bullying in the community as a whole. Coalitions should understand that bullying is not just within the school building. It’s a community problem, too! Have a discussion about how your chapter can partner with the coalition to create print, radio, or television PSAs. For example, maybe students can create the ads, and the coalition can provide funding to produce them! Be sure to use some of the statistics from your survey, perhaps comparing them to national averages.
JULY |
- Host a parenting workshop at a local teen center or recreational area. Bring in an expert speaker or educate the adults yourselves about how to respond to various situations their children may encounter (e.g., being bullied, bullying, observing bullying).
