Mrs. Przybylski

NSJHS

jprzybyl@nscsd.org

 

 

Introduction: 

Have you ever been a victim of bullying or witnessed bullying?   Maybe you are a bully who doesn’t realize the possible consequences of your actions or the causes of your behavior.  People magazine featured a cover story last year on Megan Meier a victim of cyber bullying that may have resulted in her committing suicide.  Megan’s story is one of many to plague the media over the last several years indicating that bullying has become more prevalent among teens.  Bullying takes on all shapes and forms and with the access to multi-media it has offered one more form of bullying.  Bullying is an issue here at the Junior High and across the nation that often goes unnoticed or is ignored.

 

As you read the novel The Bully by Paul Langan the main character Darryl has to figure out ways to deal with being bullied at his new school. Other students often witnessed Darryl being picked on and sat by silently.  Acts of violence towards others or to one self often are result of being bullied.

 

 

Task: 

President Obama has called on students to research the issue of bullying at their perspective schools and create a new national policy to prevent bullying schools across the country.  Using the PPA policy analysis model students will research the current problem of bullying at NSJHS as well as in schools across the nation.  Students will evaluate the current polices at NSJHS in regards to bullying.  Students will then create a newsletter or brochure using Pages

 

Students will create two products. 

1.  First students will make an outline using the PPA steps as the guideline. They will record their findings in the outline.  This needs to be typed.

 

2.  Second students will use Pages to create either a brochure or newsletter on the topic of bullying.

 

Criteria for newsletter and brochure:

·       Contains anti-bullying message

·       Highlights current policies at NSJHS

·       Gives tips to combat bullying- solutions to the problem

·       Includes a real life story about a victim of bullying

·       Is visually appealing

·       No blank spaces. Pages are evenly filled with content related pictures, quotes, text.

 

 

The Process: 

Students will be placed in groups of 2 and complete the following:

You will evaluate the problem of bullying at NSJHS. Your outline will contain the six steps of the PPA.

Ø Introduction to PPA

Ø Introduction to CEPPA

 

Step One:

Identify the problem (what is it and why is it a problem)

Identify the Problem - Worksheet

 

Step Two:

Gather the Evidence. Locate at least three different sources of evidence to support the existence and extent of your problem.

Gather the Evidence - Worksheet

 

Step Three:

Determine Causes   (identify the causes or factors that contribute to a social problem, then they can try to develop public policies to eliminate or lessen those causes or factors.)

Identify the causes - Worksheet

 

Step Four:

Evaluate the Policy. When evaluating the policy, you want to consider if the problem has been resolved. 

Examine Existing Policy - Worksheet

 

Step Five:

Develop new solutions for the problem.

Develop New Policy Solutions - Worksheet

 

Step Six:

Select the Best Solution (Feasibility vs. Effectiveness)

Select the Best Policy - Worksheet

 

Resources:

Use the following websites to complete your research. 

·        Article on  Recent attacks against Gay Teens

·        9th graders at Baldwinsville combat Bullying

·        President Obama speaks out against bullying and to the victims of bullying

·        New Jersey to adopt anti-bullying bill

·        Rachel's Challenge

·        Real life stories on cyber bullying

·        Dangers of 21st Century Communication- What to look for

·        Stop Cyber Bullying

·        Stop Bullying Now

·        http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/problems/bullies.html

·        http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bullying.html

·        Bullying Information Center

·        http://pbskids.org/itsmylife/friends/bullies/

·        http://facs.pppst.com/bullying.html

·        http://nscsd.org (Use resources such as EBSCO, OPAC Destiny, Syracuse Newspaper, Links to USA Today)  You should also see if there is a policy on bullying anywhere on NSCSD web page

·        Article:  "Did You Birth A Bully?

·        Article on main causes of bullying

·         http://www.franklinregional.k12.pa.us/

·        http://www.impactpublications.com/index.asp?P...

 

 

Evaluation:

Both group members earn the same grade.

 

See attached rubrics.

Ø Students will be given a grade on the content and creativity of the brochure or newsletter.  Content and Creativity Rubric

Ø Students will be given a grade for their outline (one turned in per team). Outline Rubric

Ø Students will be given a grade based on Habit #6 Synergy. How well do you work together? Synergy Rubric

 

 

Conclusion

Many of you may not have realized the impact bullying can have on the individuals who are victims.  Hopefully you have learned that bullying is a problem here at the Junior High as well as in schools across the country. The consequences of such negative behavior often have both immediate and long term effects on the victims.  As a community of learners we are responsible for the environment created in this building.

 

Now that you have this information, what will you do with it?  I encourage you to post your newsletters online and share them with other students.  Do not stand by and be bystanders to bullying.  Standing idle while others are victimized makes you a part of the problem.  Stop bullying, be a part of the solution not a part of the problem.

 

 

Standards

English Language Arts

Standard 1:  Information and Understanding:  Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding.   Students will:

·              collect data, facts, and ideas

·              discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations

·              use knowledge generated from written, and electronically produced texts 

 

Standard 2:  Literary Response and Expression:  Students will listen, speak, read, and write for literary response and expression.  Students will:

·         relate texts to their own lives

·         develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical, and cultural dimensions of the texts

 

Standard 3:  Critical Analysis and Evaluation:  Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. Students will:

·         analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria.

·         use written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.

 

Standard 4:  Social Interaction:  Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social interaction. Students will: 

·         use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for effective social communication

·         use the social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and their views.

 

Social Studies

Standard 5.  Civics, Citizenship and Government:  Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments; the governmental system of the United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.

 

Mathematics, Science, Technology

Standard 2  Information Systems:.  Students will access, generate, process, and transfer information using appropriate technologies.

 

Standard 5. Technology:  Students will apply technological knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate products and systems to satisfy human and environmental needs.