Voyager House

Anti-Bullying Campaign

Form Time Activities

The Haydon School Anti-Bullying Campaign will take place from 16th until 27th May (two weeks). During the campaign there will be a performance of the play ‘The Laramie Project’ to all House assemblies in the first week. During form time of that week, Form Tutors should use the following activities to provide a basis for frank discussion about bullying and discrimination. There will be a follow up assembly in the second week.

A Suggested timetable

Monday / Assembly & Citizenship / Assembly & Citizenship
Tuesday / Activity 1 / Activities 5 -8 can be selected in any order
Wednesday / Activity 2
Thursday / Activity 3
Friday / Activity 4

Throughout the two week campaign, please have this quote written on your whiteboard at the start of every form time:

"Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one's definition of your life. Define yourself.". Harvey Fierstein, playwright & actor

Activity One: Teasing & Bullying

Write the following phrases on the board:

  • I was just kidding
  • I didn’t mean anything by it
  • Can’t you take a joke?

Ask students if they have ever had their feelings hurt or been talked to disrespectfully only to hear one of the above expressions in response to their disapproval.

Invite a couple of volunteers to share an incident and to describe how it felt. Ask if, in retrospect, they were overly sensitive or if the comments “crossed the line.”

Challenge students to articulate how they know when a comment is mean or offensive rather than funny. List these measures or standards on the whiteboard and discuss for a few minutes.

Activity Two: Teasing & Bullying – The Rules

Most of us enjoy teasing that is done in fun. Sometimes, though, our joking goes too far. We all need to be sensitive to topics and behaviors that may not be appreciated by others. Use the information below to help evaluate when teasing is good-natured and when it has crossed the line. Remember, everyone deserves the right to feel safe and to be left alone.

GOOD-NATURED TEASING...

  • Involves a playful back-and-forth between both parties
  • Is accompanied by a friendly tone of voice and laughter
  • Is accompanied by affectionate gestures or expressions
  • Brings people closer and encourages friendships
  • Sometimes helps to lighten a tense or angry situation
  • Does not lead to physical confrontations

HURTFUL TEASING OR BULLYING...

  • May be accompanied by an angry tone of voice
  • May be accompanied by angry body language, such as clenched fists
  • Continues even when the person being teased shows distress
  • Continues even when the person teasing knows the topic is upsetting to others Is sometimes accompanied by showing off in front of others

Activity Three: Use of Language in School (1)

Ask your form:

  • What words have they used to taunt or insult others?
  • Have they ever said anything that they wished they could ‘unsay’?
  • Have they ever wished they had said something when it was too late?

Invite the students in groups to pool examples to make a common list of taunts, grouped into aspects of ‘difference’, eg skin colour, size, physical impairment, sexuality, not conforming to expectations, being unfashionable, etc.

The whole class can then discuss:

  • What messages do these insults give about what is ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’? Where might these messages come from?
  • Which aspect of ‘difference’ attracts most insults?

Activity Four: Use of Language in School (2)

As your form to look at the list of the statements below, discuss them and rank them in order from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’:

  • There are some words that are so offensive they should never be used.
  • Everyone should be able to say anything they want to say.
  • It is all right to say something offensive in private but not in public.
  • It is better to let hateful opinions be spoken so that they can be known and challenged.
  • Hate speech is more dangerous than censorship.
  • It is all right for someone to use an offensive word to describe themselves.
  • It’s equally damaging if a woman tells a sexist joke or a black person tells a racist joke.

Day Activity Five: Homophobia in Music

Moves have been made in the UK (Autumn 2004) to ban performances and records and appearances on music award shows by a number of Jamaican reggae artists whose lyrics include the advocacy of violence, especially against gay men. Among those targeted have been Sizzla (Miguel Collins), with his controversial lyrics like ‘Pump Up’ which advocate burning gay men, Beanie Man, Bounty Killer, Vybz, Kartel and Buju Banton whose songs also incite violence against gays.

Hold a discussion on the banning of bands that are recording music with sexist and homophobic lyrics. Students should consider the following views:

  • parents opposed to sexually explicit lyrics
  • record company executive
  • record shop keeper
  • fans of the bands who think their lyrics are cool and funny
  • a group of school students who are fed up with the terms that fellow pupils have been using to them since the record came out
  • a DJ who refuses to play tracks with sexist and homophobic lyrics
  • anti-censorship campaigners, who operate on the principle that, no matter what the lyrics are, the band has the right to be heard.

Activity Six: Use of Language (3)

Write these words on the board, ask students what they mean:

Gay, spastic, lesbian, paki, queer, nigger, cripple, ethnic origin, refugee, mixed race, half-caste,

Ask students these questions:

When did they first start using these words?

Which of these words are acceptable to use?

Which of these words are unacceptable to use?

Activity Seven: In The Closet

Ask students why gay and lesbian students in school would be afraid to tell anyone about being gay.

Ask students, what would their reaction be if their best friend told them that he/she was gay?

Discuss what the best way to react would be.

Activity Eight: Famous Gay & Lesbians

Have this list of names written on the whiteboard:

James Dean (actor, Rebel Without A Cause)

Martina Navratilova (tennis player, holds an amazing 20 wimbledon titles)

Graham Norton (tv presenter & comedian)

Freddie Mercury (frontman of Queen; wrote Bohemian Rhapsody)

Leonardo da Vinci (artist)

Will Young (Pop Idol winner)

Oscar Wilde (authoer & playwright)

Yves Saint Laurent (fashion designer)

Hans Christian Andersen (author, wrote childrens stories)

Peter Maxwell Davies (composer, recently awarded ‘Master of the Queens music)

Rock Hudson (famous actor from the 1950s)

Stephen Gately (member of band Boyzone)

Dale Winton (tv presenter, note: his marriage was a publicity stunt, not real!)

Kevin Spacey (actor, American Beauty)

Tennessee Williams (author & playwright)

Ask students what they know about each of these famous people.

Ask students what all of these people have in common? They are all gay or lesbian!