Bullying Prevention Month: Make Kindness Your Superpower!

October 9, 2024 byConnections Academy

3 min to read

Student and learning coach talking about bullying

In 2023, over half of teenagers experienced cyberbullying at some point in their lifetimes according to a study from the Cyberbullying Research center. From 2021-2022, 19 percent of students between the ages of 12 and 18 reported that they have experienced bullying in general, with percentages being higher for middle schoolers as opposed to high school-age children.

Whether your child attends online school, is homeschooled, attends private school, or goes to your neighborhood school, bullying is a topic you will likely need to address as a family to help children learn how to be an anti-bullying advocate.

When is National Bullying Prevention Month?

In the United States, October is National Bullying Prevention Month, presenting an opportunity for parents and caregivers to talk to their kids about the short- and long-term impacts of bullying, and how they can respond if they experience or witness it.

Why is it Important to Learn about Bullying?

Learning about bullying helps kids understand that what they say and do has the power to affect others negatively. The impact of bullying can contribute to physical and mental health issues that can last long after leaving school.

Learning about how to prevent bullying or helping teach kids what to do should they ever experience it themselves will help kids know they have power in these situations—and helpful adults in their corner they can turn to if they need it.

Anti-Bullying Activities

To teach kids of all ages and raise awareness of bullying, here are some ways to participate in Bullying Prevention Month with your child.

Talk to Your Kids

Bullying can happen to anyone, anywhere, occurring in school, during extracurricular activities, online, or in your own backyard, regardless of your race, religion, gender, or socioeconomic background. Even if your child isn’t the target of bullying themselves, they could be affected by seeing someone else victimized.

Discuss the impact of cyberbullying and how words can be just as or even more hurtful than physical action. Talking to them about how a joke made online or adding onto others’ comments might seem harmless but could actually be taking part in cyberbullying.

Encourage middle schoolers, and teens especially, to think about what they say and post online and explore ways they can stand up against cyberbullying when they see it. Ask if they’ve witnessed bullying in the past, how they felt about it, and how they can safely intervene or help prevent it from happening in the future.

Create a Kindness Pledge

Teach your kids that kindness is a superpower. Download our Kindness Pledge or use it as inspiration to write your own antibullying pledge then brainstorm with your child about how you can find ways to be helpful and supportive to your friends, relatives and people in your community. Soon your kids will realize how good they feel inside when they reach out to help others.

Make a Connectedness Chain

Create a paper chain made of construction paper and write down ways you can be kind to others or work to prevent bullying on each link. Keep the chain up all month long and talk about how it takes all of us working together to create a kind and supportive life experience.