Spider-Man vs. Bullies

SPIDER-MAN

VS.

BULLIES

By

Daniel Lennane

Illustrations by

Alex Felker and Daniel Lennane

Acknowledgement

Thanks go to C. Garrity, author of

Bully-proofing Your School, Sopris West Publisher

The first "H" stands for HELP .  If you are being bullied, you can ask for help from other peers or an adult.  If you do this, a bully will see that you aren't alone and he or she will stop bothering you.

The first "A" stands for ASSERTING YOURSELF.  This mean that you could ask questions of the bully, like "Why are you bugging me?"  It is also good to make "I" statements , like "I don't like being called names."

The second "H" stands for HUMOR , in which you can make a joke back at the bully.  Let's say the bully makes fun of your clothes.  You could make a joke back by saying that you know that the clothes are funny because you picked them out of a dumpster .  If a bully sees that you are not afraid to make fun of yourself, he or she may leave you alone.

The second "A" stands for AVOID , which means you should just try to avoid and ignore the bully.  This may be hard at times, especially if you have a class with the bully, but try your best.

The "S" stands for SELF-TALK.  This means that you can talk to yourself for reassurance .  For example, just think to yourself that you are doing fine even if the bully is putting you down.  Just tell yourself that you won't let the words bother you and go about your business.

Finally, the "O" stands for OWN IT.  This means that a victim could agree with the bully as if the victim thinks that what the bully is saying is true.  If a bully calls you ugly, just say, "Yeah, you're right I am ugly."  If you can make fun of yourself the bully will loose the feeling of power over you.

Remember, never resort to violence !