On Friday 20 March 2020, schools across Australia will take part in the tenth National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence. The ACTF has a range of engaging content that is perfect for starting classroom conversations about bullying.

All educators work hard to create learning environments that are safe, inclusive and respectful for their students. For teachers exploring the issue of bullying on this year’s National Day of Action, the ACTF has a range of engaging short-form content that will promote conversation and reflection in the classroom.

See our Bullying Education Package for content and resources covering:

• The impact of bullying
• Valuing differences
• Inclusive behaviours at school.

For students in Years 3 - 6, recent comedy series Hardball also illustrates aspects of bullying with a light touch. Storylines incorporate different types of bullying, depict both positive and negative relationships, and model conflict resolution strategies.   

Tiffany’s ‘mean girl’ character provides a starting point for discussing the possible motivations behind bullying, such as wanting to feel strong or in control, or thinking that bullying will improve one’s popularity. The characters of Lance and Lily, Tiffany’s offsiders, illustrate how passive bystanders can encourage bullying behaviours to continue. And Tiffany’s ill-treatment of the pair at times, such as threatening to withhold friendship unless her demands are met, can also be understood as social bullying (or ‘relational aggression’).

The unethical use of ICT throughout the series also provides a springboard for discussions about online bullying. The following learning task, taken from the ACTF’s free Hardball Teaching Toolkit, explores the issue further. 

Ethical use of ICT

Clip: Hardball episode 2, 07:50 – 14:25

The audience sees a range of ICT tools being used in Hardball – some more morally than others. Play the above clip, asking the class to identify examples of socially and ethically problematic ICT use as they watch. These include: Tiffany filming Ms. Crapper without her consent; Tiffany logging into Salwa’s social networking account; Tiffany secretly posting content from Salwa’s account; and Tiffany posting the embarrassing video of Ms. Crapper without her consent.

After discussing these examples, divide the class into four small groups for a quick jigsaw task. Allocate one of the following discussion points to each group:

• What were Tiffany’s motivations for sharing the video, and what were the consequences?
• How can someone’s reputation be affected by photos or video shared online?
• What are some sensible questions to ask yourself before sharing information about someone else online?
• How can people protect their privacy and reputation – and that of others – online? Allow five minutes for group discussion, then have students share their thoughts with the wider class. These ideas could be documented in a class book about the safe and ethical use of ICT.

Hardball is available to purchase as a digital download from the ACTF Shop.

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