This year is the 10th anniversary of National Bullying Prevention Month. In October of 2006, the PACER National Bullying Prevention Center began a campaign “to educate and raise awareness of bullying prevention.” Educating students and the general public consists of defining and describing the various types of bullying, detailing its effects, and addressing measures of prevention and response. A belief that the PACER Center would like to disprove is that bullying toughens kids up. In fact—for some—the mental and emotional scars from bullying never heal.
Many times educators and parents use fictional characters in literature to spark difficult conversations, which gives students the ability to voice their concerns and fears. It is also helpful for the students who bully. The titles listed are all fiction and include picture, chapter, middle, and young adult books. Some of the selections address bullying head on, while in others, the subject in interwoven in the storyline. For more books that address bullying, visit our category page.
We have got to dispel this myth that bullying is just a normal rite of passage.
