Today I am offering four tips to protect yourself against bullying behaviors using your own abilities to build confidence.
To grow confidence, here is my advice: 1/ Have a purpose, a project or a goal. You may be surprised how this one tip will help you develop confidence. 2/ Block out negative thoughts and feelings. This can be tough, but we have the ability to control our own thoughts, so make sure they are positive, upbeat and encouraging ones. 3/ Be yourself. Try not to be phony or fake. Know yourself for who you are and don’t try to be something you’re not 4/ Be honest. This is huge. It will help you be yourself but it will also help you to feel good about yourself and be respected by others.
Bruce Langford offers workshops about virtues and bullying prevention – Stand Up Now Productions www.standupnow.ca
This song I wrote about confidence can get in your brain like a jingle you can’t forget. It will help you develop confidence because it has real advice which can work for anyone. Remember, you can be your own best coach. Encourage yourself and remind yourself you are doing fine. Listen to your own positive, upbeat encouraging words about how you are doing. Trust in yourself, focus on what you CAN do and LISTEN to you!
Confidence Song – Copyright 2004 Bruce Langford
1. Confidence, confidence,
no matter how bad it gets confidence.
Determination – it can get you through.
Absolute belief in what you do.
Certainty and trust can do it for you.
Hang in, trust in yourself.
2. Confidence, confidence,
no matter how bad it gets confidence
Give yourself credit for what you do
Don’t be so concerned about win & lose
A new experience is another chance for you
Focus on what you CAN do!
3. Confidence, confidence,
no matter how bad it gets
Don’t expect perfection in all you do
Remind yourself your best is awesome for you
Tell yourself you’re doing fine, you’ll get through
Listen, listen to you!
Bruce Langford is an experienced teacher and presenter of school programs on bullying, respect and confidence. Book him for your school – Stand Up Now Productions www.brucelangford.ca or 1-800-901-8831
Listen to the Confidence Song here:
Here are some great ideas for making friends quickly.
(Good friends can help you through tough situations like bullying)
1/ Say ‘hello’ to lots of people even including people you don’t know very well.
2/ Smile at people. It makes them feel warm and fuzzy.
3/ Give compliments to at least three people a day.
4/ Help people out as much as you can. Go ahead, you can think of lots of ways.
5/ Share. That might mean those Choco-Berry treats you just got, or even your gym shorts.
6/ Use good manners. Being polite can make others really feel special.
Something as simple as the above proven strategies for making friends can help make sure you avoid being bullied.
Practices the ideas above and you will start to develop great people skills. Who knows, you may even become one of those kids that everybody just wants to hang out with.
Stand Up Against Bullying School Assemblies that have lasting effect.
Students at Knollwood Park Public School in London Ontario were hyped during the ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ assembly at their school recently. TVDSB teacher, Bruce Langford delivered his bullying prevention messages through songs, videos and role-plays during two 45 minute assemblies. Knollwood Park Principal, Mary Roes and Vice-Principal Rhian Husty obviously work hard with the staff and students to make sure students understand how to deal with bullying issues. They wanted to make sure the anti-bullying message was heard loud and clear at their school during Bullying Prevention and Awareness Week.
Following the primary assembly, a staff member told us she felt our ‘Stand Up’ theme song spoke volumes to the students and staff. It teaches us to Stand Up Against Bullying by being an upstander. Here are the lyrics:
Stand Up, and make your mark,
Stand Up, and speak your part.
If you see a kid put down,
You can help if you’re around
Never approve of the slam,
Say you think that it’s wrong.
Have the nerve to speak up;
Let them know that you’re strong.
STAND UP.
Winston Churchill was a man known for his strong character traits. When we talk about ways to beat bullying, just imagine how Winston Churchill would have done his part to ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’.
He had
COURAGE. He was willing to move forward regardless of whether the majority of people agreed with him or not. That kind of courage requires an underlying
CONFIDENCE that is gained from experience and strength of character. Confidence can also be built through self-talk, study and
DETERMINATION. Think of a laser beam pointing in one specific direction and never wavering from its target. That is like the determination of Winston Churchill when he became Prime Minister at the age of sixty-five. It is also like the determination of a person who is focusing on making the world a better place by eliminating bullying. Winston Churchill also had tremendous
PERSEVERANCE as he wasn’t willing to give up easily. His perseverance helped him move through his election defeat in 1945 when he was voted out by the same people he had earlier led to victory. In spite of that defeat, he remained grounded and stayed on as leader of the opposition. Later he was elected as prime minister again in 1950.
Think of Churchill and these four character traits when you deal with bullying situations. What would Churchill have done? Would he have given up, or continued to persevere?
We visited Winston Churchill Public School in Chatham yesterday and were impressed with the students and the serious attitude they had in regard to Standing Up Against Bullying. Principal, Leslie Boulton was very pleased with the three assemblies and told us they were “even better than our last visit to her school”. That was when she was principal at Harwich Raleigh Public School (Lambton Kent District School Board) in 2005.
Remember to ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’.
‘Be The Change’ is the ongoing slogan that St. Teresa of Avila Catholic School in Elmira lives by. Be The Change has a deep meaning to the students at St. Teresa. Every person knows they have a responsibility to look out for others and to take the initiative to speak up if something needs to be said. They know that it only takes one person to make a difference and that one person is you.
Principal, Sherry Peeples is determined to make a difference at St. Teresa. She is behind the theme of the year which is ‘Let Your Light Shine’. It ties right in with the ongoing theme of ‘Be The Change’, and puts the focus on each student to step out and be positive with one another. Students understand they can encourage others by interacting with kindness as described in the bible.
Ms. Peeples has been encouraging the students at St. Teresa for three years and has definitely made a positive difference. She believes that guest presentations can make an impact on the school climate. Following our ‘Stand Up For Respect’ assembly, she commented:
“Wow – fantastic show! I really enjoyed the creativity involved with the presentation of the Stand Up Now assembly. Bruce intertwined student engagement, student interaction, music, and the message of our faith and Respect in a way that the students will remember for a long time to come! Entertaining and meaningful!” Sherry Peeples, Principal St. Teresa of Avila Catholic School, Elmira Ontario
That word is the one many students identified with in today’s grade 6, 7, & 8 school presentation in Windsor called ‘Stand Up For Respect’.
The Crusaders believe in confidence to help eliminate bullying
“No matter how bad it gets – confidence.”
If only we could instil this belief in everyone. Don’t we all lack confidence at some point? Don’t we all feel defeated or discouraged at one time or another?
I believe the answer is yes. If this is true, then we can do things to encourage others when they are lacking confidence.
“Determination – it will get you through.
Absolute belief in all you do.
Certainty and trust can do it for you.
Hang in – trust in yourself.”
Use the above words to be inspired. Remember that having true determination really can get you through the tough times. How do you have absolute belief in all you do? Start by mapping out a plan for your life. Set goals. Not vague or general goals, but real and specific goals that are measurable.
Rather than deciding you want to have more money, decide how much money you want to have by a certain date. Then do what you can to go about meeting that goal. Remember that goals don’t need to be about money or material wealth.
Here’s a tip. Don’t set your goal too low. Your goal can be practically anything that is even remotely reasonable. You may think it sounds nearly impossible, but the more you think about it, the more possible it will become.
Thousands of people have set goals and accomplished them. Using your own confidence, you too can achieve a similar kind of success.
Confidence!
“Don’t expect perfection in all you.
Remind yourself your best is awesome for you.
Tell yourself you’re doing fine, you’ll get through
Listen, listen to YOU.”
Bullying – It takes hard work and determination to prevent bullying. Bullying Prevention starts with one word – RESPECT.
Treat others with respect and you will usually be treated with respect in return. But how do you know how to be respectful in the first place?
There are some basics to follow when it comes to respect:
Be honest. Tell the truth even if you are the only one who could possible know the difference. You see, honesty is part of who you are, deep down.
Be considerate. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Sometimes you really have to stop and think how you would feel if you were in the other person’s shoes. That’s called empathy.
Help others. That means, don’t just stand by and do nothing if someone is being treated badly. There are usually a few different things you can do to help like; speak up when the meanness is happening, talk to the person later and tell them you care, tell an adult you trust. Reaching out to offer your friendship is one of the greatest things you can do.
But what if you do these things and you still feel like you are being bullied? That’s a tough question. The fact is, this happens too many times. Hang in there. Realize things will get better. Change things in your life. Hang around different people. Spend time in different locations. Find people to be friends who really make you feel good and are not being mean, even in a teasing kind of way. Believe that things will improve and then go about changing things you can change. Like your attitude about life. That doesn’t mean the bullying is your fault. It just means if you start by changing what you can change in your life, sometimes good things will happen.
Maybe you sometimes bully other people. Make up your mind to stop doing that. It might not be easy, but you can do it. Keep reminding yourself that you want to change and use your determination. This really works for most people. You will find that your own life will improve if you stop being mean to others.
Most of all, don’t give up. Believe that things can be different and make the effort to make it happen. Be motivated by others. You can learn from them. Learn tips from assemblies or from people you admire. We can be inspired by others and learn how to improve our own lives. Who knows, you may end up inspiring others!
“Walk with confidence and build a group of friends you can count on.”
This is part of the advice given by Benny DL (Bruce Langford) during a recent assembly near London, Ontario. Students rushed to the front to ask their own questions and meet the presenter. They crowded around, not leaving until teachers finally cleared the gym.
“That was a terrific assembly”, a grade eight student commented. “I really learned a lot of stuff from what he said.”
Cyber-bullying and internet safety was part of the topic along with how to deal with sticky situations without ending up in trouble.
Here is one more piece of advice: Think twice before you pass on information that might be sensitive. I recently was nearly lured into telling something that I fully believed to be true. After finding out the facts, I was totally glad I hadn’t spoken up and shared this information that actually turned out to be sensitive. Just remember, Stand Up – Cyberbullying’s Got 2 Go!
Book assemblies for your school at www.standupagainstbullying.com
Stand Up Now featured Bruce Langford as the keynote presenter at Nobleton’s 4th annual Safe At Schools Conference on Monday.
Principal, Ms. Nancy Redmond gave a warm welcome to the students to launch the day’s activities at Nobleton. The students from Nobleton Junior Public School were guests for the day as they participated in crafts, workshops and the ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ assemblies featuring student dramas, videos and student interaction. The grade 6, 7 & 8 ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ presentation was geared directly to the intermediate level with stories and discussion which the students could relate to. It also included scenarios acted out by the students as well as life-like situations depicted in video clips.
Following the presentation, a number of intermediate students rushed to the front to find out more information from presenter, Bruce Langford.
A bullying prevention tip that was key in the presentation revolved around declaring Nobleton a bullying free zone by having the grade 6,7 & 8 students take a vow to ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’.
Tip: Resolve to take action when you see a bullying situation.
Nobleton Public School is a school where students definitely will take action as they ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’. We thank the students, administrators, and organizer, Ms. Deborah Godin, for a warm welcome to Nobleton and a truly rewarding day with your students!
The Hillcrest Peaceful School pledge is posted in the gym in a huge green peaceful school tree. The students and staff hear it every morning on the announcements.
It reads:
I attend a peaceful school.
It is my responsibility to play safe
and not say or do anything that hurts anyone’s body, feelings or things.
I respect myself.
I respect others.
I respect property.
The students showed that respect yesterday as we presented two anti-bullying seminars to the students. Hillcrest teachers gave Stand Up Now Productions top marks in their feedback reports saying they would definitely encourage other Sarnia area schools in the Lambton Kent District School Board (LKDSB) to host our Stand Up Against Bullying seminars. Teacher/Presenter, Bruce Langford was extremely pleased with the student response to the skits, videos and music.
Hillcrest Public School, Petrolia
Students at Hillcrest Public School really do care about being a peaceful school!
Snow, snow and more snow here at Summers Corners Public School near Aylmer, Ontario.
The snow brings us together. It gets us working together, helping each other. We offer to shovel snow for those who need help. We encourage each other to stay safe on the roads. We become a little closer to each other when we offer help to people.
Summers Corners Public School
Today at Summers Corners Public School in Thames Valley District School Board, our message has been to help each other and encourage each other. Be the one person who will have the strength and the courage to stand up against bullying. Be willing to take action and do something. It does take confidence and strength. It requires strong character. Every person can learn to develop their character and take charge. Summers Corners students are those kind of people. They exhibit respect and consideration and that really came through to us during our visit today.
Summers Corners School Sign
We had some student role-plays featuring Summers Corners students that focused on the bystander and how you can become the person who will do something about a situation. Summers Corners Principal, Mr. Don Naylor welcomed the students in all three assemblies and introduced Bruce Langford as the presenter. He talked about building strong character and Mr. Naylor told the students, ‘don’t be a bystander, be an upstander’.
Remember that quote! And remember to ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ at your school.
School Assemblies by Bruce Langford of ‘Stand Up Now Productions’ www.standupnow.ca
Sometimes storms strike with no apparent reason. The same thing can be true with bullying. A bullying incident can happen suddenly taking everyone by surprise. Maybe it was triggered by anger, jealousy or resentment. Maybe someone was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe someone had a bad day.
Just like a snow storm, bullying can catch us off guard and cause a lot of disruptions, inconveniences and upset.
Finch Avenue Public School Building, Toronto
There is one major difference though. We can learn to end bullying. We can council our children and teach bystanders how to change the direction of bullying incidents. Do this by changing the subject, moving to another location, or just speaking up in a confident way with a non-confrontational request to leave the person alone.
Today at Finch Avenue Public School in Toronto, the students were completely captured with the ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ presentations. They learned how bystanders can make a difference. They joined in with the songs and were totally tuned in to a music video called ‘The Wall’. We can’t change a snow storm, but we can reduce bullying. Remember to ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’. Contact Bruce Langford to book assemblies with DJ Benny DL at your school: www.standupagainstbullying.com
Empathy, conscience, hope, respect, acceptance, kindness, self-control and fairness are all virtues honoured at St. Andrew Catholic School in Orangeville Ontario. We presented our ‘Stand Up Against Bullying’ assemblies at the school yesterday and were wowed by the amazing reception from students, staff and administration. It was our second visit, after presenting ‘Cyberbullying – Got 2 Go’ during our last visit hosted by Mr. Gregory Krar.
This time, the students were just as respectful and showed even more excitement, since most of them
Mrs. Hageman's Display Case
remembered us from our last visit. We put a lot of effort into the rehearsal of the role-plays with pre-selected students from St. Andrew. The volunteer students who did the acting were just excellent at their parts and really made a strong statement with the audiences.
Mrs. Hageman is the teacher-librarian at the school. She arranged all the details of our visit
The Stand Up Against Bullying Vow
and was a very gracious hostess representing St. Andrew. She watched all three assemblies and was most appreciative of what she saw.
Principal, Mrs. Cindy Young, described the assemblies with great enthusiasm: “Each assembly was right on the mark! You hit on all the important aspects of what we want our St. Andrew students to live by. I really liked how you changed your assemblies for each age group!”
St. Andrew Banner
(Mrs. Cindy Young, Principal at St. Andrew Catholic School)
This school has left a very powerful impression! The students were genuine in their appreciation of the topic. They want to be positive role models and do their part to reduce bullying. The staff was supportive and on board with the topic. We will remember our day at St. Andrew Catholic School in Orangeville (Dufferin Peel Catholic District School Board DPCDSB) for a long time!
Whitehorn Public School in Mississauga has some answers to this question. ‘Soaring to the Peak’ is an answer you will hear from the children. You see, Whitehorn Mountain is in Mount Robson Provincial Park in British Columbia, Canada. It is a 2,621 metre high mountain of pure natural beauty.
The students of Whitehorn School know they must strive to meet the challenge of ‘Soaring to the Peak’ by:
Participation Effort Achievement Kindness
Q. What is a person called who sees and hears meanness, but they don’t do anything about it?
A. Scared.
That is the answer we heard yesterday from a student who watched a role-play in our ‘Stand Up For Respect’ assembly and felt empathy for the person being bullied. In the adult world, the correct answer to the question is ‘bystander’. Children need to know that a bystander is not a bad person. A bystander may not know what to do, or the incident may have happened so fast, they didn’t have time to react. It is important to teach children what bystanders can do to reduce bullying behaviours, but let’s not blame children for not stepping in when we also tell them to always look out for their safety.
Whitehorn Public School is a respectful place because people care. People know that teaching respect means modeling respect. Principal, Mrs. Margaret Patterson is a great example of how to nurture respect in a caring environment. Mrs. Patterson and her staff definitely ‘Soar to the Peak’ at Whitehorn Public School!
Stand Up For Respect was the theme of the day at Waterloo school, N.A. MacEachern Public School (WRDSB).
Students shared their ideas on how the world can be a more respectful place. One student said, “If only people would just remember to be nice to each other all the time”. Another spoke about the importance of manners. Yet another reminded the audience to be optimistic, and how optimism can help keep people positive.
Students said they liked the song ‘Confidence ‘ and wanted to know if they could download it on itunes. They said they loved the role-plays acted out by their peers.
Ms. Maedith Radlein, Principal of MacEachern, told us she was very pleased with the assemblies and liked how each assembly was designed for that age group. She liked the discussion format with the grade 7 & 8 students. “I will definitely be a reference for your Stand Up Now programs,” she told us.
Parents, please be aware of what your children are doing on line!
This is one of the cyberbullying tips we shared during our ‘Stand Up – Keep Your Kids’ parent workshop at Julliard School today. More than 57 families attended the parent talk about cyber-bullying by teacher/presenter Bruce Langford. Parents learned strategies to quell cyber-bullying and they were enthusiastic with the role-plays presented by their children.
Here is some feedback following the student assemblies:
“The’Stand Up For Respect’ assemblies were excellent! Bruce Langford presented three different programs all geared to our specific grade levels here at Julliard French Immersion School (Toronto). Bruce has a lovely manner with the students and covered many points about bullying prevention using terminology we use here at Julliard. The assemblies were just the right length for our students. We would like to have Bruce back to present his ‘Cyberbullying – Got 2 Go’ assemblies. Our parent evening was also a big success! Judith Goldberg, Vice-Principal Julliard Public School, Maple Ontario
Students were totally engaged with the Stand Up For Respect assemblies. They were completely focused on the role-plays and videos. They answered questions respectfully, clapped along with the songs and wondered when they would be able to see another presentation by Benny DL. Benny DL is also known as speaker/presenter, Bruce Langford, of Stand Up Now Productions.
Julliard Public School is a place where students, teachers and staff have high standards and really care about respect. That was an obvious conclusion based on our one day visit to Julliard Public School.
Just returned from presenting 3 Cyber-bullying Got 2 Go assemblies at Sandhills Public School in Kitchener Ontario (Waterloo Region District School Board). The students were totally keen to learn how to stay safe in cyber-space. Benny DL asked questions and students got involved with their answers.
Nancy, a Grade 3 Teacher, made the following remark after the assembly: “Your program was just awesome with a very timely message. I loved how you tied our Sandhills Guidelines into your assembly.”
Allison (not her real name) is a grade 3 student who made a special trip back to the gym to tell us: “That was the best assembly we’ve ever had!”
Here is a tip we shared about staying safe on-line. “If someone is mean on-line, don’t even answer the message.”
Remember, if you are having problems with people on-line, it is important to talk to a parent, a teacher or another adult you trust.
The Sandhills Suns believe in living ‘Above the Line’. Living above the line means taking responsibility for your choices, being accountable and being willing to work toward solutions. Living below the line includes quitting, denying, justifying and laying blame.
Students at Edna Staebler Public School in Waterloo (Waterloo Region District School Board) believe in the value of Character Education. We visited the school yesterday, and were greeted warmly by the students and staff. Principal, Mr. Jeffery Parliament told us that the students have been receiving weekly character education lessons from a staff member. We could tell.
Edna Staebler Picture at Edna Staebler School
“Treat others how you want to be treated,” was a comment that came from a student early on in one of the assemblies. We talked about empathy, and about doing the right thing even when no one is watching.
“Being honest and caring can help build stronger friendships”, a grade 7 student remarked.
We talked about being careful on-line and making the right choices about on-line activities.
A student role-play made it crystal-clear that a bystander can become a person who can definitely make a difference in a given situation.
Author Edna Staebler with her cats
Mr. Parliament said he felt the assemblies were well done and liked how we changed the assemblies to be appropriate for each division.
“Our character education classes have been some of our most important classes”, a grade 8 girl told me after the intermediate assembly.
I thought about how good it feels to be in a school where character education is taken seriously by students and staff!
Flags in the lobby of Edna Staebler School
The ‘Stand Up For Respect’ Character Ed assemblies by Stand Up Now Productions all feature video, music and student role-play as well as teacher follow-up materials.
Visit www.standupforrespect.ca
A Cyber-safety tip for you:
Don’t meet people you have met on-line.
You’ve been chatting for three months. You know the person so well you consider them a good friend. They read the same magazines you do. They watch the same TV shows. They play the same computer games.
Then why not meet up when you get a chance?
Answer: As strange as it seems, even though you feel you know this person as well as any of your friends, they actually may not be the person you think. This may not be a 13 year old girl, but instead a 43-year-old man who is trying to lure people to locations.
The above scenario is based on a role-play we did at William G. Davis Public School in Cambridge. The role-play has powerful impact when student actors play the characters, including the two police officers who end up meeting the 13-year-olds at the mall.
Following the grade 7/8 student Cyber-bullying assemblies, we received the following comments:
“Excellent presentations with very relevant information on many different aspects of the internet!” Carol Hagerman, Vice-Principal, William G. Davis Public School, Cambridge
“I would absolutely endorse Bruce Langford’s assemblies. Your way of presenting really worked for our grade 7/8 students!” Kim Stenhouse, Teacher, William G. Davis Public School, Cambridge
“That was great! I really liked your interactive approach with the live music and acting.” Nancy McKinnon, Teacher, William G. Davis Public School, Cambridge
To book programs for your school, visit www.standupnow.ca or phone Stand Up Now at 1-800-901-8831
Today I am offering four tips to protect yourself against bullying behaviors using your own abilities to build confidence.
