I bet just about all of us can think back to a time in school when we were bullied in some way by someone. As it turns out I was very fortunate in this regard. I was bullied by one particular person two or three times (while she did behave in bullying ways, I would not consider her to be a bully in general). But every single time, other people quickly shut her down.
We lived in a small town. I was a gawky kid with glasses and too poor to wear name brand clothes. But the majority of other kids at school did not give me a hard time about it. Life at school was almost like one big huge extended family.
I have since learned that this experience is not necessarily what life in school looks like for many other students. The bullies do their work, and many times there is nobody around to defend the victim. Or the people who do see it turn the other way because they don’t have the courage to do anything about it.
So what do we do to combat bullying at school? We can use literature to combat bullying in our schools. There are countless books for all ages that speak directly to both bullying and the victims of bullying.
And there are even more books that can teach our students what bullying looks like and how to deal with it, as a bully, a victim, or a bystander. I would like to talk about some of these books and how you can use them in your classrooms and homes. I will be focusing mostly on the middle school level, although there is great flexibility in which ages you can work through these books with.
Table of Contents
What are the Benefits to Using Literature to Combat Bullying?
Using literature to combat bullying in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom is a great way to help students learn to cope with the issue.
Books that talk directly to the issue of bullying teach them how to work in ways that prevent them from displaying bullying behavior. And it also helps them learn to defend themselves and others that are being bullied.
On the other hand, reading works of fiction that talk about characters being bullied is also a great tool to help teach kids about bullying, the harm it does, and how to prevent and correct it.
It shows students what bullying looks like in real life, which in turn helps them to recognize and properly deal with it in their own lives.
How to Navigate This Article
I set up this article to first allow the teacher to learn about the problem and gain some insight into solutions with what I have found to be one of the best books available to address this issue. Then I will give you some suggestions for books that speak directly to the issue of bullying. Finally, I will give you some great books that contain bullying in them as worked out through the characters. That will help your students learn to apply what they have learned to real life situations.
So with all that, let’s begin!
Just for Teachers (or Any Adults Who Want to Combat Bullying)
Before I begin with some of the best literature choices for students to combat bullying, let me start with what I think has been the best book for adults to clearly understand the ins and outs of bullying among children. This book was the inspiration for this article. I hope to do a full review of it soon.
Confronting Bullying: Literacy as a Tool For Character Education
So Confronting Bullying starts out by outlining the problem of bullying. Roxanne Henkin makes these points regarding bullying:
- Over 160,000 American students stay home from school because of fear of bullying.
- 30 percent of students can be drawn into the cycle of bullying, either as aggressor, victim, or both.
- 60 percent of former bullies in school have a criminal record by the time they are 24 years old.
- While male bullying is more often outwardly seen, female bullying is just as strong if not stronger (think Mean Girls here).
- The bystanders who witness bullying are often very deeply affected as well.
The Solution
She then goes on to offer the following help for teachers and parents:
- Tips and suggestions to help you implement anti-bullying lessons in your daily lesson planning.
- Several web links that will help give you all the resources you need.
- Specific lessons to help get you started.
Finally, Ms. Henkin has compiled a list of 200 books that you can use in your classroom to help you use literature to combat bullying. She sorts them by topic and theme. And they are appropriate for all different ages and reading levels.
That list of 200 books alone is more than I can do in this post and makes the purchase of Confronting Bullying very much worth its price and worth your time to read.
One more thing I would like to point out is that even though this book is written with teachers in mind, the information is incredibly valuable for parents as well. It is a wonderful way to teach your kids emotional maturity and social skills. And many of the problems at school move to the neighborhood after school hours.
Plus, if you are willing to address this issue with your children in a kind and loving way, they will be willing to reach out to you for help if they find themselves caught up in a bullying situation.
Books That Address Bullying Directly
A Smart Girl’s Guide: Friendship Troubles (Revised): Dealing with fights, being left out & the whole popularity thing
This book is from American Girl, so you definitely won’t want to do this one with your whole class. You will need to split up the girls and the boys. But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing because bullying behaves differently in boys versus girls. Therefore, we should feel comfortable treating it differently at times.
Anyway, the reason I love this book so much is because it doesn’t just deal with bullying. It also deals with backstabbing, triangles, mean girl antics, and just social injustices that may or may not be intentional.
The good part of that is not only are girls learning how to combat bullying and bad behavior. They are also learning how to identify it in themselves and correct it.
One of the best things we can do for our students (boys and girls) is to give them enough social awareness to show them that grace and kindness are so much better qualities to life in the real world.
The Weird Series
This is a series of books that has been written by two best friends who grew up experiencing bullying and wanted to do something about it for the current generation of children.
The 4 books in the series are: Nobody, Weird, Tough, and Dare. They all deal with a different aspect of bullying.
These books are actually targeted at K-4th grade, but the reason I am wholeheartedly recommending them for middle school is because the issues are virtually the same and the illustrations support middle schoolers relating to the material. In fact, the illustrations are actually MORE appropriate for middle schoolers than elementary school students. And the length of the reading in each book is perfect for the teacher to address the situation accurately and completely.
The best feature of these books, besides the amazingly good storylines, is that in the back of the book there is a guide for students, teachers and parents. And there is even a discussion guide included in the back of the book. These are pretty much the perfect books for combating bullying.
#IAmAWitness: Confronting Bullying
This book makes the list because it is an excellent choice for having a discussion about bullying directly with your students. It is part of the #movement series.
Also, it’s a great choice because it deals specifically with issues of bullying as well as cyberbullying, which could be a bigger issue than physical bullying at this point in time. It also deals with the fallout of bullying such as school shootings and suicide.
I love that it also talks about efforts from governmental agencies to combat bullying such as Melania Trump’s Be Best campaign and The Megan Meier and Tyler Clementi foundations.
And finally, this book is aligned with state standards so it can be easier to implement it into your already established routine.
Novels That Touch on Bullying
Just Like Jackie
Just like Jackie is a touching novel that will allow your students to journey through her difficult life and learn empathy for her situation. They will come to appreciate how Robbie fights to make things right in her world.
Boys and girls alike will appreciate this book and you will have tons of material to discuss with your students what doing difficult things looks like.
Cloud Busting
This is a very different book because it is written in poetic form rather than standard prose.
It is the story of Sam, who is forced to be friends with Davey, and he really doesn’t want to disrupt his school social life.
But then he starts spending time with Davey and realizes they have a lot in common and he enjoys spending time with him.
Now he must reconcile his choices with his current social status. And he soon realizes that sometimes the difficult choice is the better and more rewarding choice.
This book is perfect for middle schoolers. They are just starting to feel the pressure of popularity and social standing. And this book will help them put it into proper perspective in light of real world life.
The Eighteenth Emergency
This is one of my favorite books for using literature combat bullying because it has just the right amount of silliness mixed in for middle schoolers. And it has great truth.
When middle schoolers are in the middle of trying to figure out how the whole social world works, this book empathizes with how big of a deal this feels like when you are in those difficult grades.
Benjie and Ezzie have figured out how to conquer all of the dangers in the world: getting bitten by a tarantula, shark attacks, and quicksand. But nothing has prepared them to protect themselves form Marv Hammerman, the biggest and meanest boy in school.
Your kids will love using humor to talk about a very scary issue for some of them.
So What Happened? The Rest of the Story
So what happened with my middle school experience with a bully? The last time she tried to bully me, we were in homeroom in 6th grade. The teacher had to leave for a few minutes, and then this girl randomly started saying random things about me to embarrass me in front of the whole class. I don’t remember saying anything at the time because the things she said were all true. But they were all also out of my control. That is because I was raised in an abusive house growing up. And although I hid most of it very well (there were no school counselors back then), some things still came out.
So anyway, she told the class a couple of really embarrassing things, and then my one of my neighbors who was also in the same homeroom as me, spoke up. He didn’t have to. But he did. He told her to shut up because I could not help what my mother made me do. He was my hero that day. But I don’t even remember if I ever thanked him.
A Missed Opportunity
A little over 20 years later, I was back in my hometown and on visit to my parents house. I asked about him, and they said he was still at the house across the street. I thought about going to see him and see how he was doing. But I got busy and didn’t make it over there.
The next day, I was headed back home–a 12-hour drive. When I got home there was a message on my answering machine. It was my father telling me that my neighbor friend had died the night before. He was only 36 years old.
I missed my opportunity to tell him how much I appreciated what he did for me that day. And he probably never really thought anything of what he did. But I did. And I should have told him.
The Moral
So while this post is actually about helping middle schoolers to combat bullying, it could also be about us making sure that when others help us out in bullying situations, we let them know how much we appreciate that they went that extra mile for us.
And as for the bully, she never really bothered me after that. I would like to think his words allowed her to think about what she was doing and she moved on in healthier relationships with her fellow students.
Here is a video from Dr. Liz Laugeson that speaks about how to help our students or kids handle bullying:
Conclusion
So these are the ways that I have found work really well to use literature to combat bullying in the classroom.
Have you had some experience in this area and found some great ideas that worked for you? Or is there an experience in your own middle school years that you can share with your students or kids to help them see that they are not alone in their struggle?
I would love to hear about those things–just leave a comment below!
To read more about how to be more encouraging in your classroom or home, check out these other articles:
Conflict Resolution in the Middle School Classroom
10 Perfect Picture Books to Teach Students Emotional Intelligence–Some Are Free!
Classroom Culture: How Do Your Students Feel?
How to Be Encouraging in the Classroom
How to Identify and Help Students With Eating Disorders: A Guest Post
Sorry about your friend passing away, and so young. Such a shame. Regarding bullying it can have an impact on your whole life. Some people never recover from the trauma of being bullied as children. Great post and a very good list of books on the topic.
Thank you, Cristina.
I think the book list is a very good resource. Parents and children may find them incredibly useful!
Sorry for your friend passing away. Sending love to you. I do love that you want a situation to help children with bullying. It is a great concept to put in the classroom so there are coping strategies. Excellent article!!!
Thank you, Chantal.
Great suggestions. I never knew there was so much literature on how to combat bullying nor was I aware of any books to help kids combat it themselves. We never had any of this when I was growing up.
There were literally hundreds of books when I was doing the research. I actually wanted to feature one and didn’t bookmark it. I tried to back up and find it for 2 hours and finally gave up. Anyway, there are still tons of great resources out there for all ages.
Thank you for sharing this good article, it is so important to spread this message. Bullying shouldn’t exist in our era… – Paolo
I totally agree, Paolo.
Excellent information! This is so important for everyone to read.
Ugh, bullying stinks. I am glad there are books out there to help. It’s a shame that so many kids are bullied these days. I am sorry about your neighbor friend.
Thank you. I do hope that one day bullying becomes a thing of the past.
Great article…really useful for kids as well as parents…bullying is a real problem and shouldn’t be ignored.
This is very timely. We need to be able to combat bullying in anyway we can. Thanks for your post.
I am so sorry you lost your friend. Life is very hard sometimes. Bullying is hard to get rid of. Its not only in school, its in homes as well sometimes
You are right, Shruti. Bullying is everywhere. That is one good reason why we need to be as kind and loving to all that we meet. We have no idea what they are going through behind closed doors.
Bullying is very serious topic, it’s everywhere. From children to adults. Thank you for pin pointing a way to deal with it.
I really love your blog posts … there is much to learn from them … never thought that literature can help in dealing with bullying. Thanks for sharing your insight on the subject.
Thank you, Sudipta. And yes, it is amazing what literature can do in all aspects of life!
This is such a sound idea to combat bullying. It’s a horrible thing for any child to go through. Well done for covering this concept!
Thank you, Lisa!
Literature is very powerful! More powerful than you dare to think. It is a great tool to work with bulling issues
I believe that literature is a great way to combat bowling but I also believe that educatign the parents of the bully kids is more necessary. Kids learn by example and sometimes those bullies are having horrible life after home.
I agree, Jessica. Sometimes the only good example some kids see is the one that is outside of the home. Teachers have a very limited time to speak life and truth into their students.
Books are always a great way to teach kids. So many kids are being bullied and it needs to stop
This is a refreshing view of how to combat bullying. I think that kids need to understand what it is and isn’t so they can make good decisions.
What a great article. I don’t remember much emphasis being put on combatting bullying when I was in school, so it’s great that they’re are so many resources available these days to deal with it.
When I was younger I was bullied a lot, beaten up sometimes until I said it
s enough and learned how to defend myself. Now when Im a mum my worst fear is that my sons wont be bullied especially the older one since he is very fragile. What we need is to spread awareness about this in this age bulling cant be allowed !! And bullies needs to be punish no matter what, kid or not they need to learn a lesson. As well as educate parents of those kids.I fully agree, Milica. Thank you for sharing your own painful experience.
I adore this. Bullying has become such a THING in our society and it’s really awful. I appreciate you sharing this Marie.
Thank you, Friend! I find it so sad that as far as we have come as a society it is still such a big issue.
You always have really good advice. i guess if it works, then it works!
Oh no, that is heart breaking, if I ever invent a time machine I will let you know. In the meantime, it is often said that the good ones die young. Bullying can be stop by educating everyone about it from a young age especially anyone tempted to be a silent onlooker.
A time machine would be awesome, Alvern! And yes, maybe with time, we can teach everyone that together we can conquer this!
THis is so informative..thanks for sharing with all of us!
I feel like bullying gets worse and worse each year and I am scared for when my kids go to school!
I am sorry that you feel that way Amber. I know you are not alone in your thoughts. We should be happy and not fearful of what our kids are doing. I hope that when they go to school they are surrounded by good people and support instead of bullying.
So sorry about your friend. I was hoping with the awareness that exists today, bullying was going away.
Thank you. I actually spent about 3 hours talking with his sister last night. I had shown her the article and wanted her to know what her brother had done. It was a super sweet time for both of us because we had not talked in a lot of years. And seriously, you would think that as far as society has come that bullying would be a thing of the past instead of stronger than ever. Thank you for sharing.
Storytelling is always one of the best ways to promote learning. And learning to stop bullying is included in that. Stories help us see the world in a different light. And they help us to think of others differently.
You are right. Stories can literally change our world.
It’s amazing how bad bullying has become. I don’t know if it’s gotten worse or kids are more vunerable and sensitive since my formative years. Whichever, something has to be done.
Candy Rachelle
Keeping Up With Candy
http://www.keepingupwithcandy.com
I think literature would really help students understand more about bullying and I hope many would find it helpful and lessen bullying in school.
Literature is pretty awesome!
Bullying can really affect you as a child and shape the adult you will become. It also really ruins your school experience. Imagine dreading going to school every single day. It is great that more and more books are tackling the issue. Especially novels for kids which combine educational and enjoyable content.
Exactly. I can’t imagine having to go somewhere every day that I know I would have to face bullying. I hope kids realize there is always somewhere to go and are able to find those safe places and people.
I love this. Do you know that our national hero used the same method? He used “writing” to combat the abuse of the colonizers. It was amazing!
I did not know that, but I am thrilled to hear about it!
this is an excellent post. i love that you found books pertaining to bullying. i also thought about matilda although bullying is not necessarily from classmates.
This is a fantastic resource! Bullying has gotten so bad, and we need things like this to help us fight it. I had no idea there were books on the subject!
I know, Colleen! I love seeing so many options in books! I never would have thought to look for them on my own until I saw some recommended.
So true, I can’t believe how rampant bullying has become, especially online. These are fantastic resources to help.
It is such a shame that bullying even exists at school, online, etc. But glad to know there are lots of resources to help.
Def some great suggestions that I want to look into. my daughter is starting first grade and so far hasn’t dealt with much bullying but these are great lessons to teach before it happens!
I hope she never has to deal with it! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. ♥
I am really sorry about your friend. He was so young.
Thanks for sharing this list of books about bullying. I need to check them out. My kid is going to start school next year and I need to be prepare
Thank you, Daniel. He was so young. I hope that your child never has to deal with these issues, but if so, you will be able to help prepare him/her.
All your articles are so nice and so nicely written! Literature to fight bullying – will check out the books 🙂
Sorry for your friend who passed away. He was really so young. Sending hugs and love to you right away. Thanks for suggesting so many books. This really helps
Thank you, Sundeep. He was so young. I still get a chance to talk to his sister who was always a close friend when we were growing up.
Bullying is a pervasive phenomenon. This study examined what
teachers think encourages bullying among young people, and what effects
teachers believe reader response strategies would have on their students. The
study found teachers implementing reader response strategies in discussing
literature were able to influence behavior in students and reduce bullying
That’s awesome. I wish everyone could do that!
Bullying is really a very serious topic not only in schools but in a society. I am glad that there is already a book about bullying.
You are so right, bullying doesn’t end after school. It is very sad that it is still an issue in society.
very nice article and i think it is the necessity now
I have always believed that those who bully other students in school are really committing a crime. Because it has a negative effect on the person being bullied while those who bully do not understand the seriousness. This was a great perspective and so helpful for teachers and parents both as it is a joint responsibility. Also those affected also know a way out.
I agree that it is a crime. It is assault against a person, whether physical or emotional. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Wonderful information, I’m going to send it to my teacher friend as she’s always looking for good ways to deal with bullying
So sad and inspiring stories, a missed opportunity is really a heart touching, we have not control on time, and we don’t know the future. The weird series of 4 books are inspiring
It’s so sad that bullying is still such a huge issue in most parts of the world. I really like the idea of reading books to help with this issue, it sound very simple but very effective!
I was bullied because of my obsession with literature. Because of this, I feel like using literature to combat bullying is an amazing way to go!
Literature and fighting bullying are a good team! I am sorry you were bullied for liking literature.
Literature teaches us good lessons. It also gives moral lessons and good things to ponder.
This is so important. Specially there are a lot of bullies around the world.
That is unfortunately true that there are bullies around the world.
Thanks a lot for suggesting these books.
I was bullied at school.like you I didn’t consider him to be a bully , I’m sure he didn’t think he was a bully either,I guess he was a guy just being a guy.
I can say that anything that helps to combat bullying gets a big thumbs up from me for sure. x
I had no idea about literature to combat bullying and thanks for the info. Also there are books available on this that could be really beneficial for those who have to face this.
Literature is an interesting way to start a conversation with children about bullying. However, if a bully lays their hands on my kid I teach them to go all in and hammer the bully. And if they talk sideways to my kid my kid better say something back.
fantastic info ! as soon as i finish writing this comment i be forwarding your blog to few teacher friends i know kind regards Pati robins @ style-squeeze blog
Thank you, Olivia. I hope that it can do great things toward making bullying a thing of the past.
You were lucky that people shut the girl down right away. In my profession I see kids bullying others and it’s always something I shut down instantly too, but the hurt is still there.
I know that I was lucky and that many others aren’t. That makes me so sad. I am glad you are able to step in.
I think the series Harry Potter does a great job of educating kids about bullying. In this manner, it helps to teach kids the dos and don’ts as well as why bullying should never be tolerated.
I agree, Kenny! There are a lot of great things about Harry Potter. How they deal with ugly things is at the top of the list!
Great concept dear.. thank you for sharing
Bullying has long been something we need to address and sadly we haven’t been successfully doing so. You’re sharing some amazing information here.
With or without bullying, I think any parent should be aware of these literally pieces! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I experienced bullying a lot when I was in primary school – I really wish this kind of awareness and literature was available back then.
When I look at my friend’s children, I’m so grateful that it exists now. Thanks so much for sharing!
This is a really cool idea! Books and literature are a great way to help kids connect with various emotions and situations – including bullying.
I really like this idea. I think teaching kids to understand why bullying is bad by showing them how to empathize rather than just punishing the behavior is great. When bullies get punished, it usually just makes them bully more because they blame the other kid and not their behavior.
Kids suffering from bullying can find a lot of help in books, teachers need to know how they can use this to help their students.
Books that bring attention to bullying is a great way to spread awareness. I’m sure many children will be able to empathize with the different characters.
Literature is really all-encompassing. Such a powerful tool to spread awareness on bullying.
Books are a wonderful way to introduce concepts to children and to help them learn. There’s a number of incredible books. Julia Cook is one of my favourite authors for educating children. I’m deeply sorry to hear about the passing of your neighbour. Very grateful that he had the courage and understanding to speak up for you.
First off, I am so sorry for you loss!
Its always great to read of advocates vs bullying, the world need more people that start saying no, in the right way 🙂
Love this, let’s spread awareness about this matter! I also liked the books you recommended and I’ve already read some of these.
SO important for people to read. I never thought this way about literature
thank you for this list of books , i am glad that literture like this exist
This article is literally of great help for me. Sharing it with my co-teachers. Thanks for this.
This is true! We could do more for our children and literature can play a big role. Thanks for sharing Marie 🤗
This is great. Thank you so much for sharing this. My son is going to secondary school next year and some of these books he might find interesting. Luckily he didn’t have any problems with bullying yet, but it’s better to be prepared.
These are great resources for parents! It takes a village to raise a child and we all need to do our best to raise respectful children.
Great article! It’s really useful for parents. It will serve as a guide against bullying.
Thank you so much for sharing. this is such a great collection of books and very useful for me and other moms out there. I am sharing this for sure with friends and family!
Hhhmmm….unfortunately when it comes to bullying, nothing has really worked for me. Fighting back has worked, interestingly.