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October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and it can be a great time to talk to students about bullying, cyberbullying, and belonging in age-appropriate, actionable ways. Use these lessons, text sets, and activities to connect bullying prevention to ELA, science, and social studies so you can cover the theme without sacrificing pacing or skills.
National Bullying Prevention Month is a good time to help students explore empathy, digital citizenship, and healthy relationships. These ELA resources make it easier to define bullying, understand its effects, and think about how words and actions can affect others.
Digital citizenship lessons can help students connect bullying prevention to online spaces they use every day. This text set, created by Stacey Olney-Whitesell, a Media Coordinator in Western North Carolina, asks students to define cyberbullying and empathy, and explain how they can help build a more positive online and school community.
Digital citizenship lesson
Students use vocabulary work, article analysis, evidence-based writing, and a public service announcement to examine cyberbullying, practice empathy, and plan ways to support a more positive online and school community.
Compelling question
How might becoming aware of the world around us, and how every person is different, affect how we treat people?
| Resource | Use in class | Reading Level | Spanish? |
|---|---|---|---|
| More victims of online abuse reach out to parents | Use this article to help students identify how cyberbullying affects students and why trusted adults can be part of the response. |
740L–1280L
|
Yes |
| U.S. cyberbullying is rising, and girls are bearing the brunt | Use this article to help students examine patterns in cyberbullying and discuss why some groups may experience it more often. |
600L–1310L
|
Yes |
| Student Opinion: Bullies need to be brought to justice | Use this opinion article to help students consider claims, evidence, and possible responses to bullying behavior. |
560L–1000L
|
Yes |
| Opinion: Here’s how to actually help stop cyberbullying | Use this opinion article to help students gather ideas for building a more positive and supportive online community. |
460L–1010L
|
Yes |
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Read more
Assign These Insightful Digital Citizenship Week Activities. Find more classroom-ready ideas for helping students think about online behavior, media, and community.
Fiction can help students discuss bullying by examining characters, choices, and conflict before they connect those ideas to real-world prevention. This paired text activity uses “Coming Up,” a story about making peace with a bully, alongside an opinion article about how to help stop cyberbullying.
Students can compare the text, summarize key ideas, and discuss how genre shapes each author’s message.
Research questions can help students move from general awareness of a topic to deeper understanding of it. Bullying prevention is no different. This project asks them to investigate how bullying affects people, what people can do to prevent bullying, and what role social media plays.
Students can use the graphic organizers to choose a focus, gather evidence, and synthesize what they learn before they write or discuss possible solutions.
Research project
Students can use these questions and planning tools to investigate bullying’s effects, prevention strategies, and the role social media can play.
Research questions
How does bullying affect people?
What can people do to prevent bullying?
What role does social media play in bullying?
Graphic organizers
Use these organizers to help students choose a topic, gather evidence, and synthesize what they learn before they write or discuss prevention ideas.
Students can collect key details from articles, videos, and other sources.
Students can turn a broad topic into a focused research question.
Students can record observations, thinking, and new questions.
| Resource | Runtime / Reading Level | Spanish? |
|---|---|---|
| How to write a strong research question Video |
2:45
|
|
| Online bullies once made Douglas cry, so now the Olympian is fighting back Article |
590L–1220L
|
✓ Yes |
| Is there a psychological reason for people being mean on the Internet? Article |
580L–1210L
|
✓ Yes |
| Schoolyard conflicts may affect health later in life, research shows Article |
580L–1090L
|
✓ Yes |
| Opinion: Ignore the bullies and dare to be different Article |
390L–1190L
|
|
| She overcame bullies at 12; now, she’s a businesswoman at 15 Article |
580L–1180L
|
✓ Yes |
| U.S. cyberbullying is rising, and girls are bearing the brunt Article |
600L–1310L
|
✓ Yes |
| Ohio woman starts anti-bullying organization to empower youths Article |
680L–1300L
|
|
| Bullying and what you can do Video |
9:38
|
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Learning about healthy relationships helps students see what positive interactions can look like and how bullying prevention is more than just stopping harmful behavior. This research project asks them to explore why empathy and communication matter and how to tell the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships.
Research project
Students can use these questions and planning tools to explore how empathy, communication, trust, and friendship support healthier relationships.
Research questions
Why are empathy and communication important?
What is the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships?
Graphic organizers
Use these organizers to help students analyze viewpoints, identify relationship challenges, and connect evidence to possible responses.
Students can examine how different people may see the same relationship or conflict in different ways.
Students can name a relationship challenge, explain why it matters, and connect it to a possible solution.
| Resource | Reading Level / Duration | Spanish? |
|---|---|---|
| How to be a good friend Explainer |
520L–1090L
|
✓ Yes |
| Who can you trust? Video |
12:02
|
|
| How to speak so that people want to listen Video |
9:54
|
|
| If you’re empathetic, it might be genetic Article |
590L–1470L
|
✓ Yes |
| Communication Skills: What is active listening? Explainer |
600L–1320L
|
✓ Yes |
| What healthy and unhealthy relationships look like Explainer |
490L–1220L
|
✓ Yes |
| Research shows friends are good for your health Article |
610L–1200L
|
✓ Yes |
| 10 ways to have a better conversation Video |
11:44
|
|
| Childhood best friends reunite decades after India-Pakistan partition Article |
640L–1130L
|
|
| “Two Friends”: A short story by Guy de Maupassant Fiction |
800L–880L
|
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Students can use a research project to explore mental health through data, friendship, and school-based support. Use the graphic organizers to support the full research project, from identifying the problem and solution to outlining an essay or presentation.
Research project
Students can use these questions, planning tools, and grouped resources to investigate mental health trends, friendship, support systems, and factors that affect children’s and teens’ mental health.
Research questions
What are the recent trends in children’s and teens’ mental health?
How does friendship affect mental health?
What are the causes of mental health problems among teens?
Graphic organizers
Use these organizers to help students choose a focus, structure their research, cite Newsela evidence, and share their findings.
Students can connect mental health challenges to possible supports or responses.
Students can organize their claim, evidence, and explanation before drafting.
Students can keep track of article details and citation information as they research.
Students can turn what they learn into a short teaching or presentation activity.
| Resource | Reading Level / Duration | Spanish? |
|---|---|---|
| What is mental health? Video | 2:27 | |
| Data and statistics on children’s mental health Article | 500L–1170L | |
| Mental health and chronic diseases Explainer | 590L–1390L | |
| Sleep and mental health Video | 6:36 |
Scroll left to right to see the full table.
| Resource | Reading Level / Duration | Spanish? |
|---|---|---|
| Why you should read self-help books Video | 3:47 | |
| How to cope with depression Video | 8:48 | |
| When I worry about things: OCD and depression Video | 4:41 | |
| Five-minute breathing exercises can improve your mood and reduce anxiety, study says Article | 490L–1260L |
Scroll left to right to see the full table.
| Resource | Reading Level / Duration | Spanish? |
|---|---|---|
| Teens aren’t socializing in the real world and they’re lonely Article | 600L–1370L | ✓ Yes |
| Opinion: The quest for a perfect life is causing anxiety in teens Article | 560L–1290L | ✓ Yes |
| Do spotty mental health, addiction treatment share blame for teen suicides? Article | 610L–1320L | |
| What TikTok does to your mental health: “It’s embarrassing we know so little” Article | 570L–1440L |
Scroll left to right to see the full table.
| Resource | Reading Level / Duration | Spanish? |
|---|---|---|
| Teen activists score mental health days for Oregon students Article | 560L–1370L | ✓ Yes |
| For schools or nursing homes in need, Porkchop the therapy pig saves the day Article | 480L–1120L | |
| Florida high school welcomes emotional support animals Article | 620L–1070L | ✓ Yes |
| More US schools are taking meditation breaks to help students’ mental health Article | 510L–1230L | |
| Wellness center supports students’ mental and emotional health at high school Article | 570L–1240L |
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A viewpoint-focused text set can help students understand bullying prevention from several angles. They can explore what bullying is, how it affects people, how schools and communities respond, and how students can speak out.
Use this collection to build awareness during National Bullying Prevention Month, then discuss which prevention ideas feel most actionable in your school or community.
Bullying can affect students’ mental and social health long after an interaction ends. These science resources help you frame bullying prevention through consequences, emotions, relationships, and support systems.
Use this activity to explore what bullying is and how it can look different online vs. in person. You can start with the focus prompt to guide the discussion and exploration, then move into reading and thinking as a class, independently, or with partners.
Science activity
Students examine what bullying can look like, why words and online behavior can cause harm, and how schools and students can respond in constructive ways.
What students will learn
Bullying can have consequences in person and online, and different situations may call for different response strategies.
Question to keep in mind
What are the consequences of bullying?
Before reading
Before students read, have them reflect on whether it feels easier to say something in person or in writing, and whether that answer changes when the message is positive or negative.
Reading assignment
Students read two texts and annotate for examples, explanations, and response strategies before discussing what the evidence shows.
First article
Have students highlight examples of bullying and verbal abuse in yellow, then highlight ways people can respond to bullying in green. Students can use annotations to explain the response they think would be most effective.
Open articleSecond article
Have students highlight explanations for mean internet behavior in blue, then add annotations that paraphrase each explanation in their own words.
Open articleDiscussion
After reading, students write whether they support or challenge each claim, then discuss their responses in small groups.
Collaborative action
In small groups, students create a Web Chart with “Respond to Bullies” in the center. They list possible response strategies in the outside circles, then add another layer explaining why each strategy could work.
Open Web ChartMental, emotional, and social health are connected through how students understand themselves and discover how to manage difficult feelings. You can cover these topics by grade band to target them at an age-appropriate level for all students.
Health sciences resources
Use these Health Sciences pathways to help students connect self-awareness, self-management, relationship-building, self-care, and support systems to mental, emotional, and social health.
Elementary question
How does self-awareness, self-management, and relationship-building all affect mental, emotional, and social health?
Middle and high school question
What are situations that may require professional services and self-care for mental, emotional, and social health?
Full collection
Open elementary collection| Task | Summarized purpose | Sample units |
|---|---|---|
| Self-Awareness | Helps students name feelings and personal characteristics so they can better understand themselves. |
|
| Self-Management | Helps students practice healthy ways to manage difficult feelings, including stress, grief, and loss. |
|
| Relationship-Building | Helps students explore communication, friendship, and how relationships shape social health. |
|
Full collection
Open middle school collection| Task | Summarized purpose | Sample units |
|---|---|---|
| Types of Mental, Emotional, and Social Health Issues | Helps students identify mental, emotional, and social health issues that may require professional support. |
|
| Self-Care | Helps students develop self-care strategies for stress management, resiliency, and positive self-concept. |
|
Full collection
Open high school collection| Task | Summarized purpose | Sample units |
|---|---|---|
| Types of Mental, Emotional, and Social Health Issues | Helps students examine stress, grief, depression, and self-destructive behaviors as part of overall well-being. |
|
| Self-Care | Helps students connect positive self-concept, stress management, and professional health services to well-being. |
|
Once students understand more about bullying and possible ways to stop it, social studies lessons can help them move into action. Use social studies content to focus on using data, civic discussion, and policy thinking to help students brainstorm and carry out bullying prevention plans.
Turn cyberbullying prevention into an evidence-and-action task. This middle school activity by Angie Raquepaw, a Newsela educator, asks students to answer the question “How can we prevent cyberbullying?” and use resources to look for evidence that backs up their answer.
This high school inquiry asks students to investigate what’s protected under the First Amendment, then apply that learning to cyberbullying policy. They’ll analyze court cases, compare standards for student speech, build evidence-based claims about social media, and write an argument that reviews or updates a school cyberbullying policy.
National Bullying Prevention Month is a great place to start the conversation, but it can open up more exploration into empathy, mental health, and healthy relationships. You can keep these conversations going all year with lessons, text sets, and activities.
With the Newsela Learning Suite, you can build on the work you’re doing this month with multimodal content organized by grade band, subject area, and topic.
If you’re not a Newsela customer yet, sign up for Newsela for free and start your 45-day trial of our premium content to access everything you need to teach about National Bullying Prevention Month and other social and mental health topics in your classroom.
Discover 16 World Mental Health Day activities to do with your students to bring awareness to the importance of caring for mental and physical health.
Discover Digital Citizenship Week lessons for the ELA and social studies classrooms to teach students about staying safe and respectful online.
Discover how to build students’ background knowledge before and during lessons to help them understand what they’re reading and make learning stick.
