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Empower Girls to Deal with Bullies
About the Book : Friendship & Other Weapons empowers elementary school aged girls with the knowledge and skills they need to effectively manage bullying.
This 12-session discussion guide and curriculum for parents and professionals is about breaking the code of silence that governs conflict among girls in their early school years. By creating safe, open, and fun forums in which group members can talk, learn, and compare experiences, elementary school aged girls gain skills for speaking up when it comes to expressing their feelings and confidence for confronting incidents of cruelty disguised as friendship.
Friendship & Other Weapons helps preserve the exuberant, confident voices of young girls and strengthen their skills to assertively express their thoughts and feelings in ways that respect others, reject bullying behavior, and reflect important values such as empathy, kindness, cooperation, connectedness, personal responsibility, and self-respect. Based on thought-provoking discussions, engaging games, strength-discovering exercises, and confidence-boosting fun, the hands-on activities in Friendship & Other Weapons build critical knowledge and friendship survival skills such as:
- Recognizing the Red Flags of Girl Bullying, Responding Assertively to Bullying Behavior, Realizing Personal Strengths, Connecting with Healthy Friendships, Becoming an Ally to Others Facing Bullying, Resolving Conflicts Directly, Using Technology and Social Media Ethically, Reaching Out to Trustworthy Adults, Making Values-Based Decisions
Review by Mom Does Reviews:
I always used to think that bullies were always boys, the big mean ones that pick on the littler, nerdy-type kids. But Bullying isnt’ always about boys! Signe’s book outlines a group study to help young girls aged 5 to 11 build lasting friendships. Friendship and Other Weapons is a great book for brownies or girl scouts to school guidance to church groups.
The book is set up in 12 sessions, perfect for weekly meetings. Each session has a friendship journal page. The girls get to express themselves with words or drawings related to what they learned that week. One week the friendship journal page asks the girls to write their first names with letters going vertically down the page. For each letter, write a word that describes something you are proud of. That sounds like a great activity. I might use that for my journal.
For every session a parent letter goes home. It reviews what the girls have learned that week, talks about upcoming events and shares what the girls will be writing in their Friendship Journal. It’s a great way to reinforce what the girls learned that week.
Session 5- STANDing up to bullies, is my favorite session in Signe’s book. Each letter in STANd- Show Strength, Tell an Adult, Assert yourself, Now!-stands for a great way to remember what to do when you are being bullied. My son learned these same actions in his karate classes. These are great things to remember when girls face bullying in school.
I really liked the role playing in the book. Learning hands on is a great way to reinforce positive behaviors. Signe uses games and fun hands on activities to build knowledge and “friendship survival skills.” We can empower our girls to fight back against bullies. Signe teaches us how to boost girl’s self esteem and give them powerful friendship weapons to use everyday! I highly recommend this book for educators, social workers, parents, church leaders and anyone who is involved in Bully campaigns.
About the author: Signe Whitson is an author and educator on bullying, crisis intervention, and child and adolescent emotional and behavioral health. In her articles,books, and training workshops, Signe provides down-to-earth, practical advice for professionals and parents on navigating the daily challenges of living and working with children, tweens and teens. Be sure to visit Signe’s website to learn more about her.
Disclaimer: I received no compensation for this review. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Mom Does Reviews is not responsible for sponsor prize shipment.