Dealing with bullying is a difficult task for most adolescents. If not handled effectively, bullying can cause severe distress and can lead to physical injury and/or social withdrawal. Managed well, the negative impacts of bullying can be minimized and the bullying can be eliminated. This module demonstrates methods that adolescents can use to effectively cope with bullying.

BeCool teaches students about the three basic ways we respond to bullying: Aggressively (HOT), Passively (COLD) or Assertively (COOL). In each of the video scenarios, children are challenged by a difficult person or situation. Your students will watch as their video peers hesitate and then model three different ways to respond to conflict: Giving Up (COLD), Blowing Up (HOT) or Staying in Control (COOL).

Using the BeCool 4-Step Assertion Plan, your students will learn how to assertively cope with bullying. Whether bullying presents in the form of verbal abuse, physical abuse or sexual harassment, it is essential that students be prepared with some tools and a plan for coping with this very difficult behavior. Bullying is rampant today. Many schools have a zero tolerance policy regarding sexual harassment and other forms of bullying. Unfortunately, ruling it out doesn’t make it go away. In these three vignettes your students are introduced to three ways to handle bullies. They can be COLD and withdraw, or HOT and blow up, which is almost guaranteed to make matters worse. Students can also practice being COOL, assertive and effective. A variety of cool responses to bullying are demonstrated, giving students a repertoire of positive and more confident solutions.

The BeCool Paradigm is research based and truly works.