The Silly Bully - The Best Way to Deal With a Bully

In Dr. Lawrence Kolberg's Theory of Moral Development, he says that children in elementary school are very concerned with peer approval. They lack self confidence, and this sometimes leads to distasteful methods of gaining that recognition. I believe that this could explain why some children are bullies. If they could gain recognition and friendships through other avenues, there would not be a need for aggressive behavior. Bullies definitely need to be dealt with, and the best way to deal with a bully is a method that I like to call, "The Silly Bully."

The first thing to do would be to find the bully when he is in a large crowd of peers. The purpose of doing this is because bullies tend to be insecure, and by being surrounded by a large crowd, he will be out of his comfort zone. Once he is in the crowd and out of his comfort zone; he will be at your mercy.

Now that you have completed that step it is important that you draw attention to yourself and the bully. You can do this by shouting out, "I have an exciting announcement to make that deals with free cookies!" Any elementary student in his right mind will undoubtedly give you his full and unwavering attention.

The next step to take after everyone is looking at you is to hold the package of cookies up high for everyone to see. The you say, "(State the bully's name) and I have decided to give everyone a free cookie!" Tell the children to line up and have the bully hand each child a cookie. When he does this you should say, "Isn't (bully's name) a nice person? I sure think so!"

The bully will feel very silly, but will realize that all of the children will like him and want to be his friend. The bully will no longer need to pick on anyone to get attention. The bully will actually thank you for helping him make so many new friends. A lasting friendship will form where no one has hurt feeling because everyone comes out a winner. That is why I feel the method that I call, "The silly bully," is the best way to deal with a bully!