Lesson: Group Think (3-5)

DISTRIBUTE the What Would You Do? Student Handout. Have students read Part I, which is the scenario about the sleepover at Jesse’s home.

HAVE students write and share their answers to the four questions in Part I.

LOOK for answers that show that students understand:

• Jesse was probably very embarrassed when Anthony told a popular girl at school that Jesse liked her, especially because the girl probably told a lot of other people. (Also discuss how kids may act differently when they are in groups than by themselves.)
• The boys watching Anthony may have been approving, disapproving, or too scared to stop him. The other kids at school probably teased both Jesse and Mai Yin.
• The bystanders should have done something to stop Anthony or to help Jesse.

REVIEW with students the concept that kids in groups sometimes think and behave differently than they would if they were alone.

ASK: Why do you think people sometimes behave differently in groups?
Sample responses:

• They don’t want to be different.
• They don’t want to stand out and become a target.
• They want approval; they want to be liked.
• They think that others won’t realize it’s them and therefore they can get away with more.

EXPLAIN that the bigger the group of bystanders is, the less likely it is that any one of them will try to help.

DEFINE the Key Vocabulary term upstander.

INSTRUCT students to read Part II of the What Would You Do Student Handout.

HAVE students write and share their answers to the three questions on the handout.

LOOK for answers that show that students understand:

• Anthony’s behavior probably turns to cyberbullying when he sends out the 15 text messages. At that point, Jesse feels like he cannot get away. Also, the messages that Anthony writes posing as Jesse are clearly mean and not just good-natured teasing.
• Jesse may have felt sad, angry, or scared.
• Some of the best things to do to take action are to (1) remind the person who is cyberbullying that the target will be hurt or angry, (2) say out loud that it is not okay to cyberbully, (3) tell a trusted adult (someone who will help you handle the situation), and (4) try to understand the feelings of the target, and talk to that person about how they feel.

DIVIDE students into small groups and ask them to pretend they are bystanders at Jesse’s sleepover. Ask them each to role-play what they could say and do to make the situation either worse or better. Have each group record their answers and share them with the class (or ask a group to act out a role play with someone portraying Jesse).

MAKE a chart for the class listing the key points each group gives. Such points may include:

     What Bystanders Can SAY OR DO to Make Things Worse

• Jesse will be really embarrassed if we tell
• Tell the cyberbully to do it again
• Tell the cyberbully to do it to someone else
• Laugh
• Pretend they don’t know what’s going on
• Do nothing to stop it

     What Bystanders Can SAY OR DO to Make Things Better

• Tell the cyberbully to stop
• Refuse to help the cyberbully
• Try to help Jesse, the target of the bully 
• Tell a trusted adult

ORGANIZE students into groups of four. Have each group choose one person to record their answers.

DISTRIBUTE the Stand Up Student Handout, one to every group of four students.

INVITE students to make a pledge about how they will deal with cyberbullying as a class if it occurs. You can also ask each group to create the pledge together on a Google Doc (docs.google.com).