Friendship Skills, from No Such Thing as a Bully

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No Such Thing as a Bully is the anti-bullying system developed by Kelly Karius and myself. Its central premise is this: if you remove labels like “bully” and “victim,” you change the rules by which people evaluate bullying situations. You change the rules! Whatever role the kid may play, it’s the role that gets labeled, not the kid. Since kids are not boxed into roles, they are free to learn how to express feelings in appropriate ways.

And they are free to learn friendship skills.

• Introducing yourself to new people or to a group
• Starting and maintaining conversations
• Asking questions to learn about others
• Maintaining awareness and control of tone of voice
• Listening and trying to understand
• Understanding, forgiving and empathizing with mistakes
• Accepting people for who they are
• Giving and accepting compliments
• Giving and accepting criticism
• Giving and accepting help
• Cooperating with others
• Negotiation and problem solving
• Supporting friends in difficult times
• Supporting friends in positive growth
• Sharing your space, and your stuff
• Being a good winner and a good loser
• Ignoring annoyances
• Choosing friends

For the most part, these skills are learned through practice, and the practice must start when kids are still small to be fully successful.

BUT. The skills can be taught, and the labels that follow kids throughout school can be overcome. Contact us via No Such Thing as a Bully to find out more!

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~ by Ron Graham on May 29, 2012.