Elementary School Bullying: "The Playground Bully"

October is National Anti-Bullying Month here in the US, and we will be spending this week posting about bullying and persecution. We hope that you will be blessed by what you read.

Many people today think of teenagers when they think of bullying, but the truth is it’s still a problem in the elementary schoolyard. The days of the "playground bully" exchanging a bloody nose for lunch money may seem dated, but haven't really disappeared; while money doesn't usually exchange hands, they still taunt the "weird kid" the "four-eyed kid," and the "fat kid." Despite the best efforts of a teacher/monitor/aide/coach/driver, there is no possible way to see and hear every single interaction between kids, especially in places like the playground, the gym, cafeteria, or school bus. While the motives have adjusted slightly with the times, there is still the very real possibility your child may be tormented by a bully.

My daughter, who is 5 and attending kindergarten, has already brought home stories of mean, bullying behavior from her classmates. Some has been directed at her (one of her classmates apparently has something to say about her wardrobe nearly every day), and some directed at her friends (one of her classmates went home with her braided hair full of dirt).

Here is a brief video where she talks about what to do when a bully is being mean:

Bottom line: a bully is rarely a bully for no reason; children are often bullies because they've been bullied. Talk to your children, find out as much of the whole story as possible, and if a problem persists, talk to your child’s teacher. Oftentimes, your child is not alone and other parents have done the same. Explain the steps you can take with your child: avoidance, forgiveness, kindness, alerting an adult. Enrolling your child in a class for self-defense, karate, etc. may make the child feel more confident, but always be sure your child understands fighting is the very last resort.

On Friday, we will post reviews and info about books and videos for your family that talk about bullying. One way I found information was to go to the public library and search for the keyword “bully.” I hope that you also find great info for your family.

Melissa McGinnis is the Children's Ministry Director for LHF.

Video Message: An Ordinary Day

We hope you enjoyed our first video message, "Movement" (if you haven't see it yet, click here). We also hope that you enjoy and are blessed by this message, "An Ordinary Day," by our Lead Pastor, Rev. Ellis Hayden. This message is from 7/1/2012.

Movement: a video sermon

On Sunday, June 17, 2012, LHF's Administrative and Missional Pastor, Rev. Ben Bright, delivered a great message on creating a movement. 


We are proud to share it with you. Hope it blesses and inspires you!







Thank you for watching! It is our hope that we will be able to share many more uplifting messages by our amazing pastors!

Funnier than...Heck

Anyone who thinks God may not have a sense of humor can look at two things to believe otherwise: the platypus and my daily life. I truly believe that God wants us to laugh. It's healthy; it burns calories, reduces stress, and raises your heart rate (for more about the benefits of laughter, see this WebMD article). And it's FUN.

Proverbs 17:22 MSG says "A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired "

So, to pass on a little laughter, I have gathered some cool stuff around the Internet, and encourage you to look for your own good, clean fun as well!

Fun Sites:

Stuff Christians Like -- Written by Jon Acuff, author of Quitter and a book of the same title as the blog. Creative, insightful, inspirational, and downright hilarious.

Clean Christian Jokes -- Just like the title suggest, this is a database of clean jokes. May of them are cheesy, but good for a chuckle.

Memes:

More Fun Photos:

Videos:

My Dream Father's Day from andrewmanzano on GodTube.

John Branyan - The Three Little Pigs from timhawkinscomedy on GodTube.

You may not have thought everything here was hilarious, but I hope you got a chuckle, and don't be afraid to seek out laughter in the world. God has give us the ability to laugh, to enjoy the funny things that happen, and find joy in silliness and absurdity. 


Melissa McGinnis is the Children's Ministry Director for LHF. She both finds and provides many reasons to laugh everyday.

Review: Johnny Rogers ZuCamp Series

Working in Children’s Ministry, I am always looking for curriculum to engage my audience, which consists of mixed-age children ranging at any point in time from 2- to 10-year-olds. Often I design my own curriculum and “aim for the middle,” where my older kids act as mentors to my younger ones, learning in an applicable way. This works well, but sometimes it would be nice to use something that requires less direct preparation and more spiritual legwork.

Enter Johnny Rogers. Designed for 6-12 years, there are multiple series available. The site where I (or rather, my husband, who loves looking for stuff on the Internet) found it (www.kidmo.com) offers several courses, but allows you to request samples to preview and “try out” with the kids. Forms were filled out and discs were shipped. What I received was Lesson 2 of the ZuCamp series, which teaches about putting God’s Love into action. Lesson 2, “The church cares for people,” focused on teaching kids that God’s Church isn’t in four walls, but within us, and by caring for people, we take the church to them (which lines up directly with our church’s Core Beliefs, Values, and Mission Statement).


I tried it with the kids, and it was a HUGE success! The video lesson DVDs include their own worship songs, which were an especially big hit with the twirling dancer in the class, but also upbeat and engaging enough to encourage our “too big for bouncing” brooding worshipper. The video lesson was quirky, humorous, campy, and cheesy in the very best sense. It was also Scripturally grounded and had a sound point made continuously through the lesson. The characters were over-the-top in a fun way, and the class got a particularly large giggle at the ZuCamp leader trying to resuscitate a rubber chicken. I found it enjoyable to watch and the kids were enthralled. After the lesson, the kids enthusiastically let me know they wanted more like it, and were able to tell me in their own words what they learned, including the youngest class members. To say I am impressed is an understatement, and we will be buying the entire ZuCamp series, and I am looking forward to trying other series as well (a complete listing is available at www.kidmo.com). 


In addition to the great lesson and worship music, the DVD contains “opener” music to be played while kids are coming in, a trivia section, and other reinforcement sections. It is designed to be popped into the DVD player and let run with minimal interference from the teacher. It does have a section menu so that relevant sections can be used, while those that are less applicable can be skipped. There are also resource CD-ROMS that come with the lessons with extra materials, such as worksheets, which are handy, but weren’t directly applicable in my Children’s Church setting because we have such a broad scale of reading levels in our group I generally avoid worksheets in favor of simple hands-on crafts that every child can do with little or no assistance. At $149.00 for the entire series, this is not likely to break most church budgets and can of course be used more than once (it could also be used for a four-day Vacation Bible School with a “camp” theme).


Thank you, Johnny Rogers, for making the lives of Children’s Church and Sunday School teachers just a bit easier!


www.kidmo.com also offers Phil Vischer’s What’s In the Bible? Elementary Program for Churches, and Lil’ K Preschool Program lessons (ages 2-5). I also previewed a Lil’ K video, and while it is not applicable to my Children’s Church situation, it is cute, reminiscent of “Blue’s Clues,” and has a strong Scriptural foundation as well. I have not at this time reviewed the What’s In the Bible? sample disc I received.


Melissa McGinnis is the Children’s Ministry Director for LHF. Her opinions are her own and she was not compensated for this review in any way.