Writing letters to characters in bullying-themed stories: An approach to educating about bullying in early childhood

Abstract

In spite of increasing international concern and the long-term effects of bullying on children’s development, bullying in early childhood has been overlooked and underestimated, with both children and adults having difficulties in recognizing and understanding it. This study explores how young children respond to bully-themed stories, what and how they expressed in writing letters to characters from the stories, and how their attitudes towards and understanding of bullying have changed through a series of reading, discussing and writing about bullying. Drawing from social-constructivist theory, this study was conducted in a classroom of 20 5-year-old children in a metropolitan city in Korea using a qualitative study approach. The children were involved in a large group reading about bullying and follow-up letter-writing activities led by their teacher. The findings show that the approach used in this study helped children clearly understand and recognize bullying. Specifically, the letter-writing activities after reading and discussing bully-themed stories enhanced their understanding of bullying and helped them empathize with the characters. The children also showed various ways of solving problems/issues and practised getting along with other children. Approaches to more meaningful and effective planning and implementing activities for bullying education in the early childhood classroom are discussed.

Books and Bullies: Responses to Bullying in Preschool Students

“…Researchers were also interested in responses before and after the storybook read-aloud when participants acted as the bystander in a common bullying scenario. When results were analyzed by age, results indicated that 5-year-olds were more likely to engage in direct action after reading the storybook read-aloud than before reading, which is consistent with previous work with 5-year-olds and bullying-related books (Wee et al, 2022a;Wee & Lee, 2020). These findings are notable as the book utilized in the class reading discussed both direct and indirect behaviors and presented them both as options for dealing with a bully.…”

“…Finally, researchers were interested in preschoolers' changing conceptualizations of a bully after being exposed to a storybook read-aloud addressing bullying behavior. Results indicated that participants were more likely to correctly identify what a bully was after engaging in the read-aloud, consistent with Wee and Lee's (2020) study. This indicates a rudimentary understanding of bullying behavior at a young age, consistent with other findings (Camodeca et al, 2015;Monks et al, 2005;Vaillancourt et al, 2008).…”

“…Importantly, Wee and colleagues report on a series of recent studies employing bullying-related books in three classrooms in South Korea (see Wee et al, 2022a, b;Wee & Lee, 2020). In these studies, researchers collaborated with teachers to select storybooks with bullying themes and integrate these into a larger curriculum for 5-year-olds that included teacher-led discussions and other activities.…”

“…Researchers coded how participants would respond as a bystander and victim in a bullying encounter. For both the pre-and post-test interviews, responses for victim and bystander were grouped into categories informed by previous research (Card et al, 2008;Fredrick et al, 2020;Wee et al, 2022a;Wee & Lee, 2020). Responses were collapsed into three main categories: (1) Direct (to indicate any kind of direct confrontation with the bully, including physical and verbal confrontation), ( 2) Indirect (to indicate self-oriented, support-seeking behavior, e.g., telling the teacher or parents what they had experienced), and (3) Inaction (to indicate a lack of response or uncertainty in how to respond the situation).…”

Karakter Gotong Royong dalam Paket Pembelajaran Sema

“…Metode yang digunakan adalah: bercerita, tanya jawab, diskusi dan praktik langsung. Dalam penanaman karakter anak, diskusi mengenai suatu nilai meningkatkan pemahaman anak mengenai suatu karakter, membangun empati, melatih anak menunjukkan beragam cara pemecahan masalah dan membuat perencanaan efektif dalam mengimplementasi suatu nilai dalam keseharian mereka (Wee & Lee, 2020). Saat berada di rumah, orang tua dapat menceritakan kembali kisah tokoh inspiratif, melakukan tanya jawab, diskusi bersama nilai karakter kebangsaan, gerak dan lagu bersama serta melakukan aktivitas penguatan karakter kebangsaan bersama anak.…”