Just Kidding, written by Trudy Ludwig, is a book about teaching awareness about bullying. It is about a boy who is constantly being made fun of, and he hates it. His name is D.J. and the bully, Vince, thinks he is a funny guy and makes jokes at D.J.'s expense. D.J. is tired of being made fun of and being picked on by Vince, so he gets a small lesson from his father about bullies and tries to solve the problem, when the problem doesn't get solved they go to the principal. D.J. believes that "its fun to kid around with your friends and family. But...when a joke has a sharp edge to it, it can cut you to pieces." Just Kidding would be a good book to read to older students, upper elementary, who feel they are funny and don't realize they are being bullies. It would be a good book for students to hear and to keep them aware of what they are actually doing to others even when they feel it was just a joke. The artwork of the book is very captivating and the emotions of the children in the book really give that bully/victim feel, you can see the hurt in the victim and the "joke" in the bully. It provides the reader with advice to tell students who are bullied, and also gives a chart of Do's and Don'ts about bullying. This would be a great book to keep in the classroom whenever these situations arise!
This sounds like a book that needs to be read to my current practicum class! They had a comprehension passage yesterday about a kid who is being bullied and that led to an intersting discussion among the class. It seems that they all had a idea of what bullying was but they didn't recognize that some of their own behaviors could be considered bullying. I think that if they keep hearing about these situations from different perspectives, it will help students to be more understanding of those that are being made fun of.
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