8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A perfect read aloud to help staunch the harmful effects of bullying, February 16, 2009
This review is from: Hot Issues, Cool Choices: Facing Bullies, Peer Pressure, Popularity, and Put-downs (Paperback)
Let's face it, being a kid is difficult--dealing with peer pressure, the desire to fit in, the search for self-identity, etc. Sometimes kids participate in things like bullying and teasing they're really not comfortable doing, but they just don't know how to stand up to other children. Unfortunately, way too many children are on the receiving end of this teasing and bullying which can permanently damage their self esteem and sadly sometimes result in suicide or violence towards others.
Luckily, Sandra McLeod Humphrey's has created a new book to help children learn how to stand up for other children and even for themselves in an effort to staunch the harmful bullying that is seen in schools. Ms. McLeod Humphrey decided to write Hot Issues, Cool Choices: Facing Bullies, Peer Pressure, Popularity, and Put-downs when she heard the story of Tommy, a 12-year old boy, who committed suicide because he was bullied. The book is dedicated to Tommy's memory.
Through numerous interviews with teachers, students, and parents, Ms. McLeod Humphrey created a fictional elementary school, Emerson Elementary, and presents over 25 scenarios told from the point of view of children in the school. The scenarios cover a wide range of issues, from name-calling, harassment, peer pressure, rumors, and even suicidal thoughts. At the end of each scenario is a number of thought-provoking discussion questions asking students to talk about what they would do, how the children in story felt, and more.
For example, in the scenario, "No, No, a Thousand Times No!," a boy named Eric is having a Halloween party, and Jeremy, an unpopular boy asks if he can come. Eric believes that if he invites him, he will lose friends, and others will think he's just as "weird" as Jeremy. Questions children are prompted to answer include,
* "What do you think Eric should do? Why?"
* "How you feel about Jeremy?"
* "Do you think Eric will really lose all his friends if he invites Jeremy to his party?"
* "Do you think Jeremy knows how Eric and his friends feel about him?"
Finally, there's a "Trading Places," question: "How would you feel if you were Jeremy and you weren't invited to Eric's party." (p 32)
It's these "Trading Places," questions that I feel are the most powerful. Putting yourself in someone else's shoes really helps others feel empathy and perhaps enables them to be brave enough to stand up and change destructive behaviors.
The overarching message of the book is to follow "the golden rule" and to treat others the way you'd like to be treated. In the author's final note, Ms. McLeod Humphrey states, "You don't have to be 'best friends' with everyone, but you can still treat everyone with respect and courtesy" (p. 121).
In the back of the book, you can also find bullying statistics, online resources, and an afterword that includes more information about bullying and action steps bystanders can take to help prevent it.
This book makes a perfect read aloud for teachers and students and parents and children, and is chock full of discussion opportunities that can make a huge difference and perhaps even save lives.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
SFC 5 star review, January 15, 2008
This review is from: Hot Issues, Cool Choices: Facing Bullies, Peer Pressure, Popularity, and Put-downs (Paperback)
Award-winning Minnesota author, Sandra McLeod Humphrey, has created a must-have book for anyone addressing the issue of bullying in our schools.
Any parent that has a child in school, and any child IN school knows that bullying has grown to epidemic proportions in our society today. Ms. Humphrey took her expertise, gained as a retired clinical psychologist who worked with troubled children, and put it to great use in writing this book.
Prompted to write this book after hearing of a twelve-year old boy's suicide from being bullied, Sandra interviewed parents that shared their painful stories about their kids being bullied; and many teachers let Sandra interview the children themselves that were being bullied. She writes a compelling book about mythical Emerson Elementary School and a school full of students who aren't real students, but each a compilation of a typical student in any school anywhere in America that is facing the bullying issue.
The issues are real, and very heartbreaking to read. Ms. Humphrey makes this book an easy read for anyone needing to learn more about "what to do" when facing bullying issues. Each scenario is written in a chapter format, with thought-provoking questions at the end of each chapter, including a section she calls "Trading Places", which will put the reader in the position of the bully's victim, the bystander, or the bully him/herself. All I can say is: Where was this book when I was growing up? Surprisingly, every scenario on bullying that was discussed in this book is also a situation I have found myself in, even as an adult. Now I know what to do! Yay! This is a must-have book for everyone to use as a "manual" to cope with bullies everywhere!
Gayle Jacobson-Huset
Assistant Editor - Stories for Children Magazine
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Most Important Book for Today's Children - American Author's Association Review, February 7, 2008
This review is from: Hot Issues, Cool Choices: Facing Bullies, Peer Pressure, Popularity, and Put-downs (Paperback)
Humphrey continues with her series on childhood ethics and behavior with this easy-to-read offering. The author boldly tackles one of the most frightening subjects of today's adolescents since Columbine--bullying and its consequences. Humphrey follows the same format as her previous titles in the series, but with slight modifications that make it more appealing to an older reading audience. Vignettes are used to establish circumstances where moral and ethical dilemmas are raised. These are then followed by a number of questions that make the reader/listener to think about decisions and whether they are right or wrong inherently. This book, however, is more driven toward addressing decisions and behaviors that lead to, or in reaction to, bullying. The topics raised include Compassion, Empathy, Exploitation, and Social Manipulation. This is a book that teaches children though parables how and why they should avoid becoming bullies as well as how to react to the bullies they will undoubtedly meet. These lessons are presented well and make this book all too important in these times.
Karl L. Kruger for The American Author Association
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