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A simple story employs a bucket as a metaphor for our emotional selves. Others can help us to fill up or to empty our bucket.

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Summary/Review: When Felix wakes up one morning, he finds an invisible bucket floating overhead. A rotten morning threatens his mood--and his bucket--drop by drop. Can Felix discover how to refill his bucket before it's completely empty?

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When Felix wakes up one morning, he finds an invisible bucket floating overhead. A rotten morning threatens his mood--and his bucket--drop by drop. Can Felix discover how to refill his bucket before it's completely empty?

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A picture book about a boy dreaming of a pair of new shoes that his family can't afford.

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Summary/Review: "All Jeremy wants is a pair of those shoes, the ones everyone at school seems to be wearing. Though Jeremy's grandma says they don't have room for "want," just "need," when his old shoes fall apart at school, he is more determined than ever to have those shoes, even a thrift-shop pair that are much too small. But sore feet aren't much fun, and Jeremy soon sees that the things he has - warm boots, a loving grandma, and the chance to help a friend - are worth more than the things he wants."

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"All Jeremy wants is a pair of those shoes, the ones everyone at school seems to be wearing. Though Jeremy's grandma says they don't have room for "want," just "need," when his old shoes fall apart at school, he is more determined than ever to have those shoes, even a thrift-shop pair that are much too small.

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A story about a little pig who wants a friend, and is eventually taken under the wing of a wise spider.

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A picture book about a little mouse whose classmates make fun of her name.

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Chrysanthemum loves her name, until she starts going to school and the other children make fun of it.

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A novel about a grade 5 boy with a facial deformity.

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Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, who was born with extreme facial abnormalities and was not expected to survive, goes from being home-schooled to entering fifth grade at a private middle school in Manhattan, which entails enduring the taunting and fear of his classmates as he struggles to be seen as just another student.

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A novel which explores loneliness and friendships in children.

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Read 16.5k reviews from the world’s largest community for readers. Jess Aarons’ greatest ambition is to be the fastest runner in his grade. He’s been pract…

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"Educators play an important role in promoting children and youth’s well-being by creating, fostering, and sustaining a learning environment that is healthy, caring, safe, inclusive, and accepting. A learning environment of this kind will support not only students’ cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development but also their mental health, their resilience, and their overall state of well-being. All this will help them achieve their full potential in school and in life" (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2015, p. 3).

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"Educators play an important role in promoting children and youth’s well-being by creating, fostering, and sustaining a learning environment that is healthy, caring, safe, inclusive, and accepting. A learning environment of this kind will support not only students’ cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development but also their mental health, their resilience, and their overall state of well-being. All this will help them achieve their full potential in school and in life" (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2015, p. 3).

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The Health and Physical Education makes children's overall well being an important priority of educators; it is our duty to ensure that children feel physically, intellectually, and emotionally safe in our schools and classes; both reactively and proactively dealing with bullying and aggression is one key component of this.

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Some books we could use to spark discussion related to bullying and empathy in our classes:

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Some books we could use to spark discussion related to bullying and empathy in our classes:

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Students are given small papers and write as if they were characters from the story. They can involve other characters, people, or even themselves (2009, p. 539-40)

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Students create "freeze frames" and "10-second dramas" to show a moment from the play they have seen or the story they have read and the feelings that occur in it (2009, p. 539)

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Students sit in one large outer circle and one small inner circle, taking turns retelling the play they have seen (or the story they have heard) to different people. Half the class tells the story to their partner while the other half listens and then the two groups switch. This activity is to break the ice and make students more comfortable for the sharing they will later engage in (2009, p. 536-7)

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SOME RELEVANT ACTIVITIES described by Holland (2009):

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SOME RELEVANT ACTIVITIES described by Holland (2009):

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Students take turns in the hot seat where they become one of the characters from the play (or the story); their classmates ask them questions about their experience (2009, p. 538).

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For consideration: this was a government initiative which involved an organized theatre group. Could we still find ways to apply the strategies and activities they used even without their resources? 

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For consideration: this was a government initiative which involved an organized theatre group. Could we still find ways to apply the strategies and activities they used even without their resources? 

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We could attempt to do this by telling stories to students or collaborating with other educators in a school environment to create and enact plays that focus on bullying, friendship, and empathy. These activities could then be integrated into the class, allowing for discussion.

By choosing situations, stories, and activities that are developmentally appropriate for children, we could involve them in the development of empathic thinking, even from a very young age!

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Could drama be one way to help students develop empathy, and thereby proactively discourage bullying and aggression? 

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Could drama be one way to help students develop empathy, and thereby proactively discourage bullying and aggression? 

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In New Zealand, a government initiative used drama and related activities with this goal in mind. Students saw a play on child abuse and then engaged in activities that allowed them to consider the experiences of the characters in the play (Holland, 2009).

Although their focus was abuse, not bullying, their activities and discussions could be adapted for students to develop empathy, thereby potentially helping to reduce rates of bullying.

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Watch one grade 4 teacher deal with bullying that occurred amongst his students. 

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Watch one grade 4 teacher deal with bullying that occurred amongst his students. 

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(Hinohara & Nogami, 2003).

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Garandeau, C. F., Vartio, A., Poskiparta, E. & Salmivalli, C. (2016). School Bullies’ Intention to Change Behavior Following Teacher Interventions: Effects of Empathy Arousal, Condemning of Bullying, and Blaming of the Perpertrator. In Prevention Science 17(8), 1034-1043.
Retrieved from http://journals2.scholarsportal.info.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/pdf/13894986/v17i0008/1034_sbitcbbabotp.xml

Hinohara, N. & Nogami, J. (2003). Children Full of Life [Documentary]. Japan, Canada: Gravitas Ventures.
Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tLB1lU-H0M&t=1058s

Holland, C. (2009). Reading and acting in the world: conversations  about empathy. In RiDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance 14(8), 529-544.
Retrieved from: http://journals2.scholarsportal.info.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/pdf/13569783/v14i0004/529_raaitwcae.xml

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2015). The Ontario curriculum grades 1-8: Health and Physical Education.

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Garandeau showed that reactive bullying interventions were most effective when educators condemned the bullying behaviour (as opposed to the bully), and attempted to provoke empathy for the victim. In these cases, children who had bullied had higher rates of intent to stop bullying (2016). 

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Garandeau showed that reactive bullying interventions were most effective when educators condemned the bullying behaviour (as opposed to the bully), and attempted to provoke empathy for the victim. In these cases, children who had bullied had higher rates of intent to stop bullying (2016). 

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One further question that future research could address; did their actions reflect their intent?

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"It is hard to be cruel once you permit yourself to enter the mind of the victim. Imagining what it is like to someone other than yourself is at the core of our humanity. It is the essence of compassion and it is the beginning of morality." (Neeland, 2001).