Friendship & Other Weapons: Group Activities to Help Young Girls Cope with Bullying

Friendship & Other Weapons workshops are based on the book’s 12-session curriculum, written for parents and professionals living and working with elementary school-aged girls.  Customized training provides information, strategies, and activity ideas for giving parents, professionals, and young girls the knowledge and skills to effectively manage bullying.

Interactive workshops, based on the book,  are about breaking the code of silence that governs conflict among girls in the early school years.  By creating safe, open, and fun forums, participants of all ages can talk, listen, compare experiences, and gain new skills for confronting incidents of cruelty disguised as friendship.

Professionals and Parents (Customizable half and full-day workshops)

The early school years are a critical window of time in the social and emotional development of young girls.  Professionals and parents are in an ideal position to shape a girl’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors when it comes to social aggression and bullying.  Friendship & Other Weapons workshops give caring adults a detailed roadmap and realistic resources for guiding girls through this unique period of their development.

Mothers & Daughters (Customizable half and full-day workshops)

Parents often struggle with the question of, “Should I intervene in my daughter’s friendship problems?” The line between helicopter and hands-off parenting can get confusing, as adults waver between wanting to protect their daughters from any kind of hurt and believing that girl fighting is an inevitable rite of passage.

Mother-daughter seminars based on Friendship & Other Weapons bring moms and girls together to address such topics as picking healthy friendships, standing up to bullying, and using social media wisely. Girls gain from learning how to talk about the nature of girl bullying and friendship challenges with their parents while Moms benefit from learning the red flags of relational aggression (aka girl bullying,) in today’s social media landscape. Mother-daughter workshops help open the lines of communication and foster trusting relationships between parents and children.

Elementary School Aged Girls (45-60 minutes)

In this interactive presentation, girls will participate in engaging games, strength-discovering exercises, and hands-on activities to learn important friendship survival skills such as:

• Recognizing the Red Flags of Girl Bullying
• STANding up to Bullying
• Stopping Rumors
• Realizing Personal Strengths
• Connecting with Healthy Friendships
• Fostering Empathy & Cooperation in Girls
• Becoming an Ally to Others Facing Bullying
• Resolving Conflicts Directly
• Using Technology and Social Media Ethically
• Reaching Out to Trustworthy Adults
• Making Values-Based Decisions

Rather than using the Friendship & Other Weapons title for kid audiences, the term Real Friendships is substituted, to emphasize the solution-focused, skill-building nature of each customizable presentation.  Assembly organizers can select from the topics above to create a unique, hands-on experience for girls.

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