October is National Bullying Prevention Month! Last week I reviewed Sophia Writes to Her Bully and this week it's another book by the same author but with a different scenario.
Book Title: A Bully on the School Bus by Dr. Mildred D. Peyton and Leah N. Peyton
Illustrator: Andy Hoang
Category: Children's fiction, 26 pages
Genre: Education, Social Skills & School Life
Release date: Sept 2015
Tour dates: Oct 8 to 26 2018
Content Rating: G
Nicole is the main character in the book "A Bully on the School Bus." Nicole is a young girl who rides the school bus to school every day. It wasn't until Nicole started experiencing problems with another bus-rider named Dylan when she became uncomfortable being on this bus. Her experience with Dylan is a form of bullying, and she was frightened. After several incidences, Nicole made her parent aware and found a way to solve the problem.
Last week I reviewed another one of Dr. Mildred D. Peyton's books titled Sophia Writes to Her Bully. As I mentioned in that review, I think bullying is a topic that parents need to take seriously and help their children deal with. A Bully on the School Bus is another book that brings up the common topic of bullying on the school bus.
Nicole is asked by a boy named Dylan to get up from her seat because he wants to sit there. He repeats the behaviour the next day more forcefully and Nicole tells the bus driver as her parents suggested she do. Once again, I liked that Nicole spoke to her parents about it and they both listened and gave her suggestions as to what to do if it happened again.
The book did not offer an alternate solution if Dylan didn't stop his behaviour, as my experience has been that bullies do not give up right away. For this reason, I believe the story could have been better fleshed out since bullying rarely has an easy and quick solution. And most of the time, it takes several interventions before the problem is satisfactorily resolved. Nicole came across as fearless as she refused twice not to give up her seat. Usually kids who are picked on are not fearless, hence the reason they get picked on. However, I applaud Nicole for standing up for herself and she could be a good role model for children who have difficulty doing so.
Possible issues that could have been included: What if Dylan retaliated because Nicole told on him to the bus driver? Bullies know that once the bus driver is driving, he cannot see what is going on behind him. What if the bus driver was a big burly man and came across as intimidating? Not all kids are comfortable speaking to an adult they do not know very well about a problem that affects them emotionally. Perhaps Nicole's parents could have suggested that if Nicole was shy, they would have privately discussed the issue with the bus driver. Or that Nicole sit right up front close to the bus driver or that she not take a seat as soon as she enters the bus and remain standing instead until Dylan comes into the bus and that way he could not ask her to give up her seat. All these scenarios and strategies could have been discussed so that this book would appeal to children of various ages and circumstances.
Overall, this book offers a good idea on how to deal with a bullying situation. It's a book that parents can use with their children to open up the conversation on how to best deal with bullying. We need to keep the conversation going, so books like this one are important. The illustrations are age-appropriate and the author includes tips for students, parents and school personnel at the back of the book as well as links to helpful resources for parents.
To read reviews, please visit Dr. Mildren Peyton's page on iRead Book Tours.
Dr. Mildred Peyton is the President and Founder of Peyton Consulting, LLC. Dr. Peyton established her consulting firm, which was initially geared towards school bullying services, in March 2016. She was inspired to create Peyton Consulting and become a children's author on bullying after completing her doctoral research study entitled, "Exploring the Meaning of School Bullying Among Parents of Victimized Children."
During her undergraduate internship in 2002-2003 at Salisbury Middle School in Wicomico County, Dr. Peyton and her team developed and facilitated a mentoring program, providing one-on-one conflict resolution and mediating skills to students who were identified by the program coordinator with ongoing needs of behavioral issues. One of the key/primary areas Dr. Peyton and the other mentors focused on was educating and addressing bullying issues with bullies and victims. And in her graduate program, Dr. Peyton also facilitated a school bullying focus group in 2005 at Maryvale Elementary School in Montgomery County, to teach participants about bullying behaviors and how to avoid bullying others. She also attended several bullying workshops to learn about the latest studies while working with the students. Her passion on this topic followed her even as she served as a member on the Committee on Hate/Violence at Montgomery County Office of Human Rights, in 2013. There she developed a brochure for students and parents for the annual bullying symposium and, provided rich knowledge and skills on this topic throughout the year.
Today, the company has expanded its services to target workplace bullying as well. With the experiences of others and Dr. Peyton's personal experience with adult bullying in the workplace (which caused her to resign from her employer in 2016), she believes attention, guidance, and solutions are also critical in this area. Dr. Peyton holds a Ph.D. in Human and Social Services with a concentration in Social Policy Analysis & Planning. She has a Bachelor's degree in Social Work and Sociology and a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology. Dr. Peyton is committed to using her knowledge and skills to influence positive change among students and adults.
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