Recommended Reading
Brown, Lyn Mikel and Madden, Mary. From Adversaries to Allies: A Curriculum for Change. Waterville, ME: Hardy Girls Healthy Women.
- a group curriculum program for middle school girls designed to create a “hardiness zone”, a safe and supportive space for girls after school
- helps girls to develop ideas and take action to transform girlfighting behavior into building girl allies
- overarching goals of this curriculum are:
- to create an active coalition of girls
- to provide activities and facilitation for group discussions
- to supply girls with a foundation for social change
Dellesga, Cheryl & Nixon, Charisse (2003). Girl Wars: 12 Strategies that will End Female Bullying. New York, NY: Fireside.
- Includes true stories from mothers and girls
- offers practical and effective solutions that stop girls from hurting each other with words and actions
- offers ways to intervene when such behavior happens
- offers ways to overcome the culture that breeds and perpetuates such behavior
- easy-to-implement strategies include:
- adopt a “help, don’t hurt” strategyprovide positive role models
- teach communication skills online and off
- stress assertiveness, not aggressiveness
- learn conflict resolution skills
- identify alternatives to bullying behavior
Dellasega, Cheryl. (2006). The Girls’ Friendship Journal: A guide to relationships. Belgium, Wisconsin Champion Press.
- This workbook-style guide will help elementary and middle school girls learn positive relational skills in a fun and informative way. With an adult facilitator, the activities can be done individually, in a workshop or classroom, or through a community organization.
- The individual worksheets are geared towards self-reflection of your strengths/weaknesses in relationships, including experiences with:
- Relational Aggression (RA)
- perspective-taking for the different roles related to RA
- building confidence/self-worthanalyzing conflict scenarios
- other friendship-related issues
- Additional resources are on the website: www.opheliaproject.com
Norby, Alissa. (2008). Girls in the Lead. Chapin, SC: YouthLight, Inc.
- A small group, strength based curriculum for girls in grades 6-12 to help them with relational-aggression and other social/ emotional challenges
- Contains: role-play scenarios, interactive activities, reproducible activity sheets, journaling topics, pre/post surveys, and program evaluation forms
- Includes “fun, interactive, and engaging activities” (e.g., performing arts, journal writing, and affirmations) to effectively address relational aggression in girls
- The curriculum consists of twelve sessions developed for classroom and other small group settings.
- Helps girls learn healthy and productive ways handle conflict.
- This hands-on curriculum is intended “to aid girls in understanding and exploring the dynamics of friends, relationships, and conflict” while also “to figure out how to resolve issues in a positive and constructive manner.”
Senn, Dianne (2008). Bullying in the Girl’s World. Chapin, SC: YouthLight, Inc.
- Provides information for a school-wide approach to relational aggression including information relevant for administrators
- Curriculum activities for classrooms, most applicable for elementary and middle school grades
- Offers information for parents on girl bullying
- Includes worksheets and guidelines for individual and small group counseling sessions
Taylor, Julia V. (2008). Salvaging Sisterhood. Chapin, SC: YouthLight, Inc.
- For school-aged girls.
- This set of worksheets is intended for use by teachers, parents, or adult facilitators in a school classroom, workshop, or community organization setting.
- Worksheets include active icebreaker activities and involve topics such as: Finding common interests, Active listening, and Roleplaying to demonstrate coping with Relational Aggression.
- Several worksheets are also geared for parents and teachers and provide parenting tips for dealing with relational aggression. Activities involving self-reflection of parenting styles are also included.
- Additional resources can be found on the website: www.juliavtaylor.com
Wiseman, Rosalind. (2007). Owning up curriculum: Empowering adolescents to confront social cruelty, bullying and injustice. Washington D.C.
- For high school and middle school
- The book is intended for use by teachers in a school classroom, and it is divided into chapters according to one class’s worth of curricula
- Topics relate to relational aggression and respecting self and others
- First half of the book is for girls only, second half is for boys only
- Has detailed suggestions for group discussions and lists numerous interactive group activities, such as “Girl World Box”, roleplays, “Three Corners exercise”. Also has suggestions for dyadic and individual, self-reflective activities.
- Last few curricula chapters are geared toward romantic relationships and safety
- Additional resources can be found on the website: www.rosalindwiseman.com
Other Recommended Books
- Molly Barker, Girls on Track, 2004.
- Allan L Beane, The Bully Free Classroom: Over 100 Tips and Strategies for Teachers K-8
- Binghan and Striker, Things will be Different for my Daughter, 1995.
- Lyn Mikel Brown. Creating Safe, Fair, and Responsive Schools, 2005.
- Lyn Mikel Brown,Girlfighting: Betrayal And Rejection Among Girls, 2003.
- Patti Criswell, A Smart Girl’s Guide to Friendship Troubles, 2003.
- Barbara Coloroso, The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander: From Preschool to High School–How Parents and Teachers Can Help Break the Cycle of Violence
- Cheryl Dellasega, Girl Wars : 12 Strategies That Will End Female Bullying, 2003.
- Cheryl Dellasega, Surviving Ophelia, 2002.
- Cheryl Dellasega, The Girl’s Friendship Journal: A Guide to Relationships, 2006.
- Susan Douglas, Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism’s Work Is Done, 2010
- Susan Douglas, Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media, 1995.
- J. Garbarino & E. Delara, And Words Can Hurt Forever: How to Protect Adolescents from Bullying,
Harassment, and Emotional Violence, 2003.
- Judy Freedman, Easing the Teasing: Helping Your Child Cope with Name-Calling, Ridicule and Verbal Bullying
- Erika V. Shearin Karres, Mean Chicks, Cliques, and Dirty Tricks: A Real Girl’s Guide to Getting
Through the Day With Smarts and Style, 2004.
- Sharon Lamb, The Secret Life of Girls
- Lynda Madison, Keep Talking: A Mother-Daughter Guide to the Pre-Teen Years, 1997.
- Nancy Mullin-Rindler, Selected Bibliography about Teasing and Bullying for Grades K-8, 2003.
- D. Olweus, Bullying at School: What We Know and What We Can Do, 1993.
- Rachel Simmons, Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls, 2003.
- Rachel Simmons, Odd Girl Speaks Out: Girls Write about Bullies, Cliques, Popularity,
and Jealousy, 2004.
- Marion Underwood, Social Aggression among Girls, 2003.
- Rosalind Wiseman, Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip,
Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence, 2003.
