Preteen Lesson on Bullying

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It is safe to say that most of the preteens in your ministry have been bullied at some point on some level (or they’ve been the one doing the bullying).

In fact, I (Nick) share in the below video my story of being bullied as a preteen. (In case you’re wondering…yes…I really did do that to the bully. I’ve always been a bit of a crazy person).

Here is a lesson on bullying for you to use in your preteen ministry.

Opening Game – Unstoppable Stack

Supplies:

• 2-3 decks of playing cards. Enough for each student to have 3-4 cards each

Directions:

Pass out 3-5 playing cards to all your students.

On go, students will have to challenge each other to a duel with a partner. They will each declare a card in the duel, and the highest card wins. (Aces are high, then King-Queen-Jack-Ten- and so on.) The winner takes both cards and puts them on the bottom of their pile of cards.

Both players move on to a new duel. You cannot challenge the same person more than two times in a row.

Once all your cards are gone, you are out of the game.

Continue playing until only two students have cards left.

These two students will go head to head until one of them wins the best 3 out of 5 times against the other.

Teach – Bullying

Say:

At the start of the game, things were pretty equal. Everyone had the same chance of winning as the next person. Then, things changed.

A few of you started winning more and more cards. Those of you with only a few cards left were maybe afraid of those with all the cards. They had a ton of cards, and their chance of beating you was greater.

This reminds me of bullies.

Bullies might start out as a friend. You and them are sort of equals. As time goes on, they say and do things to you that are mean and hurtful.

It eventually gets to the point where you are afraid of them.

You feel you have no chance against them. They are stronger, smarter, prettier or funnier. They have more friends and influence than you.

Their deck is stacked against yours. Sort of like in the game we just played, right?

Discuss the following questions:

• In the game, how did you feel going up against someone with just a few more cards than you?
• What did you feel like when the other person had a lot more cards than you?
• Those of you that had the most cards, how did you feel going up against someone with 1 or 2 cards?
• What does it feel like to be made fun of?
• What does it feel like when someone is mean to you on purpose?
• Have you ever seen someone in school be bullied? What happened? How often does this happen at your school?

Say:

See, there are always going to be people in your lives who think they are better than you. There will be people who are mean to you for no reason. And even if by chance it doesn’t happen to you, there will be people you know who get bullied.

There is different types of bullying too. It can be physical, where the bully actually physically pushes, hits, or hurts you in some way.

Or it can be verbal, where the bully says mean things to you over and over. Or maybe the bully spreads a rumor about you that isn’t true.

Bullies aren’t just something people have to deal with today.

Ask: Can anyone give me the name of a bully or bullies from the Bible?

Give them time to come up with a list, and write them down on the board or paper.

Say:

There are a lot of bullies in the Bible. Many times, the people getting bullied allowed God to protect them. This doesn’t mean they were not scared, but it does mean that no matter how hard it got, they always had faith God would protect them.

Let’s look a guy that never let bullies affect him even when he was faced with being eaten alive.

Open you Bible to Daniel chapter 6

Ask: Can anyone explain the story of Daniel and the Lions’ den?

Allow for a few responses.

Say:

Daniel was the highest advisor to the king, and the other advisers were jealous. In fact they were so jealous they began to talk about Daniel to the king. Just like in our game, they began building a stack of cards so high against Daniel that they felt it could never fall down.

They convinced the king that Daniel should pray to him and no one else. The other advisors knew Daniel would never do this, and it would give the king no choice but to punish Daniel withdeath. See, the bullies were using the king’s fears and Daniel’s love for the Lord against them.

Let’s read what happens: Read Daniel 6:16-23

Say:

Daniel never gave in to the bullies; he had faith God was in control and would protect him. Just like when you are facing a bully, no matter how bad it gets, God will protect you and bring you out of the situation safe.

It can be scary and hard, but no matter how large the stack a bully has and is using against you, it is nothing compared to God’s.

Now, the truth is that you might trust God’s protection against the bully, but the bullying still persists. In that case it is really important to talk to your parents or teacher about the situation. Oftentimes, adults need to step into the situation to help out.

Break your students into groups with a leader in each group. Remind them that this is a safe place and they can talk about anything.

Ask:

• Does anyone want to talk about a time they may have been bullied?
• What was the outcome?

Give them time to talk, and then give them these final thoughts before praying together.

Say:

Dealing with a bully can be one of the scariest things you do, just like Daniel being thrown into a lion’s den. But when we have faith in God and ask Him for His help in those situations, He will be there for us always.

Have the groups pray for each other and for any bullies they have encountered.

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Liked this lesson? You’ll also like this preteen lesson on prayer

About Rob Quinn, the Writer of this Lesson

Rob Quinn serves as the Preteen Ministry Coordinator at Community Bible Church in Brighton, MI. He has been involved with preteen ministry for almost 8 years now. Rob is married to an amazing woman Jodi, who just so happens to be the Children’s Ministry Director at his church. They have one beautiful daughter Sydni, and an 8-pound attack dog named Lilly.