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TEACH Bullying Prevention

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Bullying Prevention simple lesson.

Simple Lesson

Direct bullying includes aggressive behaviors that occur in the presence of the target. Indirect bullying behaviors occur when the target isn’t present.
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Bullying Prevention Lesson

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How common in bullying? What can a young athlete do if they’re being bullied or if they find themselves being the bystander to bullying? As a coach, how can you help identify, address, and prevent bullying on your team? Find answers to these questions and more inside the TrueSport Bullying Prevention lesson!
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Bullying Prevention Lesson Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Abby Raymond, Team USA Weightlifter, and multiple-time younth weightlifting National Champion.

Today I want to talk to you about bullying and bullying prevention, and there are three things I’d like you to know:

First, bullying can be common in sports. If you see bullying on a team, tell your coach or a trusted adult.

Second, if you think the way someone is being treated is wrong, you are probably right. Trust your instincts.

And third, despite all our many differences, everyone deserves to be treated with respect.

Bullying behaviors can be direct, such as name-calling, intimidating, or punching.

And bullying behaviors can be indirect, such as spreading rumors or cyber bullying.

Often bullying isn’t just a simple case of good-guy verses bad-guy.

Bullying behaviors often arise after someone experiences trauma, so try to practice empathy towards both the person getting bullied AND the person displaying bullying behaviors.

Even though I am the strong, confident, and courageous person you see today, I too have experienced bullying.

I had just returned home from my first Olympic & Paralympic Training Center camp and was looking forward to starting my 7th grade year.

I was having a lot of success in weightlifting and was looking forward to sharing stories about my success with my classmates.

Unfortunately, though, when I got back to school, my classmates started calling me names and making comments about my body.

 The teasing progressed to physical bullying and hazing. People would take my lunch from me, throw things at me, and steal my water bottle  and throw them down the hallway at school.

Online, other classmates were photoshopping images of me and spreading those images around the school, as well as starting rumors about me.

By the end of the school year, I was having a really hard time coping and struggled with my mental health.

All I wanted was to be accepted by my classmates.

I began questioning my purpose and asking myself if others would be better off without me.

My thoughts were progressively getting more and more distressed until a teammate on my soccer team reached out to me and asked if I would like to join her for a game night at her church.

I hadn’t talked with this girl very much, wasn’t all that interested in a game night, and I was not very invested in the soccer team I played on. However, I was not about to turn down one of the very few opportunities being offered to me to have fun with someone my age.

This random act of kindness by my teammate – reaching out and welcoming me into her community – turned out to be exactly the support and encouragement I needed.

Her community was very kind. They accepted and encouraged me to find my purpose in something bigger than myself. 

They helped me see that my opinion of myself was rooted in something much greater than the rumors, snickering, and teasing I received from my classmates.

I realized I had a lot to be proud of – I still do – and I began to love the sport of weightlifting again.

Looking back, although it was definitely not easy, I wouldn’t change my experience.

It helped shape me into who I am today and gave me a much more positive outlook on life and on sport.

Now I just get to look forward to reaching my goal of going to the next Olympic Games.

If you are experiencing bullying, there are some things you can do to help yourself:  

  1. Trust your instincts and know you have a right to be treated respectfully.
  2. Talk with someone you can trust and keep talking about it until you find the support you need.
  3. Do not respond to cyber bullying and keep a record of the messages you receive just in case.
  4. Treating others with respect in the same way you would like to be treated.

If you are a bystander who is witnessing bullying, there are some ways you can support the person being bullied:

  1. Try being an active bystander by speaking up and asking the bully to stop.
  2. Walk away and get help.
  3. Comfort the person being bullied and offer friendship.
  4. Intervene and stand next to the victim to offer your support.
  5. Whatever you do, do not try to fight the bully as it can make the situation worse.

We all come from different experiences, backgrounds, and cultures.

Every one of us has a right to be treated with respect, regardless of our real or perceived differences.

So, I encourage you to be a TrueSport athlete and citizen, to speak up if and when you see bullying, and to practice kindness first.

Goal-Setting Lesson Video Transcript

Hi. I’m Trevon, Trey, Jennifer. Team USA wheelchair basketball player, paralympian, and true sport athlete. Today, I want to talk to you about goal setting. And there are three things that I would like you to know. First, successful athletes set goals and a planned roadmap. Second, goals should be written down, assessed over time, and changed if necessary. And third, goals need to be challenging in order to be worthwhile. As a freshmen at Edinboro University, I was a part of a team that made the national championship game. And at that time I recognized I was the low man on the totem pole, but I felt in my heart that I knew my dreams were so much bigger than winning a national title. I wanted to make Team USA. I knew what achieving my lofty goal was not going to be easy and that I would need to work hard every day.

So, as a reminder, I created a pyramid of goals that I kept right above my bed. This pyramid reminded me of the accomplishments that I was working towards and visually represented my need to create a solid foundation underneath me before reaching the top. In the bottom roll of my pyramid of goals I listed goals such as obtaining my bachelor’s degree, becoming a scholar athlete award recipient, and becoming an All-American. The middle row listed winning a national title and playing for a professional team. And at the top row, the most challenging of them all, I listed becoming a gold medalist for Team USA.

By understanding that there are smaller stepping stones to achieving my ultimate goal of being on Team USA, I was able to stay motivated and to stay focused on completing the smaller stepping stones fully before moving onto the next one. Now I’ll be the first to admit that not every goal that I listed on my pyramid was accomplished, but seeing my goals every day when I went to bed, I was able to push through the days that I felt like doing nothing in hopes of achieving the bigger picture. Remember, create a clear goal roadmap, assess your goals often, and continue to challenge yourself. I hope that you never stopped dreaming big or reaching for the stars. And I look forward to seeing where your roadmap takes you.

Body Image Lesson Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Kara Winger, Olympic javelin thrower, and true sport athlete. Today I want to talk to you about body image and I have three things I’d like you to know. First, healthy thoughts often lead to healthier bodies. Second, there are varying body types and no one’s body is exactly like another. And third, true beauty goes deeper than the skin. As a multi-time Olympian, I’ve experienced a lot of variation and progression in my training. My coaches and I adapt to my training frequently, all with the goal of supporting my long-term success and health in the sport of javelin. I’m talking to you about body image today because sometimes even with the best of intentions and a common goal in mind, the changes you make to your training habits can prove to be detrimental if made for the wrong reasons. In the lead up to the 2012 Olympic trials, I was told in order to improve my performance on the field, I should try to become a leaner, skinnier version of myself.

So I changed my diet. I went along with what I was being told to do, even though I’d had great success at a slightly heavier weight and higher body fat percentage, and became much leaner than ever before. It seemed like a successful change at first, but I didn’t have nearly the results I’d had before. And I believe becoming leaner than my body naturally wanted to be was what caused my ACL to tear. In the end, it cost me heavily going into the 2012 London games. The takeaway for me, and hopefully for you, is that it’s important to know what works for you and your body and to not compare yourself to others. You should do your research and experiment with your diet to find what makes you feel the best, rather than focusing on what you look like. Today, if I feel like having a chocolate chip cookie, I have one, just not every day.

I’ve learned what a properly balanced meal for my body looks like and I recognize food as the fuel that keeps me throwing. I hydrate and allow myself time to recover. And I listen to and communicate with my body so that I can be the best version of myself. In the end, you are in control of how you see, treat, and respond to your body. We only get one and it’s amazing to discover how many things our bodies can do. Be a true sport athlete. Love who you are in this moment and get excited for all the places your body will take you.

A Good Sport Lesson Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Izy Isaksen, Team USA, Modern Pentathlon, Olympian, US Army Sergeant, and True Sport Ambassador. Today, I want to talk to you about being a good sport. There are three things I’d like you to know. First, real winners act the same toward their opponent, whether they win or lose. Second, follow the rules and be a gracious winner and respectful loser. And third, sportsmanship reveals your true character.

I started competing in Modern Pentathlon eight years after my older sister and three-time Olympian, Margaux Isaksen, began competing. I soon realized that people often compared the two of us. I would overhear spectators and teammates asking, “Who’s the better athlete,” and “Who’s going to beat the other.” Instead of letting outside pressures create a negative experience for us, I chose to practice winning and losing with grace and respect. I know that it would have been easy to let our hyper competitive mindset affect our relationship, but instead we decided to support and cheer for each other, regardless of our own performance. My experience of competing against and being compared to my older sister, taught me to focus on how to perform at my best, rather than putting wasted energy into wishing for others to fail.

I believe that sportsmanship reveals true character. So, no matter what situation I encounter during competition, I know it’s important to always treat people with respect and be a good sport. Remember, be a fierce competitor, find grace in all your victories and losses. And I hope to see you out there.

What Kind of Coach Do You Want to Be? Video Transcript

Edwin Moses: You’re a coach. Maybe what you want is very simple, for everyone to just run in the right direction, score for their own team, to try and try again and again. Maybe you want your athletes to become all stars. You want them to earn trophies, medals, win titles. You want them to reach the highest height their sport allows. And wanting all of that, of course, that’s good. But as every great coach discovers, developing a great athlete means nurturing, nurturing the even greater person within. Truth is, you have even more influence than you know.

You have the ability to affect even deeper change, to take what’s in your hands and do something even more extraordinary. You can be both the coach who provides the skills needed to win the game and the coach who helps them learn and succeed beyond the sport, to become all stars wherever they land in the future, and to enjoy their lives more now, because the confidence and courage they find working with you will stay with them when they need it the most. There are games to be won, lives to change. Coaches have the power to do both.

I’m Edwin Moses, and the lessons I’ve learned through sport have challenged me, guided me, and shaped my life forever. What kind of coach do you want to be?

THE SIMPLE TRUTH: DECODING THE SUPPLEMENT INDUSTRY VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

At first glance, dietary supplements look the same. They seem safe and healthy, but just because the label says a product is a dietary supplement, that doesn’t mean it’s safe. Unfortunately, you can’t tell whether a product is safe or not just by looking at the label. Most vitamins, minerals, fish oil, and other supplements containing nutrients are probably just fine, but supplements are not evaluated or approved by FDA before they are sold. Although it is rare for vitamins or minerals to be contaminated with drugs, there has been at least one case of a vitamin containing an anabolic steroid.

At the other extreme are products that contain drugs, stimulants, anabolic steroids, or other hormones. Even though these are not technically dietary supplements, many of them are labeled as supplements. For example, body-building products sometimes contain anabolic steroids or Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators, known as SARMs, or other hormones. Some pre-workout or energy products contain illegal stimulants like DMAA, ephedra, or other amphetamine-like stimulants. Weight loss products might contain prescription drugs like sibutramine, or hormones, like human chorionic gonadotropin, also known as hCG. All natural or herbal sexual enhancement products might contain hormones or Viagra-like drugs. Products like these can harm your health and career, but they’re for sale online, in some nutrition stores, and they’re labeled as dietary supplements.

When you pick up a supplement, especially one that promises performance enhancement, you don’t know if it belongs in the “Mostly O.K.” pile or in the “Dangerous” pile. After all, two products might look the same, but one might contain just amino acids and other legitimate ingredients, while the other also contains anabolic steroids. Because of this, FDA has issued a warning about certain categories of supplements: body building products, weight loss products, and sexual enhancement products. Be extremely careful when considering a supplement in one of these categories. We strongly recommend that you avoid products in these categories.

Even when FDA tests supplements and finds dangerous ingredients, companies sometimes refuse to recall them. Sometimes, they simply repackage their product and continue selling it under a new name. Just because a product is on a store shelf doesn’t mean it is safe. You need to do your research and be an informed consumer. The dietary supplement industry is enormous. Supplements that appear to be safe could actually be dangerous products in disguise. If you use dietary supplements without doing your research, you may be taking serious risks with your health and your career. Please visit USADA’s Supplement 411 for more information about dietary supplements.