Bullying in the Playground

silhouette of half human face
Type: Vocabulary
Originally published on October 14, 2020 and last updated on February 4, 2023

You have met up with a friend, Maria, for a coffee and she is telling you about her 11-year-old son who is being bullied at school. She tells you that the bullying occurs in the playground during the break by a gang of girls who are two years older than him. They call him names, laugh at him, take his lunch and sometimes they also punch and kick him.

She has spoken to the school principal who has spoken to the girls involved and promised to keep an eye on the boy, but this only made the situation worse as they have now started following him home after school. Her son hates going to school now, and his mother fears he is falling into a state of depression as he just plays computer games all day and rarely communicates any longer with his parents. She has looked into transferring him to a different school, but the only school with availability is a 45-minute drive away.

Instructions:
Go through the vocabulary below with your students and ask them to try and use this vocabaulry where possible when discussing the different conversation questions.

Useful Vocabulary

Try and use the following vocabulary when answering the question. Click to look up the definition in the dictionary

  • bully (verb)
  • gang (noun)
  • transfer (verb)
  • break (noun)
  • availavility (noun)
  • fall into (phrasal verb)
  • look into (phrasal verb)
  • keep an eye on (idiom)

Conversation Questions

  • What advice would you give Maria about what she can do to help he son out of this terrible situation?
Gregory
This conversation topic was prepared by Gregory

Gregory is a qualified TEFL teacher who has been teaching English as a Foreign Language (ESL) for over a decade. He has taught in-person classes in Spain and to English learners around the world online.