Bullying is a serious issue that affects thousands of students each day. In fact, more than one out of five students report being bullied, and students experiencing bullying are at greater risk for poor school adjustment, sleep difficulties, anxiety, and depression. Children's Wisconsin is committed to keeping kids healthy and safe, both at home and at school.
That's why we created Act Now!, a continuum of bullying prevention e-learning courses designed for K-12th grade students, school staff, and parents. Two new Cyberbullying mini-courses are now available, one for students in grades 6-8 and one for students in grades 9-12. Developed in collaboration with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Act Now! helps counselors and teachers increase awareness about bullying and gives students the grade-appropriate skills they need to prevent and stop it. A staff training program is available and recommended for optimal success in reducing bullying at your school. A PBIS Tier II/III targeted behavioral intervention program and an interactive parent education website are also available. Click on individual courses for more information.
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Act Now! aligns with National and Wisconsin Health Education Standards and supports the Wisconsin Model Academic Standards for School Counseling. Using online lessons and activities, and offline classroom activities, Act Now! addresses all types of bullying, including sexual harassment at the middle school level and cyberbullying at the middle school and high school levels. The program empowers bystanders to stand up to bullying and improve the climate of their school. Depending on the grade level, students will develop skills to combat bullying, including how to:
Act Now! can be used as a stand-alone bullying prevention curriculum or as an innovative supplement to your current curriculum. Pre- and post-tests allow you to track your students' knowledge and comprehension as they move through the course. Additionally, the full-length Act Now! courses for 6th-8th grade include pre- and post-attitude surveys that assess students' feelings about the bullying culture in their school. Each grade level course includes a comprehensive teacher's guide that prepares teachers and counselors to use the course in the classroom.
Student outcomes and educator satisfaction for Act Now! demonstrate the positive effects the programs are having in producing positive changes in knowledge, attitude, and behavior. For more information, see the Outcomes page.
98% of educators using Act Now! felt their students learned valuable information that will lead to behavior change. Data is from the 15-16 school year.
81% of 8th grade students using Act Now! were able to identify ways to stop bullying in their school (an increase of 12%). Data is from the 15-16 school year.
See the chart below for an at-a-glance view of all available Act Now! courses, along with the features of each. Click on a course to go directly to that page.
Student Success: Act Now! 6th - 8th Grade
Parents Act Now! is a series of videos on the topic of bullying, including ways to handle different types of bullying situations that may affect your child or teen, whether at school, at home, or in the community.
Access Parents Act Now!