School: Minister Destiny Testimony Schools Track: Youth Month: 3 of 12 (self-paced: all sections are posted, and you learn at your own pace) Presented by: Minister Destiny Marie Morgan, Muslim Ordained Minister
This lesson is educational information and is not legal advice. Laws and school rules vary by state. If you are in danger right now, call 911. If a situation involves your family, a trusted adult can help you talk to a lawyer or to your school about what applies to you.
Adapted from the Youth Core, Week 3.
Before you start
- This space is private. Nobody sees what you read or how you answer. Your progress is saved only in your own browser on this device.
- We never ask your name. Not here, not on the test, not on the certificate. If you earn a certificate, you download it first and write your own name on it after.
- Pass the month test at 80% or higher to earn this month's certificate. You can retake the test as many times as you need — each retake presents the questions in a different order, with the answer choices in a different order too. Answers are not shown — the point is to go back, find what you missed in the lesson, and learn it for real.
- If you are in danger right now: call 911. If you cannot talk out loud, text HOME to 741741 (Crisis Text Line) or call or text 988 any time, day or night.
The lesson
1. What bullying is — and what it is not
Bullying is not just drama, and it is not something you have to handle alone or toughen up about. It has a shape: it is repeated, it is on purpose, and there is a power difference — someone stronger, older, more popular, or in a group, targeting someone who has a harder time defending themselves. One mean comment is a bad moment. A pattern of them is bullying.
Knowing the difference matters because the response is different. A one-time argument between equals can often be worked out between the people involved. A repeated pattern aimed at the same person, especially when a group joins in or phones keep it going after school, needs adults, evidence, and a plan. If you are unsure which one you are looking at, ask yourself three questions: Has it happened more than once or is it likely to keep happening? Is it meant to hurt, embarrass, or control? Is one side clearly stronger — by size, age, popularity, numbers, or having secrets or photos? If the answers lean yes, treat it as bullying and use this month's plan.
2. The four kinds of bullying
Bullying wears different clothes, but the harm is real in every form. Physical bullying is hitting, pushing, or taking or breaking your things. Verbal bullying is threats, slurs, constant insults, and humiliating jokes that are not jokes to the person hearing them. Social bullying is exclusion campaigns, rumors, and turning a group against someone on purpose. Cyberbullying uses the same weapons through phones: mean posts, edited photos, fake accounts, group chats made to mock someone, and pressuring messages in direct messages.
Cyberbullying has two extra stings. It can follow you home, so there is no break from it, and it can be copied and shared to a huge audience in seconds. That is also why evidence matters so much online — the post, the date, and the account name are often right there to save.
3. If it is happening to you — the plan, step by step
Start here: it is not your fault, and ignore it is not the only move. Ignoring sometimes works for a one-off comment. For a pattern, you need adults involved. Follow these steps. First, save evidence: screenshots with dates, and do not delete the thread. Evidence is what turns he said, she said into action. Second, block and lock down: block accounts, tighten privacy, and give yourself a break from reading painful messages. You do not have to keep reading poison. Third, tell a trusted adult — a parent, teacher, or counselor. Schools are required to respond to bullying reports. If the first adult shrugs it off, go to the next one on your map and bring your screenshots. Fourth, do not fight back in writing. Replying angrily in a chat usually becomes the screenshot they use against you. Starve the bullying of reaction and feed it to adults with evidence instead. Fifth, stay connected. Bullying aims to isolate you. Spend time with people who treat you right, in person when you can. If it is making you feel like hurting yourself, that is a 988 call or text — right away, any hour.
What to expect after you report: an adult may ask you to tell the story more than once, and the school may talk to other students. Change is not always instant, which is frustrating and does not mean reporting failed. Keep saving new evidence, keep your block in place, and report again if it continues. A clear record over time is powerful.
4. If you see it happening to someone else — be the reason it stops
Most bullying happens in front of an audience, and the audience is the most powerful part. You do not have to fight anyone to change it. Do not feed it: no laughing, no liking, no forwarding. Attention is the fuel, and withholding it matters. Reach out to the person being targeted: one kind message — "I saw that. It's not true and it's not okay. You good?" — matters more than you know. Kids who are bullied say being supported by even one person changes everything. Tell an adult what you saw, with evidence if you have it. Reporting cruelty is not snitching; snitching is getting someone in trouble for something harmless. This is not harmless. Invite them in: sit with them at lunch, add them to your group chat. Inclusion is a shield, because isolation is exactly what the bullying is trying to create.
You can do these things even if you are nervous, even if the person bullying is popular, and even if you are not close friends with the target. Small, steady actions from bystanders are the number one thing that makes bullying campaigns fall apart.
5. If you realize you have been part of it
It happens — a joke that went too far, a chat you laughed along in without thinking. What you do next is what counts: stop, delete what you can, apologize like you mean it (privately is fine), and do not do it again. A real apology names what you did, says you were wrong, and does not make excuses or blame the target for being upset. That is not weakness. That is character. If adults find a post you were part of, telling the truth about your part and showing you have stopped and apologized puts you in a very different position than denying or doubling down.
6. Threats and crimes are different — act faster
Some behavior goes past bullying into danger, and the response must be faster. If bullying includes threats of violence, weapons, sexual content, or a plan to hurt someone, that is beyond school discipline — tell an adult immediately, and if someone may be hurt soon, it is a 911 call. If the target talks about hurting themselves, treat it as real, every time: tell an adult and share the 988 number with them — or call it yourself and ask what to do.
What NOT to do in any bullying situation: do not forward cruel posts to "show people how bad it is," because every forward widens the audience and the harm. Do not post a public call-out that turns into a second pile-on. Do not promise the target you will keep a safety secret forever. And do not delete your evidence to make the problem go away — without evidence, adults lose their strongest tool to stop it.
Words to know — Month 3
- Bullying — repeated, on-purpose harm where there is a power difference.
- Cyberbullying — bullying done through phones, apps, games, or social media.
- Bystander — someone who sees bullying happen.
- Upstander — a bystander who acts: supports the target, refuses to feed it, and tells an adult.
- Evidence — screenshots, dates, and saved messages that show what happened.
- Power difference — an imbalance that makes it hard to defend yourself, such as size, age, popularity, numbers, or holding secrets or photos.
- Exclusion — leaving someone out on purpose as a way to hurt or control them.
Myths vs facts — Month 3
- Myth: Bullying is just part of growing up and kids should toughen up. Fact: Repeated, on-purpose harm with a power difference is not a normal rite of passage. It harms health, grades, and safety, and schools are required to respond when it is reported.
- Myth: Ignoring bullying always makes it stop. Fact: Ignoring a single comment sometimes helps. A pattern usually needs evidence, blocking, and adults involved. Starving a post of reaction and reporting it are two different tools — for a pattern, use both.
- Myth: If you are not the one posting, you are not involved. Fact: The audience gives bullying its power. Laughing, liking, forwarding, or staying in a mocking chat to watch all feed it. Supporting the target and reporting are how bystanders change the outcome.
- Myth: Telling an adult is snitching. Fact: Snitching is reporting something harmless to get someone in trouble. Reporting harm to protect a person is different — it is how the harm stops.
What would you do? — Month 3
The situation: A group chat you're in starts posting edited photos of a quiet kid from school, "Devon," with cruel captions. Everyone's laughing in the chat. You're not posting — but you haven't said anything either. Tonight Devon texts you separately: "please don't tell anyone. it'll just get worse."
Walk it through:
- See your role clearly. Not posting isn't the same as not being part of it. Silence in the audience is what the posters are playing to. You have more power than you think.
- Support Devon first. Reply to him directly: "It's wrong, it's not your fault, and I'm not going to just watch."
- Think about the secret. Like Month 1 — this is a safety secret, not a keep-forever secret. Devon is scared it will get worse, which is understandable. But a campaign with screenshots does not stop on its own; adults with evidence are how it stops.
- Save evidence and report it. Screenshot the chat with names and dates visible, leave the chat, and give the screenshots to a counselor or trusted adult tomorrow — sooner if there are threats.
- Keep being a person, publicly. Sit with him, message him like a normal friend. One steady ally breaks the isolation the whole campaign depends on.
Try this — Month 3
Become an upstander on purpose this week, in small ways that are safe to do. First, clean up your own audience habits: leave or mute one chat or feed that regularly mocks people, and unfollow accounts whose humor depends on embarrassing someone. Second, send one genuine kind message to someone who is often left out — not about bullying, just a normal, friendly message that includes them. Third, set up your evidence habit now, before you need it: learn how to take a screenshot on your phone that shows the name, the post, and the date, and practice it on a harmless post. When you know the buttons ahead of time, saving real evidence in a stressful moment takes seconds instead of becoming one more hard thing.
Resources to keep — Month 3
- 911 — call if there are threats of violence, a weapon, or a plan to hurt someone soon.
- 988 (call/text) — call or text 988 any time, for yourself or for a friend who is struggling because of bullying.
- Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741 to talk by text when speaking out loud is hard.
- Childhelp — 1-800-422-4453 — help if bullying connects to abuse or unsafe conditions at home.
- CyberTipline — report.cybertip.org / 1-800-843-5678 — report sexual content, threats, or exploitation online.
- Your school counselor, a trusted adult, or your school nurse — the fastest in-person help for school bullying, especially with screenshots in hand.
What you earned / what's next — Month 3
✅ Month 3 complete (test score 80% or higher): You can tell bullying from a one-time argument, you have a real plan if it targets you — evidence, block, tell, stay connected — and you know how to be an upstander for a friend, including when a "don't tell" promise has to be broken to keep someone safe.
What's next: Month 4 — Dating, Consent, and Healthy Relationships. Next month looks at what respect and consent actually look like up close, and how to spot pressure and control early.
Minister Destiny Testimony Schools — Youth. Lessons are educational information, written in plain language. If you or someone you know is in danger, call 911. Help lines: 988 (call/text) · Crisis Text Line (text HOME to 741741) · Childhelp 1-800-422-4453.