Bullying

Bullying

Warning Signs for Bullying

From Website: https://www.stopbullying.gov/bullying/warning-signs

There are many warning signs that may indicate that someone is affected by bullying—either being bullied or bullying others. Recognizing the warning signs is an important first step in taking action against bullying. Not all children who are bullied or are bullying others ask for help.

It is important to talk with children who show signs of being bullied or bullying others. These warning signs can also point to other issues or problems, such as depression or substance abuse. Talking to the child can help identify the root of the problem.

Signs a Child Is Being Bullied

Look for changes in the child. However, be aware that not all children who are bullied exhibit warning signs.

Some signs that may point to a bullying problem are: 

If you know someone in serious distress or danger, don’t ignore the problem. Get help right away.

Signs a Child is Bullying Others

Kids may be bullying others if they:   

Why don't kids ask for help?

Statistics from the 2018 Indicators of School Crime and Safety - PDF show that only 20% of school bullying incidents were reported. Kids don’t tell adults for many reasons:



What is Bullying?

From Website: https://www.stopbullying.gov/bullying/what-is-bullying

Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting problems.

In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include:

Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose.

Types of Bullying

There are three types of bullying:

Where and When Bullying Happens

Bullying can occur during or after school hours. While most reported bullying happens in the school building, a significant percentage also happens in places like on the playground or the bus. It can also happen travelling to or from school, in the youth’s neighborhood, or on the Internet.

Frequency of Bullying

There are two sources of federally collected data on youth bullying:

See also "Frequency of Cyberbullying."


Effects of Bullying

From https://www.stopbullying.gov/bullying/effects

Bullying can affect everyone—those who are bullied, those who bully, and those who witness bullying. Bullying is linked to many negative outcomes including impacts on mental health, substance use, and suicide. It is important to talk to kids to determine whether bullying—or something else—is a concern.

Kids Who are Bullied

Kids who are bullied can experience negative physical, social, emotional, academic, and mental health issues. Kids who are bullied are more likely to experience:

A very small number of bullied children might retaliate through extremely violent measures. In 12 of 15 school shooting cases in the 1990s, the shooters had a history of being bullied.

Kids Who Bully Others

Kids who bully others can also engage in violent and other risky behaviors into adulthood. Kids who bully are more likely to:

Bystanders

Kids who witness bullying are more likely to:

The Relationship between Bullying and Suicide

Media reports often link bullying with suicide. However, most youth who are bullied do not have thoughts of suicide or engage in suicidal behaviors. 

Although kids who are bullied are at risk of suicide, bullying alone is not the cause. Many issues contribute to suicide risk, including depression, problems at home, and trauma history. Additionally, specific groups have an increased risk of suicide, including American Indian and Alaskan Native, Asian American, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. This risk can be increased further when these kids are not supported by parents, peers, and schools. Bullying can make an unsupportive situation worse.


Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

From https://www.aft.org/position/bullying-prevention/frequently-asked-questions-bullying-prevention

Given the pervasiveness of bullying, schools are in a position to proactively address the growing occurrence and effectively intervene to ensure the safety of our students. Teachers can play a significant role in addressing both the dangers associated with bullying as well as preventive measures so as to create a warm, inviting and positive environment for students to feel safe.

What is bullying?

Bullying is intentional, negative and aggressive behavior that is repeated over time and exists in a relationship where there is an imbalance of power. Bullying may be physical (hitting, kicking, spitting, pushing), verbal (taunting, malicious teasing, name calling, threatening), or psychological (spreading rumors, manipulating social relationships, or promoting social exclusion, extortion or intimidation).

What is cyber bullying and what makes it different from traditional bullying?

Cyber bullying refers to electronic bullying through e-mails, instant messaging, cell phones, web pages, blogs, chat rooms, Facebook, Myspace or other information communication technologies. Roughly one in three teenagers – and nearly half of 15- to 17-year-old girls – say they have been the victim of an online rumor, threatening messages or other forms of bullying via electronic communication.

Unlike traditional bullying:

How common is bullying?

Most studies show that between 15 percent to 25 percent of American students are bullied with some frequency. This percentage jumps to 40 percent to 50 percent for cyber bullying. Children and youth who are bullied are more likely than other children to be depressed, lonely, anxious, have low self-esteem, feel unwell and think about suicide. 

Why is bullying sometimes hard for educators to detect?

Many times, educators are unaware of bullying problems. Why? Bullying often takes place in areas that are not well supervised by adults, bullying can be subtle and hard to detect, and also because many children do not report it out of fear of retaliation and/or punishment.

What can educators do?

Bullying can be reduced significantly when there is a schoolwide commitment to end it. Like most effective interventions, strategies to prevent bullying should be comprehensive and multifaceted. This means that bullying interventions should be implemented schoolwide, classroomwide and individually; must include all staff, related personnel and administrators; and should have input and commitment from students and family members. Most important, staff must be trained to:

In addition to schoolwide interventions to reduce bullying (or instead of them, when there is no comprehensive schoolwide program), classroomwide interventions are necessary. Classroomwide interventions for bullying include setting up an environment that expects and rewards caring behavior. This environment should reward those who stick up for victims and deter bullies, and should emphasize the importance of including all students in activities. Teachers can also use the classroom to teach students about tolerance and respect to help students better handle instances of being bullied themselves, or of observing someone being bullied whether in person or online.

Bullying is a very serious problem and, if allowed to continue, can cause long-term problems for both the bully and the victim. Adults need to be aware of bullying and must intervene whenever bullying occurs. Bullies and victims alike need to know that adults are there to defend and protect victims and that they will not allow bullying to continue.

Related Articles on Bullying Prevention

General Resources


What you can do

From https://www.aft.org/create-safe-environment-which-bullying-unacceptable

Create a Safe Environment in which Bullying Is Unacceptable




From https://lesley.edu/article/6-ways-educators-can-prevent-bullying-in-schools

6 Ways Educators Can Prevent Bullying in Schools

According to the National Center of Education, as of 2016 more than 20 percent of students reported being bullied.

It’s a staggering statistic; especially considering the many ways bullying can affect students’ wellbeing. Targeted children often suffer from poor performance in school, sleep issues, anxiety, and depression. And let’s not forget the students doing the bullying—they’re at a much higher risk for a whole host of issues that could extend into adulthood, ranging from violent behavior to substance abuse.

As an educator, what can do you to make an impact? How can you create a classroom climate that prevents bullying, but also put interventions in place that stop the behavior in its beginning stages? We talked to experts in education and mental health counseling to come up with these six strategies.

1. Teach kindness and empathy.

When students are able to approach ideas and problems from multiple perspectives, they’re less likely to bully others.

From the earliest ages, students should participate in activities that boost social-emotional learning. As a teacher, find ways to help children understand and appreciate their identity as well as others’. To do this requires empathy and kindness, two skills that educators like Susan Patterson, who leads a cyberbullying course at Lesley University, believe can be taught.

“Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, and teachers need to embed this skill into their curriculum,” says Patterson. “We need to do identity work with children early on so that kids know who they are and who everybody else is and what their place is in the world.”

One way to do this is to have kids get together and talk about their differences. Allow them to practice conflict resolution, work through problems, and build their understanding of those around them.

2. Create opportunities for connection.

Fostering a sense of community in your classroom can lower bullying incidents and facilitate healing for targeted students.

Research shows that when targeted students feel connected to peers, they’re better able to cope with being bullied. Studies also indicate that teaching students to speak up when they witness bullying behavior, and to take a stand against it, can reduce future bullying situations by more than 50 percent.

“It’s all about connection,” says Nancy Beardall, who created and implemented a bullying prevention curriculum in Newton Public Schools. “When students feel connected to their peers, their school, and their community, they do better.”

In the classroom, start by creating a safe place for students to express themselves and feel heard. Cultivate students’ abilities to advocate on behalf of themselves as well as others. Outside of the classroom, facilitate opportunities for positive reinforcement by helping students get involved in afterschool activities that align with their hobbies and interests.

3. Identify ‘gateway behaviors.'

Researchers have found that small behaviors can often signal the beginning patterns of bullying. Often missed by educators who already have so much on their plates, these indicators, called  “gateway behaviors,” can be difficult to detect. But, if you can recognize them early on, there’s a chance you could prevent bullying behavior from developing down the road. As an educator, here are some of the key behaviors you should take notice of:


While these behaviors may not be classified as bullying, putting interventions in place now could mitigate the likelihood of them growing into something more problematic. “The research would imply that [these behaviors] lead to bullying, and that if we can stop kids here, then we’re going to go a long way to stopping the problem,” says Patterson.

4. Use the arts to create context.

The arts can be a powerful tool for helping young people see situations from different perspectives. Using drama, literature, and the visual arts as a vehicle for conversation, educators can help students understand the negative impact of bullying. Erika Dawes, early childhood literacy professor at Lesley, does this using the storybook Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson.

“Each Kindness is the story of a young girl who engages in bullying behavior toward a classmate,” says Dawes. “It’s not a typical story in that there’s not a happy ending. This means students are left with conflicting emotions. And this ambiguity is perfect place to enter into conversation.”

After reading to students, Dawes holds an open circle conversation. Drawing attention to issues raised in the story, she creates a safe and open atmosphere for students to talk about bullying. In this way, she’s able to contextualize bullying behavior that happens in the classroom without highlighting specific events.

5. Minimize ‘concentric circles’ in schools.

It’s a truth that most teachers don’t like to talk about: Educators can be bullies, too. And when teachers feel bullied by colleagues, their students can also become negatively impacted.

“There are schools where there is bullying within the adult culture,” reflects Patterson. “In the courses I teach, my students tell me that they feel bullied by other teachers, assistant principals, and department heads. If we live in a culture of bullying, we have to be so much more diligent about making sure it doesn’t go down to the classroom.”

In order to stop the spread of bullying from the leadership level down to students, start by looking within your own classroom. After a bad day or tense interaction with a colleague, try not to bring negativity into your teaching. Focus your energy on cultivating a learning environment built on positivity, openness, and support. And be sure to advocate for yourself by talking with supervisors or HR professionals about issues in your school’s culture that compromise your ability to be a fully present and effective educator.

6. Participate in simulations.

Theorizing about how to prevent and respond to bullying in schools is one thing. Witnessing it for the first time is entirely another. Without adequate pre-service training, it can be difficult for new teachers to know exactly how they’ll react when bullying situations arise. At Lesley University’s Graduate School of Education, faculty are doing something about it.

“We’re currently using technology to recreate the experience for pre-service teachers in a mixed reality lab,” says Maureen Creegan-Quinquis, who leads Lesley’s creative arts and learning department.

In the mixed reality lab, pre-service teachers are bystanders in a bullying scenario. On their feet, they’re asked to respond to the situation and facilitate a solution. According to Creegan-Quinquis, participants are often surprised by how difficult the exercise can be.

“For many of them, this is the first opportunity in their life to actually be in a room and experience [bullying], and be asked to negotiate through those feelings,” says Creegan-Quinquis. "What an electric experience it is when you’re wide awake enough to see it happening.”


LISD's Process for Bullying Accusations

LISD Processes for Accusations of Bullying Harassment.pdf