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.

Definition of a “Bully”—A bully is a child who often oppresses or harasses someone else; the target may be boys or girls. The harassment may be physical or mental.

Definition of a “Victim”—A child who has been for a considerable amount of time and is still exposed to aggression from others; that is, students from the child’s own class or maybe from other classes often pick fights and are rough with them or tease and ridicule them. Two types of “victims” emerge.

• “Passive Victims”—Anxious, insecure, appear to do nothing to invite attacks and fail to defend themselves.
• “Provocative Victims”—Hot-tempered, restless, create tension by irritating and teasing others and attempt to fight back when attacked.

More information is available at: https://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/index.html

Why Do Some Children and Adolescents Become Bullies?

There is no “one” reason why a child might become a bully. However, we do know what types of circumstances will likely lead a child develop bully behavior. Bully behavior is developed mainly as a result of factors in the environment. Their environment includes the home, the school and the peer group. Bully behavior is learned. The good news is that because the bully behavior is learned, it can be unlearned, particularly if we do something about it when children are young.

Listed below are some factors in the environment that contribute to child becoming a bully:

• Too little supervision of children and adolescents. Without supervision children do not get the message that aggressive behavior is the wrong behavior to have.
• Bullying pays off. Many children learn at a very young age that when they bully someone, they get what they want.
• Do as I say, not as I do. When children see adult aggressive, bullying behavior, they are more likely to imitate it.
• Harsh physical punishment. Bullies usually pick on younger, smaller, or weaker children. They model, in their behavior, what happened to them personally in the home or environment. A bully should never be physically punished for bully behavior.
• Peer group that supports bully behavior. Sometimes children bully others to fit in with their peers.
• Getting more negative that positive messages. Children who bully generally develop this behavior because they feel the world around them is more negative than positive. In expecting their world to be negative, they learn to attack first.
• Poor self-concept. Children who get more negative comments than positive ones generally develop a poor self-image. In turn, they feel the only way to be accepted is to pick on others.
• Expecting hostility. The bully’s philosophy can be, “The best defense is offense”. Bullies expect others to pick on them, blame them or humiliate them. They attack before being attacked, even if the hostility is imagined.

Why Do Some Children and Adolescents Become Victims

Listed below is some general information that may help us better understand a victim.

• Most victims are anxious, sensitive, and quiet.
• Victims generally do not have many, if any, good friends at school.
• Victims seem to signal to others that they are insecure and will not retaliate if they are attacked or insulted.
• Bullies often target children who complain, appear physically weak, seek attention from peers and adults and seem emotionally weak.
• These children may be overprotected by parents and school personnel and are therefore unable to develop coping skills on their own.

What Can Be Done About the Problem?

In General

• Parents need support from schools and mental health/community workers to enforce behavior patterns. Parent training is essential.
• Provide social skills training that teaches children how to get along with other children.
• The amount of positive feedback that the child gets in the home and in the school needs to be increased.
• Early intervention is essential. The pattern of bullying can be as early as age 2.
• A strong value system in the home and school that gives the message that bully behavior is not acceptable.

Specific Things to Do in the School Setting

• Establish a school climate that clearly and emphatically disapproves of bullying.
• Establish a climate in which rules of conduct are reinforced and are developed by students and teachers cooperatively.
• Discipline practices should emphasize restitution and positive practice rather than expulsion and humiliation.
• Teachers and administrators should work to increase the number of positives directed toward children on a daily basis.
• Provide social skills training sessions throughout the school year.
• Establish a discipline committee whose purpose would be to identify the five top discipline problems in the school and to develop intervention plans that emphasize positives instead of negatives for them.
• Do not remove bullies from the school settings unless absolutely necessary.
• Assess personal attitudes about victimization to avoid possible stigmas and judgments that arise when a child is labeled as a victim.
• Appoint the victim added responsibilities and delegate them leadership roles to improve their status, self-assurance and social skills.

Excerpted from Bullying Fact Sheet by George Batsche and Bejamin Moore, Behavioral Interventions: Creating a Safe Environment in our Schools, National Mental Health and Education Center.

Updated 12/16/2019