Bullying Prevention: What Middle School Educators Need to Know

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Bullying PreventionWhat Middle School Educators
Need to Know

• Mary Margaret Kerr

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• What is bullying?
• How prevalent is the problem?
• Who are the bullies?
• Who are the victims?
• What are the long term outcomes?
• What about the peers? The school?
• What steps should a school take to address
  bullying?

Photo by Danish Khan
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1. What is bullying?

• "repeated negative, ill-intentioned behavior by
  one or more students directed against a student
  who has difficulty defending himself or herself.
  Most bullying occurs without any apparent
  provocation on the part of the student who is
  exposed." (Olweus, 1993).
• Bullying involves an imbalance of power and
  emotional distress.

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What do we know about types of bullying?

• Direct, or physical
• Indirect verbal and relational

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2. How prevalent is the problem?

• We estimate that around 30 of students are
  involved in bullying, as bullies, victims, or
  both.
• In 2003, 7 percent of students ages 12-18
  reported that they had been bullied at school
  within the past six months.
• 24 of sixth graders, 7 of seventh graders, and
  2 of 12 graders reported being bullied. (Nansel,
  2001)

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• 3. What do we know about those who bully?

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Those who bully have a distinctive cognitive and
behavioral style.
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Middle school bullies have friends and average or
better self-esteem.
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Bullying has a very long run.
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4. What do we know about the victims?
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Younger students were more likely than older
students to report being bullied.
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• If somebody has trouble reading and has
  special education, kids will say, Everyone is
  smart except Natalya, who is dumb. Natalya was
  even crying in the bathroom last week, but the
  teacher didnt even know about it.
• -a second grader

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Victims are trapped in a vicious cycle by their
own behaviors.
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Victims of bullying were more likely to
experience a criminal victimization at school.
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Victims of bullying were more afraid of being
attacked at school and elsewhere.

• At school (18)
• On the way to and from school (11)
• Away from school (12)

photograph by luc sesselle
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Victims are more likely to avoid certain areas of
the school and certain activities out of fear of
an attack.

• Hallways or stairs
• Cafeteria
• Restrooms
• Parking lot
• The entrance to school
• The shortest route to school

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• Yeah, Ive had some fantasies bout taking out
  some of those jerks who run the school, have
  parties, get on teams, are adored by teachers,
  have all these friends. Sure, they hate me. Day
  by day, its like theyre taking pieces out of
  you, like a torture, one at a time. My school
  has 1,500 kids. I could never make a sports
  team. I have never been to a party. I sit with
  my friends at our own corner of the cafeteria.
  If we tried to join the other kids, theyd throw
  up or leave. . .

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Nearly ¾ of those who use guns or knives at
school felt persecuted, bullied, threatened,
attacked, or injured by others prior to the
incident. (U.S. Secret Service U.S. Department
of Education, 2002).
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Of students who reported lower grades, victims
were more likely to report receiving Ds and Fs
than their non-bullied counterparts.
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5. What do we know about the outcomes of bullying?
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• Frequent bullies violate other school rules and
  are more likely to smoke and drink alcohol.
  (Nansel, et al., 2003)
• Victims have higher rates of suicide, depression,
  post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance
  abuse as compared to non-victims. (US Dept. of
  Health and Human Services, 2003)
• Hostile kids who mistrust others are much more
  likely than their peers to develop physical
  symptoms linked to diabetes and heart attacks in
  the future. (Räïkkönen, et al., 2003).

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A poem by the boy with no name.
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• Nearly 60 percent of boys who researchers
  classified as bullies in sixth through ninth
  grades were convicted of at least one crime by
  the time they were 24.
• By that age, 40 percent had three or more
  convictions (Fox, et al, 2003).

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Youth who bully in their younger years become
more violent over time. As adults, they often
continue to bully others through workplace
violence, verbal abuse, and spousal abuse.
(Garbarino deLara, 2002)
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What about the peer group? Those who are
onlookers? Those who arent involved?
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• Bullying among young adolescents is not a simple
  interaction between a bully and a victim.
  (Espelage) 

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85 of bullying takes place in the presence of
onlookers (Atlas Pepler, 1997 Craig Pepler,
1997).
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An illustration
Between classes, Seilke stops to use the middle
school bathroom. From the stall she hears Kathy
coming in with her pals. Seilke freezes. Tears
well up as she recalls their previous encounters.
If Kathy spots her, she will push Seilke back
into the stall and chant silky, milky the cow.
Kathy has gossiped to all of her classmates,
Seilke doesnt wear a bra yet and never will
because she has nothing. Seilke peers through
the cracks to see Kathy brushing her hair. Her
friends laugh and joke with her. Finally, Kathy
leaves and Seilke creeps out. The bell has
already rung.
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Bullying typically stops in 10 seconds or less,
when peers become involved. (Pepler et al., 1997)

• Befriending
• Ignoring
• Walking away with the victim

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What about the schools themselves? Are some
settings less likely to have the problem?
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Private school students (5) were less likely to
be bullied than public school students (7)
(Devoe et al., 2004).
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Students in school where gangs are present were
more likely to report being the victims of
bullying.
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Fewer students reported bullying in schools with
supervision by police officers, security
officers, or staff hallway monitors.
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Yet, supervision must be very focused.

• One study found that the average episode lasted
  on 37 seconds.
• Teachers responded to only 1 out of 25 incidents.
  (Pepler,1997)

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• Dear Mr. Douglas,
• I need to talk to you about the way kids are
  teasing Jake. They are saying things like,
  Dont play with Jake because you will get
  Jake-germs. Sometimes when Jake chases them on
  the playground its because they have been
  teasing him, but the teachers dont know it. In
  line between classes, the kids whisper things
  about him. You cant hear it, but it happens
  every day. I dont want to get people in
  trouble, but you have to do something.
• Jeff

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Studies show that 35-50 of middle school
students report bullying.

• To school personnel or a family member.

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Bullying thrives in schools where teachers and/or
other school personnel ignore bullying or refuse
to discipline bullies.
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"It's so nebulous it's not happening in the
lunchroom, it's not happening on the school bus,
yet it can spread so quickly," said Mary
Worthington, the elementary education coordinator
for Network of Victim Assistance, a counseling
organization in Bucks County, Pa. "Over the last
year when I've been out in schools to do our
regular bullying program the counselors will say,
'Can you talk about e-mails or I.M.'s?
Harmon, A. August 26, 2004, The New York Times
Internet Gives Teenage Bullies Weapons to Wound
From Afar
School is not the only setting, however.
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So, what does this mean for middle school
educators?

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Assess school needs by using an anonymous
questionnaire to poll the student body on the
nature and extent of bullying problems.
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Make arrangements for silent reporting of
problems.
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Schedule planning time for staff to review
findings of the questionnaire, discuss the
problem, and plan prevention.
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Develop school-wide rules and consistent
consequences for violations against bullying,
harassment, and hazing.Remind students of their
responsibility to report these behaviors.
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Launch a school-wide program, based on
best-practices.
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Help staff and parents continue their learning.
An on-line course thats free

• http//pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/index.htm
• ABCs of BullyingAddressing, Blocking, and
  Curbing School Aggression

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Increasing supervision in the unowned spaces
and times of the school day, including the
cafeteria and playground.
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Engage parents not only in prevention but in
supervising school-sponsored activities.
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Enlist the caringmajority to create a caring
school culture.
photograph by desyreev
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Finally, voices of those helping and those
calling for help.
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The hate just eats you up, like the molten metal
moving up Keanu Reeves arm in The Matrix.
Thats what I thought of it when I saw it. . .
.the worst people are the happiest and do the
best the best and the smartest people are the
most miserable and picked upon. The cruelty is
unimaginable. If Dan Rather wants to know why
those guys killed those people, tell him for me
that the kids who run the school probably drove
them crazy, bit by bit. That doesnt mean all
those kids deserved to die. But a lot of kids in
America know why it happened, even if the people
running schools dont.
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• What will you do to change your schools climate
  norms for bullying?

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• Photography by
• Kenneth Kerr shootsource_at_aol.com
• matchstick a.k.a Martin R.W (16)
• Andreas Bengter (39)
• Desyree Valdiviezo
• Darwin Guevarra

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These suggestions are from Arnette, J. L.,
Walsleben, M. C. (1998). Combating fear and
restoring safety in schools. Washington, DC
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice. Reported
in http//pathwayscourses.samhsa.gov/bully/bully_r
eferences.htm121
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U.S. Department of Education. (1998). Preventing
bullying A manual for schools and communities
(Publication No. EQ0118B). Washington, DC
Author.
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References and Resources

• DeVoe, J.F. and Kaffenberger, S. (2005) Student
  Reports of Bullying Results from the 2001
  School Crime Supplement to the National Crime
  Victimization Survey (NCES 2005-310). U.S.
  Department of Education, national Center for
  Education Statistics, Washington, D.C. U.S.
  Government Printing Office.
• Olweus, D. (1996). Bully/victim problems in
  school Facts and effective intervention.
  Reclaiming Children and Youth, 5(1), 15-22.
• Nansel, T., Overpeck, M., Pilla, R., Ruan, W.,
  Simons-Morton, B., Scheidt, P. (2001).
  Bullying behaviors among U.S. youth Prevalence
  and association with psychosocial adjustment.
  Journal of the American Medical Association, 285
  (16), 2094-2100
• Salmon, G. (1998). Bullying in schools Self
  reported anxiety, depression, and self esteem in
  secondary school children. British Medical
  Journal, 317, 924-925.
• Ma, X., (2001). Bullying and being bullied To
  what extent are bullies also victims? American
  Educational Research Journal, 38(2), 351-370.
• Rigby, K. (1996). Bullying in schools And what
  to do about it. London Jessica Kingsley
  Publishers.
• Boivin, M., Hymel, S., Hodges, E., (2001).
  Toward a process view of peer rejection and
  harassment. In J. Jumonen S. Graham (Eds.),
  Peer harassment in school They plight of the
  vulnerable and victimized (pp. 265-289). New
  York Guilford Press.

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• http//www.ericdigests.org/2003-4/bullying.html
  espelage

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• The final report and findings of the Safe School
  Initiative Implications for the prevention of
  school attacks in the United States, by B.
  Vossekuil, R. A. Fein, M. Reddy, K. Borum, and W.
  Modzeleski. Washington, DC U.S. Secret Service.
  )
• (Nansel, T. R., Overpeck, M. D., Haynie, D. L.,
  Ruan, W. J., Scheidt, P. C. (2003).
  Relationships between bullying and violence among
  U.S. youth. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent
  Medicine, 157(4), 348-353. )
• (US Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2003)
• (Räïkkönen, K., Matthews, K. A., and Salomon, K.
  (2003). Hostility predicts metabolic syndrome
  risk factors in children and adolescents. Health
  Psychology, 22(3), 279-286.)