Bullying in Schools

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Bullying in Schools

• Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Office of Justice Services
• Albuquerque NM

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The Problem of Bullying in Schools

• Bullying affects students sense of security.
• Bullying is widespread and perhaps the most
  underreported safety problem in schools.
• Bullying is now KNOWN to have long-lasting
  harmful effects.
• Approximately 2/3 of school shootings, the
  attackers had been bullied.

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The Problem of Bullying in Schools

• Bullying occurs at all grade levels-most
  frequently during elementary school.
• Bullies are more likely to develop a criminal
  record than peers.
• Bullying victims suffer psychological harm long
  after the bullying stops.

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Definition of Bullying

• Bullying has two key components
• Repeated harmful acts and
• Imbalance of power
• It involves repeated physical, verbal or
  psychological attacks or intimidation directed
  against a victim who cannot properly defend
  him-or herself because of size or strength, or
  because the victim is outnumbered or less
  psychologically resilient.

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Definition of Bullying includes

• Assault
• Tripping
• Intimidation
• Rumor spreading and isolation
• Demands for money
• Destruction of property
• Theft of valued possessions

• Destruction of another's work
• Name-calling
• Sexual harassment
• Ostracism based on perceived sexual orientation
• Hazing

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Definition of Bullying

• Not all taunting, teasing and fighting among
  schoolchildren constitutes bullying.
• Bullying entails repeated acts by someone
  perceived as physically or psychologically more
  powerful.

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Extent of Bullying Problemother countries

• Between 8 to 38 percent of students are bullied
  with some regularity.
• Between 5 and 9 percent of students bully others
  with some regularity.
• Chronic victims, bullied once a week or more, are
  at 8 and 20 percent of school population

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Extent of Bullying ProblemUnited States

• 13 percent of sixth through tenth grade student
  bully.
• 10 percent reported being victims.
• 6 percent are victim-bullies.
• Several smaller studies confirm high levels of
  bullying behaviors, with 10 to 29 percent of
  students reported to either be bullies or victims.

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Extent of Bullying Problem

• The percentage of students who are bullies and
  victims varies by research study, often depending
  on the definition used, the time frame examined
  and other factors.
• Despite these differences, bullying appears to be
  widespread in schools in every country studying
  the problem.

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A Threshold Problem The Reluctance to Report

• Fearing retaliation
• Feeling shame at not being able to stand up for
  themselves.
• Fearing they would not be believed.
• Not wanting to worry their parents

• Having no confidence that anything would change.
• Thinking their parents or teachers advice would
  make the problem worse.
• Fearing their teacher would tell the bully
• Thinking it was worse to be a snitch

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A Threshold Problem The Reluctance to Report

• The same is true of student-witnesses
• Rarely tell teachers and infrequently intervene
• Worry that intervening will make them the next
  target.
• Falsely believe that no one person has
  responsibility to stop the bullying, absent a
  teacher or parent.

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A Threshold Problem The Reluctance to Report

• Student-witnesses appear to have a central role
  in creating opportunities for bullying.
• In one study of Juniors and Seniors, 88 percent
  reported having observed bullying.

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A Threshold Problem The Reluctance to Report
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A Threshold Problem The Reluctance to Report

• Studies suggest only between 10 and 20 percent of
  noninvolved students provide any real help when
  another student is victimized.

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Bullying Behavior

• Despite country and cultural differences, certain
  similarities by gender, age, location and type of
  victimization appear in the U.S. and elsewhere.
• Takes place at school most often.
• Boy bullies rely on physical aggression.
• Girl bullies often use teasing, rumor spreading,
  exclusion and social isolation.

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Bullying Behavior

• Direct and Indirect bullying
• Direct physical and verbal (may be also
  indirect).
• Physical is the least common.
• Verbal is the most common.
• Indirect teasing, rumor spreading etc
• Girls tend to bully girls, boys will bully girls
  and boys.
• Research shows boys are more likely to bully than
  girls.

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Bullying Behavior

• Bullies often do not operate alone. Almost half
  of the incidents are one-on-one, the other half
  involves additional kids.
• Bullying by boys declines at age 15.
• Bullying by girls declines at age 14.

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Bullying Behavior

• Researchers believe bullying rates are unrelated
  to school or class size, inner city or suburb.
• Socially disadvantaged areas seem to have higher
  rates.
• Classes with students with behavioral, emotional
  or learning problems, have more bullies and
  victims.

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Bullying Behavior

• Racial bullying 25 percent of students
  victimized, reported they were belittled about
  their race or religion.
• Black youth reported being bullied less than
  Hispanic and White peers.

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Bullying Behavior

• Unknown
• Whether certain types of bullying are more
  harmful than others.
• If certain types of bullying have longer-term
  impact on victims.
• What happens when the bully stops, does another
  step in?
• Must the victim change behavior to prevent
  another from stepping in?

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Bullies

• Tend to be aggressive, dominant, slightly below
  average in intelligence and reading ability.
• Average popularity
• Do not have much empathy for victims.
• Young bullies tend to remain bullies.
• adolescent bullies tend to become adult bullies,
  and then tend to have children who are bullies

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Bullies

• Possess similarities to other types of offenders.
• Come from lower socioeconomic-status families
  with poor child-rearing techniques.
• Tend to be impulsive.
• Tend to be unsuccessful in school.
• Generally uncooperative.
• Come from dysfunctional families low on love.

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Bullies

• Parents criticized them and strictly controlled.
• Research found a correlation between harsh
  physical punishments and strict disciplinarian
  parents and bullying.
• Bullies have been found to have poor social
  skills.
• One study suggests that bullies have a keen
  insight on others mental state and take
  advantage of that by picking on the emotionally
  less resilient.

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Incidents of Bullying

• Most often occurs where adult supervision is low
  or absent
• Schoolyards
• Cafeterias
• Bathrooms
• Hallways
• Olweus found that there is an inverse
  relationship between the number of supervising
  adults present and the number of bully/victim
  incidents.

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Incidents of Bullying

• Classrooms
• School buses
• The internet
• One student, whose address and phone number were
  published on the site, was barraged with calls
  from people calling her a slut and a
  prostitute.

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Victims of Bullying

• Most bullies victimize students in the same class
  or year.
• Its unknown the extent of personal attributes
  that play a role in victim selection.
• One major study found that the victims tended to
  be smaller and weaker than their peers.
• Another found those to be nonassertive and
  socially incompetent were more likely to be
  victimized

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Victims of Bullying

• Having friends appears to reduce the chances of
  being bullied.
• One study found
• more than half of those who say they have no
  friends are being bullied (51), vs. only 11 of
  those who say they have more than five friends

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Consequences of Bullying

• Embarrassment
• Psychological and/or physical distress.
• Frequently absent from school
• Cannot concentrate on schoolwork.
• Low self-esteem

• Frequently contemplated suicide
• Social dysfunction
• Anxiety
• Insomnia
• Depression
• Poor health

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Consequences of BullyingChronic Victims of
Bullying

• 6 to 10 are chronic victims, bullied as often as
  several times a week.
• Most are extremely passive and do not defend
  themselves.
• Small number react aggressively toward the bully
  due to their coping strategies.

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Consequences of BullyingChronic Victims of
Bullying

• These chronic victims tend to be anxious and
  insecure.
• Less able to control their emotions, more
  socially withdrawn.
• Chronic victims may return to the bully to try to
  continue the perceived relationship.
• Often remain victims after switching classes.

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Consequences of BullyingChronic Victims of
Bullying

• Olweus states
• It does not require much imagination to
  understand what it is to go through the school
  years in a state of more or less permanent
  anxiety and insecurity, and with poor
  self-esteem. It is not surprising that the
  victims devaluation of themselves sometimes
  becomes so overwhelming that they seen suicide as
  the only possible solution.

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Consequences of BullyingChronic Victims of
Bullying

• This article appeared in the Albuquerque Journal
  on Saturday, December 24, 2005

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General Requirements for an Effective Strategy to
Counter Bullying in Schools

1. Enlisting the principals commitment and
   involvement.
2. Using a multifaceted, comprehensive approach.

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Specific Responses to Reduce Bullying in Schools

• Using the whole-school approach.
• Increase student reporting of bullying.
• Developing activities in less-supervised areas.
• Reducing the amount time students can spend less
  supervised.
• Staggering recess, lunch and/or class-release
  times.

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Specific Responses to Reduce Bullying in Schools

• Monitoring areas where bullying can be expected.
• Assigning bullies to a particular location or
  chores during release times.
• Posting classroom signs prohibiting bullying and
  listing consequences for it.
• Providing teachers with effective classroom
  management training.
• Having high-level school administrators inform
  late-enrolling students about the schools
  bullying policy.

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Responses with Limited Effectiveness

• Training students in conflict resolution and peer
  mediation.
• Adopting a zero tolerance policy.
• Providing group therapy for bullies.
• Encouraging victims to simply stand up to
  bullies.

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Understanding Your Local Problem

• The information is only a generalized description
  of bullying in schools.
• You must combine this information with a more
  specific understanding of your schools problem.
  Analyzing it will help design a more effective
  response strategy.

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Thank You