Bullying Prevention

Gender & Sexuality factors for VICTIMS

girl victims more likely to be verbally bullied (name calling insults) and relational (rumors, exclusion) boy victims more likely to be physically bullied (hits, shoves) LGBTQ youth at increased risk for victimization and suicidality

health related risk factors for BULLIES

students with observable disability or difference are more likely to be bullied students with chronic illness are at risk (orthopedic impairment, asthma, visual impairment)

Teachers role in bullying prevention

teachers tend to report lower rates of bullying than their students do not always correctly identify bullies in general, do not feel confident in their skills to deal with bullies what they should do, is recognize that intervention focuses on bullies, victims AND bystanders

Recommended strategies for preventing school violence

1. schools can not regard bullying as "normal" 2. schools must recognize that similar adult situations may result in law enforcement 3. bullying should be stigmatized and communicated as a "cowardly act" to students 4. students who report bullying should be praised and rewarded for their behavior

MTSS Bullying Prevention: Tier 2 strategies

1. small group counseling to support social/emotional skills and communication for victims and bullies 2. Bystander programming to encourage upstanders rather than passive bystanders (1. tell bully to stop or 2. Report to trusted adult) 3. small group SEL training for youth who rely on aggressive strategies to cope/manage emotions 4. create confidential ways to report bullying concerns (note box, online tip system)

MTSS Bullying Prevention: Tier 1 strategies

1. School wide anti-bullying policy 2. improve school climate (connectedness, safety, school engagement) 3. focus on bystander intervention "Be an upstander" "if you see something say something" 4. PD for school staff response to bullying 5. increase supervision in "hot spots" (hallway, cafeteria) 6. increase monitoring of technology (cyberbullies) 7. connect anti-bullying to PBIS and SEL programs

Summary of most effective bullying prevention strategies

1. establish clear and consistent policies for responding to bullying behaviors 2. focus on modifying the greater school climate (increase adult supervision, PD training and upstander intervention programs) 3. coordinate/integrate anti-bullying with other tier 1 programs (PBIS, SEL) 4. involve individuals across all systems

MTSS Bullying Prevention: Tier 3 strategies

1. individual counseling delivered for bullies or victims 2. family and/or community based services 3. trauma-informed programming for frequently victimized youth

Schools as caring communities (Baker, 1998) takeaways

1. school violence reflects a failure of the school to create community 2. children's psychological affiliation to school mediated their expression of violence in school 3. increased importance for school engagement and approaching prevention from a PBIS framework

Summary of strategies to avoid when preventing bullying

1. zero-tolerance/extremely harsh discipline practices 2. conflict resolution/peer mediation (assumes the victim is somewhat responsible for being bullied; puts pressure on victim to resolve the problem) 3. creating intervention groups solely with children who bully 4. brief assemblies or "one-time" awareness events

What is the most common form of school violence?

Bullying

Why is it often difficult for a bullying victim to defend themselves?

Because of the power imbalance in the relationship

Bullying = RIP... what does this mean?

Bullying is Repeated, Intentional and holds a power imbalance

How should we conceptualize the labels of "victim" and "bully"

Categorizing students into separate labels of "bullies" and "victims" is not supported by research we should view this relationship as a continuum that is dynamic bullying is typically a group phenomenon (involves bully(ies) victim(s) and bystander(s))

what are the three types of bullying bystanders?

Contributors (laughing, egging on) Defenders (try to stick up for victim) passive (turn away, watch and stay silent)

What are some important questions to consider when assessing the school's overall experiences with bullying?

Do students feel like they belong and are respected? How do teachers and admin view school bullying? How are reports of bullying handled? How much does school admin model and respect student diversity?

Overall three biggest risk factors for being a victim of bullying

Gender & sexuality Race & Ethnicity Health related factors (physical & emotional)

4 general risk factors for displaying aggression

Individual, Family, Peer/school & community

What location in schools does bullying occur most often?

In classrooms, because this is where students spend most of their time

What is typically first thought of regarding discussion of school violence?

School shootings

Intersection of bullying, sexuality, and gender

as students age and spend more time in cross-gender peer groups, consciousness of traditional sex roles increases. we see that bullying becomes more sexualized and gendered, often taking the form of sexual harassment as students age

peer/school factors for displaying aggression

associating with aggressive students peer rejection low school engagement

Recommendations for teacher training in bullying prevention

be vigilant, aware and connected consider how own biases might impact bullying intervention collect info on bullying incident respond to ALL bullying acts and claims of bullying create a positive school climate have clear expectations and consequences for behavior

when do antisocial behavior patterns become relatively stable?

by late elementary school years, and increase in adolescence 50% of the time

What is the core concern with being a bystander to bullying?

bystanders often REINFORCE bullying behavior by laughing, or turning a blind eye

Bullying assessment - behavioral obserations

can provide helpful information regarding frequency, location and interaction patterns must be conducted over a long period of time, noting contextual variables that may impact bullying instances

How do forms of bullying change as students move from middle to high school?

direct, observable aggression declines from middle to high school indirect, less observable aggression may increase from middle to high school

individual risk factors for displaying aggression

history of aggression beliefs that support violence impulsivity

Teachers intervening in bullying: facts and issues

if teachers perceive bullying as normative, they are less likely to intervene teachers are more likely to intervene in situations of physical bullying teachers perceive themselves intervening more than their students report students report that teacher intervening can sometimes make the problem worse

Where in schools does bullying typically occur?

in unstructured situations in areas with less adult supervision like the bus, recess, lunch room, locker room, hallways, stairwells during times when the teacher to student ratio is high (lunch)

Race & Ethnicity Bullying Risk factors for BULLIES & VICTIMS

literature regarding bullies common race/ethnicity is inconclusive bias may come into play for teachers to identify bullies immigrant students are at an increased risk for bullying victimization

Gender & Sexuality factors for BULLIES

more likely to be boys boys more likely to use physical aggression girls more likely to use relational aggression

for the majority of serious adolescent offenders there is an ______, ________ __________ of more serious antisocial behavior

orderly, gradual emergence

School factors that contribute to creating punative environments

over reliance on punitive methods of control unclear rules for student deportment lack of support/agreement from staff regarding policy lack of student involvement experiences of academic failure misusing behavior management procedures teachers unintentional differential treatment towards high and low achieving students failure to teach pro-social peer behavior

Bullying is often associated with_______ but occurs in __________

physical aggression; other forms (relational, cyber, rumors)

What are the three kids of bullying recognized in research?

physical, verbal and relational(direct/indirect)

family risk factors for displaying aggression

poor caregiver monitoring poor attachments exposure to family violence

community factors for displaying aggression

poverty access to weapons transiency (inconsistency)

Bullying may be defined as

repeated, intentional behaviors that occur over time in a relationship, characterized by an imbalance of power

causes of antisocial behavior

these behaviors DEVELOP within a psychological, biological and social context coercive family processes at a young age impedes academic progress, and puts students at risk for deviant peer groups influence shift from parents to peers as children age

Bullying Assessment - Self report & surveys

these methods ask students directly of how often they experienced certain behaviors over a specific time period youth tend to under-report instances of bullying yet, report instances increase when students are asked how often they've engaged in specific behaviors (were you ignored or left out on purpose in the last week?)

What is one of the most cited reasons for why students are bullying victims?

they are perceived as being "different" having the typical and developmental desire to create a self-identity that may set one apart from the "norm" can increase risk

What can we do to address bystanders?

use intervention that stigmatizes bullying and de-stigmatizes reporting this encourages students to be "upstanders" if students have a trusted relationship with an adult, they are more likely to report, so build relations!