Bullying Statistics

1. Bullying Statistics • Approximately 30 percent of students are regularly involved in bully, either as bullies or both (National Resource Center for Safe Schools, 2001;National Institutes of Health, April, 2001). • Approximately 15 percent “severely traumatized or distressed” and eight percent report being victimized at least once a week (Skiba & Fontanini, 2000). • Bullying occurs once every seven minutes (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2001). • 61.6% of students who are bullied are picked on because of their looks or speech (U.S. News & World Report, May 7, 2001). • Every day approximately 160,000 students stay home from school because they are afraid of being bullied (Vail, 1999; Banks, 2000). • Bullying peaks in sixth through eighth grades (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2001). • Homicide perpetrators more than twice as likely as homicide victims to have been bullied by peers (U.S. Department of Education and Justice, 2001).

2. Gender Differences • Boys tend to be more direct and girls more indirect (National Resource Center for Safe Schools, 1999; Crick & Grotpeter, 1995) • Boys engage in bullying more frequently than girls (Banks, 2000) • Boys tend to bully both boys and girls (Hoover & Oliver, 1996) • Girls tend to target other girls of the same age and take the form of teasing and social exclusion (Olweus, 2002; Nansel et al., 2001; Underwood, 2003) • Girls are more likely to bully in a group (Kreidler, 1996) • Bullying by girls is often more subtle and harder to detect (NRCSS, 1999)

3. Negatively affected when bullying occurs: • Become anxious and more fearful • Could follow a bully’s lead in helping to victimize another student • If they do not see negative consequences for the bully, bystanders may be more likely to use aggression in the future

4. Student Attitudes about Bullying • Varies with age—as students get older, they become more supportive of bullying and less likely to intervene • Girls tend to be more supportive of victims, but are not necessarily more likely to intervene • “Culture of silence” Smith, P. (2005). Bullying—Don’t Suffer in Silence. Goldsmiths College, University of London.

5. Adult Responses to Bullying • Adults are often unaware of bullying problems (Limber, 2002; Skiba & Fontanini, 2000) • 25% of teachers see nothing wrong with bullying or putdowns, and consequently intervene in only 4% of bullying incidents (Cohn& Canter, 2002) • Students often feel that adult intervention is infrequent and/or unhelpful and they often fear that telling adults will only bring more harassment from bullies (Banks, 1997; Mullin-Rindler, 2003)

6. A School-wide Approach to Bullying • Establishing school-wide bully prevention programs • Establishing school-wide anti-bullying policy • Assessing school climate

7. Taking Action Against Bullying It is our duty as educators to provide a safe school environment for all students. • By age 24, 60% of identified bullies may have criminal convictions (Banks, 2000) • Children who are repeatedly victimized sometimes see suicide as their only escape • Bullying is the most underrated and enduring problem in schools today • Many adults do not know how to intervene in bullying situations, therefore bullying is overlooked • Emotional scars can last a lifetime

8. School Psychologist’s Role • Assess your school’s needs and goals • Help develop an anti-bullying policy • Provide training for teachers, administrators, and other school staff • Involve parents • Identify resources for bullies, victims, and families • Help integrate anti-bullying themes and activities into curriculum • Initiate conversations with students about bullying • Encourage students to report incidents of bullying • Work with students on developing assertiveness and conflict resolution skills • Focus on developing empathy and respect for others School wide Prevention of Bullying, Northwest Regional Educational laboratory, December, 2001.

9. School-wide Bullying Prevention Programs • Focus on the social environment of the school • Assess bullying at your school • Obtain staff and parent buy-in and support for bullying prevention • Meet regularly to review findings • Provide training for school staff in bullying prevention • Establish and enforce school rules and policies related to bullying • Increase adult supervision in “hot spots” for bullying • Intervene consistently and appropriately when you see bullying • Devote some class time to bullying prevention Limber, S. (2004). What works—and doesn’t in bullying prevention and intervention. Student Assistance Journal, 16-19. Garrity, Jens, Porter, Sager & Short-Camilli (1996). Without intervention, bully problems will not go away” In Bully–proofing your school. Longmont, CO: Sopris West

10. Tips for Selecting Prevention Programs • Be sure the books, videos, and other resources selected for children are developmentally and age-appropriate. • Look for materials that explain and illustrate the many forms that bullying can take. • Select materials that show boys AND girls involved in bullying. • Look for materials that suggest or show appropriate and realistic solutions to bullying problems. • Look for materials that have won awards or received positive reviews by professionals, parents, children, or youth.

11. School Wide Anti-bullying Policy • A clear definition of bullying • A statement that clearly says bullying is unacceptable • Positive conflict resolution, caring and respect is valued • A description of how the school proposes to deal with bullies and victims • Encouragement for students and parents to share concerns

12. Assessing School Climate School climate shapes student behavior and learning. • Identify the components of strong school climate and how they affect student behavior and learning • Change school culture to support productive student behavior and effective learning • Use mentorships and other relationship-based strategies to promote productive student behavior • Develop a school-wide productive behavior system

13. Interventions Designed to Improve School Climate • School Level Interventions (entire school population) • Establish a bullying prevention coordinating committee • Administer an anonymous questionnaire survey • Hold a school conference day • Improve supervision and outdoor environment • Involve parents • Classroom Level Interventions (entire classroom) • Establish classroom rules against bullying • Create positive and negative consequences of bullying • Hold regular classroom meetings • Meet with parents • Individual Level Interventions (specific students involved in bullying) • Serious talks (with possible referral to therapy) with students who bully • Serious talks (with possible referral to therapy) with students who are victimized • Involve the parents • Change of class or school

14. Reynolds Bully Victimization Scales for Schools • Bully Victimization Scale (BVS) • Bully Victimization Distress Scale (BVDS) • School Violence Anxiety Scale (SVAS) • Swearer, S. M. & Love, K. B. (in press). Review of the Reynolds Bully-Victim Scale for Schools. In B. S. Plake & J. C. Impara (Eds.), The Fifteenth Mental Measurements Yearbook. Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements.

15. Bully Surveys • Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (Solberg & Olweus, 2003; Olweus, 1994) • The Bully Surveys (Swearer, 2001; Swearer & Cary, 2003) • Overview: Furlong, M., Greif, J., & Sharkey, J. (March, 2005). Assessing violence in our schools: Bullying. Presentation at annual meeting of the National Association of School Psychologists, Atlanta, GA.

16. Several Strategies for Reducing Bullying • Steps to Respect (Committee for Children) • Olweus Bullying Prevention Program • Bully Busters (Horne et al.) • Effective Behavioral Supports

17. Skill Development for Victims • Look at behavior that contributes to bullying • Improve social skills • Assertiveness training • Conflict resolution • Stress management

18. Involving Parents • Regular consultation and communication • Provide information about the effects of bullying • Advising parents of possible consequences of their children bringing valuable items to school • Inviting parents to plays/drama

19. Finding out about Bullying in Your School • Survey methods • Interviews • Interpreting and presenting data • Data-based decision-making

20. Survey Methods • How frequently students have been bullied • Ways it which it happens • How often bullying occurs • Whom the victims tell • What action was taken and by whom • Where bullying takes place (provide maps of the school and grounds ask to highlight)

21. Interviews • Do in private, but visible to others • Make notes after the interview is over • Explain the need for disclosure if necessary • Specify how often bullying is occurring

22. Data-based decision-making (Swearer & Espelage, 2004) 1. Partner with university researchers to conduct an assessment of bullying behaviors 2. Conduct a school-wide anonymous assessment of bullying behaviors 3. Include multiple informants 4. Use self-report, other report, observations 5. Graph data to create a picture of the scope of bullying in your school 6. Use data to conduct classroom presentations on bullying

23. Data-based decision-making (Swearer & Espelage, 2004) 7. Use the data to create interventions for bullying 8. Use the data to establish preventative measures to create an antibullying climate 9. Share data with parent groups (e.g., PTA) 10. Create a data-based decision-making climate through the use of individual school data to help guide prevention and intervention programming.

24. Interpreting and Presenting Data • Make comparisons over time • Report changes as percentages if the two groups differ in size • Check trends against whole-school or part-school surveys • Are there discrepancies between what is reported and number of incidents recorded by staff? (If so, school’s response system will need reviewing). Espelage, D. L. & Swearer, S. M. (2004). Bullying in American schools: A social-ecological perspective on prevention and intervention. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Smith, P. (2004). Bullying-Don’t suffer in silence. Goldsmiths College, University of London.

25. The Bullying Prevention Program (Olweus & Limber, 1999) • Meets the criteria for a proven program in the Blueprints for Violence Prevention (Elliott, 1999). • Successfully replicated internationally (e.g., Whitney, Rivers, Smith, & Sharp, 1994) and in the United States (Melton et al.,1998). • Follows a whole-school multilevel approach that includes core components targeting several levels of the school ecology. • Implementation issues across different school ecologies are discussed.

26. Order Information Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence Institute of Behavioral Science University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, CO 80309-0442 (303) 492-8465 http://www.Colorado.EDU/cspv/blueprints

27. BULLY BUSTERS

28. Bully Busters (Newman, Horne, & Bartolomucci, 2000) • Intervention and prevention program designed specifically for the middle school years. • Classroom-level program addresses the essential components of the school ecology that are responsible for change. • Focus on teacher education and training. • Differing implementation methods facilitate the needs of different school ecologies. • www.researchpress.com

29. Steps to Respect (Committee for Children) • When all three phases are in place, your school will have: • Clear school policies and procedures for addressing bullying. • Staff who are trained to recognize and deal with bullying when it occurs. • Students who have learned how to recognize, refuse, and report bullying. • Impressive outcome data (Developmental Psychology, 2005; School Psychology Review, in submission)

30. Order Information • Call Committee for Children toll-free: 800-634-4449, ext. 62238:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. Pacific Time, Monday–Friday • http://www.cfchildren.org/str/strindex/

31. Second Step: A Violence Prevention Program (Committee for Children, 1997) • Research-based program; research-based modules • Includes a module on bullying • User-friendly • Buy-in issues are addressed first • Comprehensive: Grades 1-3; 4-5; 6-7; 7-8;8-9 • U.S. Department of Education Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools “Exemplary Program.”

32. Order Information Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum 2203 Airport Way South, Suite 500 Seattle, WA 98134 (800) 634-4449 http://www.cfchildren.org

33. The Peaceful Schools Project (Twemlow, Fonagy, Sacco, Vernberg, & Twemlow) • “A philosophy, not a program.” • Essential components: discipline plan, positive climate campaign, gentle warrior, reflection time. • Includes parent workshops. • Addresses the school’s unique ecology. • Impressive outcome data.

34. Order Information “The Peaceful Schools Project.” http://www.backoffbully.com

35. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. 2(www.respect2all.org) • Relationship Empowerment for Students, Parents, Educators & Community Through Theatre • Mission: • bring together a community collaboration to build healthy relationships among children and youth through theatre

36. Another Resource Bullying Behavior: Current issues, research, and interventions. Edited by Geffner, R. A., Loring, M. T. & Young, C. (2002). Published by The Haworth Press, Inc. 10 Alice Street Binghamtom, NY 13904-1580 1-800-895-0582 www.HaworthPress.com

37. Teacher/Counselor Resource Bullying, Peer Harassment, and Victimization in the Schools. Edited by Elias, M. J. & Zins, J. E. (2002). Published by The Haworth Press, Inc. 10 Alice Street Binghamtom, NY 13904-1580 1-800-895-0582 www.HaworthPress.com

38. Teacher/Counselor Resource Resilient Classrooms. Doll, B., Zucker, S., & Brehm, K. (2004). Published by The Guilford Press. 72 Spring Street New York, NY 10012 www.guilford.com

39. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates http://www.erlbaum.com

40. Books for Parents • And Words can Hurt Forever: How to Protect Adolescents from Bullying, Harassment, and Emotional Violence (2002). • By James Garbarino and Ellen deLara. The Free Press.

41. Books for Parents • Sheras, P. L. with Thompson, A (2002). Your Child: Bully or Victim? Understanding and Ending School Yard Tyranny. New York: Fireside (Simon & Schuster).

42. A Video Resource “Bully Dance” video Bullfrog Films Box 149 Oley, PA 19547 (610) 779-8226 Web: www.bullfrogfilms.com

43. Web Resources • http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov • http://www.targetbully.com • http://www.backoffbully.com • http:///www.pta.org/bullying/ • http://www.dac.neu.edu/cp/mspa/html1/mspa32.html • http://www.nea.org/schoolsafety/bullying.html • http://www.clemson.edu/olweus/index.html • http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/15plus/aboutbullying.asp