Understanding School Bullying: Identify, Prevent, Support

1. School Violence Awareness What is Bullying?

2. Bullying • The victim is being bullied when exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other students • Negative actions include intentionally inflicting, or attempting to inflict, injury or discomfort upon another

3. Bullying • Can be: • Physical e.g., hitting, kicking, pushing, choking • Verbal e.g., by calling names, threatening, taunting, malicious teasing, spreading nasty rumors • Other ways e.g., making faces, obscene gestures, intentional exclusion from a group

4. Bullying • Indirect bullying is very subtle • Direct bullying is verbal or physical • In order to be considered bullying, there should also be an imbalance in power or strength

5. Bullying • Students who are exposed to the negative actions generally have difficulty in defending themselves and are somewhat helpless against the bullies • Not bullying: two students of similar physical or psychological power in conflict • Not bullying: friendly or playful teasing

6. Bullying • Bullying: repeated and continuous degrading and malicious teasing despite clear signs of distress and opposition on the part of the target • The victim is usually a single student, who is generally harassed by a group of two or three students, often with a negative leader

7. Three Criteria • Aggressive behavior or intentional “harm-doing • Carried out repeatedly and over time • Occurs within an interpersonal relationship characterized by an imbalance of power (Bullying behavior often occurs without apparent provocation)

8. Three Criteria • Bullying is considered a form of peer abuse • What sets it apart from other forms of abuse such as child or domestic abuse: • The context in which it occurs • The relationship of the interacting parties

9. False Beliefs About Bullying • Being bullied builds character • Bullying is part of growing up • Boys will be boys • Sticks and stones may break your bones, but names can never hurt you • You do something to him/her that would make him/her treat you that way

10. False Beliefs About Bullying • You have to learn to stand up for yourself • Hit him back and he won’t bother you again • I was bullied in school and I turned out fine • No kids are bullied in this school • Only children who are different get bullied • Only children in large school/classes get bullied

11. Three People Involved in Bullying • The Victim • The Bully • The Bystander

12. The Victim:Passive/Submissive • Signal to others through attitudes and behaviors that they are insecure individuals who will not retaliate if victimized • Physically weaker than their peers (particularly boys) • Display “body anxiety”, are afraid of being hurt, have poor physical coordination, and are ineffective in physical play or sports

13. The Victim:Passive/Submissive • Poor social skills and have difficulty making friends • Cautious, sensitive, quiet, withdrawn and shy • Cry or become upset easy • Anxious, insecure, and have poor self-esteem • Have difficulty standing up for or defending themselves in peer groups • Relate better to adults than peers

14. The Victim: Provocative • Anxious and aggressive patterns and are generally boys • Exhibit some or all of the characteristics of passive or submissive victims • Hot tempered and attempt to fight back when victimized, usually not very effectively

15. The Victim: Provocative • Hyperactive, restless, have difficulty concentrating, and create tension • Clumsy, immature, and exhibit irritating habits • Disliked by adults, including teachers • Often try to bully students weaker than themselves

16. Children Who Are Bullied May • Be withdrawn • Have a drop in grades • Show a loss of appetite • Have sleeping problems • Be hesitant to go to school • Rarely bring classmates home after school or seldom spend time in their homes • Seem isolated from peers and may not have one good friend to share time with • Often feel sick in the morning • Become visibly stressed before getting on the school bus (some of the most severe bullying takes place on the school bus)

17. Children Who Are Bullied May • Come home with torn clothes or unexplained bruises • Needs extra school supplies or often needs extra lunch money: a bully may be extorting things your child “loses” • Your child may choose an “illogical” route to and from school • Appear anxious • Distressed • Unhappy • Depressed or tearful when he or she comes home from school • Show unexpected mood shifts, irritability, or sudden outbursts of temper • Talks or attempts of suicide

18. The Bully • Bullies have an increased risk for engaging in other forms of antisocial behavior • Juvenile Delinquency • Criminality • Substance Abuse • Boys are more likely to be physical bullies • Girls are more likely to engage in “sneakier” forms of harassment

19. The Bully • Physical attacks: hitting, pushing, kicking, and choking • Verbal attacks or harassment: name calling, threatening, taunting, malicious teasing, rumor spreading, slandering • Social isolation, intentional exclusion, making faces, obscene gestures, manipulating friendship relationships

20. The Bully • Physically bigger and stronger than their victims • Strong need to dominate and control their peers • Hot-tempered, easily angered, impulsive, and have a low frustration tolerance • Difficulty conforming to rules • Defiant and aggressive toward adults (authority figures-adults may be frightened of the bully)

21. The Bully • Good at talking themselves out of situations • Tend to have a relatively positive view of themselves (average or better than average self esteem) • More likely than their peers to engage in antisocial behaviors • More likely to be less popular

22. The Bully • Children who bully others: • Can turn into antisocial adults • Are far more likely than others to commit crimes • Likely to batter their spouses and abuse their children • May produce another generation of children who bully • Bullies identified after the age of seven: • By age 24, are 6 times more likely than non-bullies to be convicted of a crime • By age 30, are 4 times more likely to have accrued three criminal convictions

23. The Bystander • Bullying is often a group phenomenon that can influence other students in various directions • Some group mechanisms that, individually or in combination may assumed to be active when several students participate in bullying • Social contagion • Weakening of the normal inhibitions against aggressive tendencies • A decreased sense of individual responsibility • Gradual changes in the perception of the victim

24. The Bystander • Doing nothing implies that bullying is acceptable behavior

25. Conclusion/Summary • http://agpcabinc.webs.com/whatisbullying.htm • http://sei-bu-kan.co.uk/html/bullying_what.htm