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).

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)

Negatively affected when

bullying occurs:a)Become anxious and

more fearfulb)Could follow a bully’s

lead in helping to victimize another student

c) If they do not see negative consequences

for the bully, bystanders may be more likely to use aggression in the future

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.

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)

Establishing school-wide bully prevention programs

Establishing school-wide anti-bullying policy

Assessing school climate

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

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.

o Focus on the social environment of the schoolo Assess bullying at your schoolo Obtain staff and parent buy-in and support for bullying

preventiono Meet regularly to review findingso Provide training for school staff in bullying preventiono Establish and enforce school rules and policies related

to bullyingo Increase adult supervision in “hot spots” for bullyingo Intervene consistently and appropriately when you

see bullyingo Devote some class time to bullying preventionLimber, 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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

Steps to Respect (Committee for Children)

Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

Bully Busters (Horne et al.)

Effective Behavioral Supports

Look at behavior that contributes to bullying

Improve social skillsAssertiveness trainingConflict resolutionStress management

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

Survey methods Interviews Interpreting and

presenting data Data-based

decision-making

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)

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

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 informants4. Use self-report, other report, observations5. Graph data to create a picture of the scope

of bullying in your school6. Use data to conduct classroom presentations

on bullying

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.

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.

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.

Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence

Institute of Behavioral ScienceUniversity of Colorado at BoulderBoulder, CO 80309-0442(303) 492-8465http://www.Colorado.EDU/cspv/blueprints

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

Steps to RespectSteps to Respect (Committee (Committee for Children)for Children)

• When all three phases are in place, your school will have:

1. Clear school policies and procedures for addressing bullying.

2. Staff who are trained to recognize and deal with bullying when it occurs.

3. Students who have learned how to recognize, refuse, and report bullying.

• Impressive outcome data (Developmental Psychology, 2005; School Psychology Review, in submission)

Order InformationOrder 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/

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.”

Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum

2203 Airport Way South, Suite 500

Seattle, WA 98134(800) 634-4449

http://www.cfchildren.org

“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.

“The Peaceful Schools Project.”

http://www.backoffbully.com

R.E.S.P.E.C.T. R.E.S.P.E.C.T. 22

((www.respect2all.org)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

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 StreetBinghamtom, NY 13904-15801-800-895-0582www.HaworthPress.com

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 StreetBinghamtom, NY 13904-15801-800-895-0582www.HaworthPress.com

Resilient Classrooms. Doll, B., Zucker, S., & Brehm, K. (2004).

Published by The Guilford Press.72 Spring StreetNew York, NY 10012www.guilford.com

Lawrence Erlbaum Associateshttp://www.erlbaum.com

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.

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

“Bully Dance” video

Bullfrog FilmsBox 149Oley, PA 19547(610) 779-8226Web: www.bullfrogfilms.com

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/m

spa32.html

http://www.nea.org/schoolsafety/bullying.html

http://www.clemson.edu/olweus/index.html

http://www.mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/15plus/aboutbullying.asp