Preventing unwanted and inappropriate classroom behavior

Adapted from work of Drs. Rebecca Evers and Mark Mitchell

The Facts About Bullying:• Each year between 15-25% of all U.S.

students are bullied with some frequency.

• 5,000,000 U.S. elementary student are bullied each year.

• Every day 160,000 children miss school because they are afraid to attend.

• 282,000 students are physically attacked.

• 50% of all students being bullied report the bullying has lasted more than six months.

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• Bullying has increased by 5% per year since 2004.

• 70% of teachers believe that they “almost always” intervene in bullying situations; only 25% of students agree with this opinion.

• 25% of teachers see nothing wrong with occasional bullying or putdowns and intervene in only 4% of bullying incidents.

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Types of Bullies

Recent headlines: Watershed case not the only one

• Phoebe Prince South Hadley, Mass commits suicide after bullying by classmates

• Following this, the state strengthened its anti-bullying law, in part, after a DeKalb County elementary school student, taunted by classmates, committed suicide

• Middle school student with CP father takes on bullies on bus

Interaction of factors produce bullies

Bullying takes place in a variety of ways and in many places

• Cyber Bullying

Common Excuses for Bullying• “Boys will be boys”

• “What doesn’t kill you will make you stronger.”

• “Just give back as good as you get.”

• “Just ignore it and they will stop.”

• “That kid is just a tattler.”

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What Exactly is Bullying

• an imbalance of power• intent to harm a distressed target• Repeated incidents may include physical,

verbal, exclusionary, or manipulative actions

• Can be delivered directly (face2face), or indirectly (behind the back, i.e., as gossip via email and the Internet).

– (Chamberlain, 2003; Heinrich, 2003)

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Actions that may be consider as bullying include any act of violence with or without a weapon, sexual harassment (both verbal and physical), name calling, shunning and excluding others, and saying or writing false statements about another.

(Chamberlain, 2003; Heinrich, 2003)

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• Sarcasm is a type of bullying often seen adult-youth interactions.

• Often copied by students who witness the exchange

• Responsibility of adults to model an atmosphere of acceptance and tolerance.

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Students who are bullied experience more psychological problems

Symptoms include:– frequent crying– fear of being alone– stomach aches– Anxiety– Depression– thoughts of suicide– social isolation

• “They get away with it, so they think they can just keep doing it.”

– Billy Wolfe – Click the link below to hear his story. – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE5yINOn4N4&feature=related

Handling Bullying• Zero tolerance policies

– Affect large number of students (1 in 5 bully)

– Threats of severe punishment (May inhibit children and adults from reporting)

– Children who bully are in need of positive, pro-social role models, including adults and students in school

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• Conflict resolution and peer mediation

– Bullying is a form of victimization, not conflict. (same as child abuse)

– Mediating a bullying incident may send the wrong message. (“You are both partly right.”)

– Victim may become upset and withdraw

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• Group Treatment for Children Who Bully– Members of the group, other bullies,

serve as role models and reinforce others’ antisocial and bulling behavior

• Simple, short-term solutions– Bullying is a change in climate and

culture, not an event.

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What works: Develop a plan• Help students develop empathy for others

feelings.

• Help students develop an appreciation of differences

• Help students learn to control anger and impulsiveness

• Help students learn to express emotions

• Use positive rather than negative behavior management

ReferencesCooper, S. & Snell, J. (2003). Bullying-Not just a kid thing. Educational

Leadership. March issue, 22-25.French, M. (2004). Dealing with GLTB issues in elementary and secondary

schools. In Swan, W. (Ed.) Handbook of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Administration and Policy, (pp. 221-245). New York: Marcel Dekker. Retrieved June 23, 2006, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=109111399

Heinrichs, R. R. (2003). A whole-school approach to bullying. Intervention in School & Clinic. 38(4), 195-204.

Laumann, E.O. (2004). The social organization of sexuality: Sexual practices in the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Limber, S.P. (2002). Addressing youth bullying behaviors. Proceeding from the American Medical Association Educational Forum on Adolescent Health: Youth Bullying. Chicago, Ill: Retrieved September 24, 2007, from www.ama -assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/39/youthbullying .pdf

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Mahon, P.J. (2005). School law for busy administrators. Dayton: Educational Law Association.

Melton, G.B., Limber, S.P., Cunningham, P., Osgood, D.W., Chambers J., Flerx, V., Henggeler S., & Nation, M. (1998) Violence Among Rural Youth. Final Report to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

New Jersey Department of Education, (2006, April) “Model Policy and Guidance for Prohibiting Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying on School Property, At School Sponsored Functions and on School Buses”. Retrieved at http://www.nj.gov/njded/parents/bully.htm.

Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at School: What we know and what we can do. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, Inc.

Safe School Climate Act, S.C. Code Ann. § 59-63-110, et seq. 2006 South Carolina Act 353

Trautman, M. (2003). 20 ways to identify and reduce bullying in your classroom. Intervention in School & Clinic, 38(4), 243-246.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2006) Stop Bullying Now, Take a Stand, Lend a Hand. Retrieved September 10, 2007 at http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov.

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics, The Continuation of Education 2002, NCES 2002-05, Washington, DC; U.S. Government Printing Office, 2002.

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Internet Resources

• Stop Bullying Now: http://www.stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov/index.asp?area=main

• National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center (see Professionals link on right for community organizations information) http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/index.asp– See their information on bullying @

http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/faq/bullying.asp

• National PTA– http://www.pta.org/

archive_article_details_1117637268750.html

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