Bullying

1
Bullying

• How Parents and Teachers Can Help

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Definitions

• Any word, look, sign or act that hurts a persons
  body, feelings, or things.
• -Violence
• Bullying is when a stronger, more powerful person
  repeatedly hurts or frightens a smaller or weaker
  person ON PURPOSE

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Types of Bullying

• DIRECT
• Involves relatively open attacks on a victim

• INDIRECT
• Involves social isolation, exclusion from a group.

4
What the Researchers Tell Us

• NASP reports that approximately 1 in 7
  schoolchildren is a bully or a victim.
• Bullying may cause short-term problems for the
  victims (e.g., depression, anxiety, problems with
  school work).
• Persistent bullying can leave long-term scars on
  the victims (e.g., low self-esteem, depression).
• Bullying contributes to a negative school social
  climate affecting performance. For fourth
  through eighth graders, 22 report academic
  difficulties resulting from peer abuse

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More Research

• Students who bully others are especially likely
  to engage in other antisocial/delinquent
  behaviors such as vandalism, shoplifting, truancy
  and frequent drug use. This pattern usually
  continues into young adulthood.
• 35-40 of former bullies have at least 2
  criminal convictions by the age of 24.
• Bullying is a widespread problem. Approximately
  2/3 of all violent crimes against youths are
  never reported to authorities.

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Bullying Myths

• Bullying is just a stage and a normal part of
  life.
• If I tell someone, it will just make it worse.
• Bullying is a school problem, the teachers
  should handle it.
• People are born bullies.
• Boys bully more than girls.

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What to Look For

• Withdrawal
• Abrupt lack of interest in school
• Refusal to go to school
• Drop in grades
• Physical signs of being hurt
• Frequent complaints of illness
• Overly sensitive, cautious, or clingy
• Changing groups of friends

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Strategies for Parents of Bullying Victims

• Take the initiative and talk with your child.
• Get the facts.
• Encourage, understand, and validate feelings.
  Convey the message, I know you dont like whats
  going on, but I know you can handle it.
• Avoid over empathizing.

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Strategies for Parents of Bullying Victims

• Review your own behavior.
• Assess your childs self-esteem.
• Teach your child to be assertive.
• Teach that relationships are options and not
  mandates.
• Develop a plan of action.
• Ask for help.

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Things Parents Should Avoid

• Confronting the bully or the bullys parents.
• Asking your child to stand up to the bully by
  using physical force.
• Blaming your child for being bullied.
• Promising to keep the bullying a secret.
• Over-empathizing.
• Gossiping.

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Strategies for Teachers of Bullying Victims

• Make sure you take time to LISTEN to the victim.
• Validate what the victim is telling you.
• Dont make the victim feel they have done
  something to deserve being bullied.
• Take action!
• Establish a supportive relationship with the
  victim.

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Strategies for Teachers of Bullying Victims

• Assertiveness training
• Help differentiate between tattling and telling
  on someone
• Maintain close communication between home and
  school

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Strategies for Parents of Bullies

• Establish the expectation that bullying is not
  acceptable and will not be tolerated.
• Monitor your childs behavior.
• Impose consequences for teasing.
• Assess why the child is bullying.
• Assess the teasing in your family.

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Strategies for Parents of Bullies

• Use empathy training to develop an understanding
  of how their actions affect others.
• Promote the appreciation of differences.
• Monitor television viewing.
• Consult with your childs teacher.
• Praise positive changes.

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Strategies for Teachers with Bullies in the
Classroom

• Involve parents.
• Increase supervision.
• Immediate consequences for the bully.
• Discover reason for action of behavior.
• Classroom expectations reflect strong disapproval
  of social exclusion.
• Bring bullying acts out into the open.

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Strategies for Teachers to Help Students Help
Others

• What is bullying?
• How bullying effects the entire group?
• Teasing Dos and Don'ts
• Ways prevent bullying situations from occurring
• Practice I statements.
• Teach students what they should report to an
  adult as an act of bullying

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Additional Resources

• www.Stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov
• www.bullybusters.org/
• www.safeculture.com
• www.nssc1.org/
• www.nwrel.org
• Odd Girl Out The Hidden Culture of Aggression
  in Girls by Rachel Simmons
• Odd Girl Speaks Out by Rachel Simmons
• Bully Free Classroom by Allan L. Beane