What is Bullying?
Dan Olweus, creator of
the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, provides us with this commonly
accepted definition for bullying in his book, Bullying at School: What We
Know and What We Can Do:
"A person is
bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative
actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty
defending himself or herself."
This definition
includes three important components:
1. Bullying is
aggressive behavior that involves unwanted, negative actions.
2. Bullying involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time.
3. Bullying involves an imbalance of power or strength.
2. Bullying involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time.
3. Bullying involves an imbalance of power or strength.
Types of Bullying
Bullying can take on
many forms. As part of the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire, students are
asked if they have been bullied in any of these nine ways:
1. Verbal bullying
including derogatory comments and bad names
2. Bullying through social exclusion or isolation
3. Physical bullying such as hitting, kicking, shoving, and spitting
4. Bullying through lies and false rumors
5. Having money or other things taken or damaged by students who bully
6. Being threatened or being forced to do things by students who bully
7. Racial bullying
8. Sexual bullying
9. Cyber bullying (via cell phone or Internet)
2. Bullying through social exclusion or isolation
3. Physical bullying such as hitting, kicking, shoving, and spitting
4. Bullying through lies and false rumors
5. Having money or other things taken or damaged by students who bully
6. Being threatened or being forced to do things by students who bully
7. Racial bullying
8. Sexual bullying
9. Cyber bullying (via cell phone or Internet)
Why Students Bully
Information about
bullying suggests that there are three interrelated reasons why students bully.
1. Students who bully
have strong needs for power and (negative) dominance.
2. Students who bully find satisfaction in causing injury and suffering to other
students.
3. Students who bully are often rewarded in some way for their behavior with
material or psychological rewards.
2. Students who bully find satisfaction in causing injury and suffering to other
students.
3. Students who bully are often rewarded in some way for their behavior with
material or psychological rewards.
Impact of Bullying
A single student who
bullies can have a wide-ranging impact on the students they bully, students who
observe bullying, and the overall climate of the school and community.
Students Who are
Bullied - Students deserve to
feel safe at school. But when they experience bullying, these types of effects
can last long into their future:
·
Depression
·
Low self-esteem
·
Health problems
·
Poor grades
·
Suicidal thoughts
Students Who Bully
Others - Students who
intentionally bully others should be held accountable for their actions. Those
who bully their peers are also more likely than those students who do not bully
others to *:
·
Get into frequent
fights
·
Steal and vandalize
property
·
Drink alcohol and
smoke
·
Report poor grades
·
Perceive a negative
climate at school
·
Carry a weapon
* Not all students who
bully others have obvious behavior problems or are engaged in rule-breaking
activities, however. Some of them are highly skilled socially and good at
ingratiating themselves with their teacher and other adults. This is true of
some boys who bully but is perhaps even more common among bullying girls. For
this reason it is often difficult for adults to discover or even imagine that
these students engage in bullying behavior.
Observers of Bullying - Students who see bullying happen also may
feel that they are in an unsafe environment. Effects may include feeling:
·
Fearful
·
Powerless to act
·
Guilty for not acting
·
Tempted to participate
Schools with Bullying
Issues - When bullying
continues and a school does not take action, the entire school climate can be
affected in the following ways:
·
The school develops an
environment of fear and disrespect
·
Students have
difficulty learning
·
Students feel insecure
·
Students dislike
school
·
Students perceive that
teachers and staff have little control and don't care about them
Bullying is a Serious Issue
Bullying may vary greatly
between schools and school districts, but it is very prevalent:
·
Statistics show that
23 percent of students in grades 4-6 had been bullied "several times"
or more; 20 percent had bullied others (1998 study of 6,500 students in rural
South Carolina)
·
Statistics show that
17 percent of students in grades 6-10 reported having been bullied
"sometimes" or more, with 8 percent being bullied once a week. 19
percent said they had been a bully to others "sometimes" or more.
(2001 study of 15,000 U.S. students)
The Bullying Circle
Nearly one in five
students in an average classroom is experiencing bullying in some way. The rest
of the students, called bystanders, are also affected by the bullying.1
The Olweus Bullying
Prevention Program describes students involved or witnessing a bullying
situation as having roles in the Bullying Circle2:
1C. Salmivalli, K. Lagerspetz, K. Björkqvist, K. Osterman, and A.
Kaukiainen, "Bullying as a Group Process: Participant Roles and Their
Relations to Social Status within the Group," Aggressive Behavior 22
(1996): 1-15.
2Dan Olweus, "Peer Harassment: A Critical Analysis and Some
Important Issues," in Peer Harassment in School, ed. J. Ju vonen and S.
Graham (New York: Guilford Publications, 2001): 3-20.
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