 Junior high school and high school should be the best years of your life – but for far too many, those years are marred by being taunted, teased, excluded and physically abused by their peers. According to most research, bullying is most prevalent in middle school years – junior high – and slowly starts to abate in high school. The statistics about teen bullying are frightening.
3 out of 4 students in grades 6 through 10 report that they have been bullied sometime during school 5.2% (about 860,000 students) stay home at least one day a month because they’re afraid for their safety. 10% of students in grades 6 and 7 report being bullied. In grades 8 and 9 it’s about 5%, and by grades 11 and 12, the reported numbers drop to 2%. Those figures, however, are about physical bullying. 64% of all prisoners incarcerated in Texas report that they were bullies by second grade and continued to be bullies throughout school Six out of ten students witness bullying at least once a day. One in ten students who drops out of school does so because of being bullied. When asked what they do if they are bullied, about 50% of 1000 students surveyed said they fight back, 25% said they tell an adult and 16% said they do nothing. When asked what they do when they witness bullying, nearly 2/3rds say they try to stop it, 16% say they do nothing and 20% say they join in.
There is no doubt that bullying is a serious problem in many schools, particularly in middle school and high school. It has both an immediate effect and long-range ones on not only the victims of bullying, but on the bullies themselves and on bystanders and others who are forced to attend school in an atmosphere of fear and dread.
The Effects of Bullying Children who are bullied are at risk for serious consequences that can last throughout their lives. They are
More likely to drop out of school Less likely to go on to college or other continuing education Likely to get lower grades than their peers At more risk for depression and suicide Very likely to have poor self esteem More likely to be seen as ‘perpetual victims’
Even if one removes the long term psychological effects, the effects of lost and missed schooling are likely to be a lifetime of lower-paying jobs and all that comes with it.
Bullies are also at risk for long term consequences. Unless steps are taken to change the way that they interact with others, bullies are
More likely to have been convicted of a crime by age 24 Considerably more likely to have been convicted of 3 or more crimes by the age of 30 Less likely to be liked by their peers by the time they reach high school Are more likely to physically abuse spouses and children in later life
The group of students involved in bullying that is often ignored are bystanders. Several studies, however, have pointed out that bystanders are also victimized by bullying in a school. They live with fear of becoming victims. They may feel guilt if they don’t step in to intervene and help a victim, or become targets if they do. Time that teachers should spend teaching and interacting with them is often fragmented by having to deal with the after effects of bullying. Many report feeling unsafe in their schools, and most consider bullying to be a major problem.
What High School Bullying Looks Like Bullying peaks in middle school, where there are higher rates of physical, verbal and social bullying. Experts suggest many reasons for this:
Students frequently move from elementary schools to larger middle schools that include graduates from several elementary schools. This means that there’s a new social order, and children in middle school are establishing new pecking orders. By middle school, social acceptance is very high in importance to most children. Bullies often rank high in popularity during middle school, encouraging them to continue bullying behavior. Social bullying becomes more prevalent among both boys and girls in the latter years of middle school as cliques form.
By high school, physical bullying is often on the wane, but social, racial, gender-based and sexual bullying tends to show a sharp increase. High school bullying may include verbal harassment, graffiti on lockers and school walls, threats of violence, hazing, threats of exclusion, ostracizing peers, spreading gossip and rumors and cyber bullying.
Bullying Intervention Programs After Columbine, the Colorado legislature commissioned a study to examine the prevalence of violence and bullying in the state’s schools. Part of the outgrowth of that study was a set of guidelines that recognized the characteristics shared by safe schools – schools where children believed that bullying was not a problem, and that they were safe while in school. Those characteristics include:
High academic expectations and performance; High levels of parental and community involvement; Effective leadership by administrators and teachers; Few, but clearly understood and uniformly enforced, rules; After school – extended day programs; and Promotion of character education and good citizenship.
An effective bullying intervention program should focus on building all of those characteristics rather than simply eliminating troublesome behaviors. The most successful bullying intervention programs include:
Assessment by the entire school of the extent of the bullying problem within the school Training for all adults involved with children in the school Outreach to include parents and community in the anti-bullying effort A clearly defined set of expected behaviors with rewards for displaying them A clearly defined set of unacceptable behaviors with consequences for engaging in them Positive character building curricula including community service opportunities and rewards for participation Promoting a school culture that values and rewards respect for all students, staff and teachers Firm, consistent consequences for any and all acts of bullying Ongoing commitment of all staff, students and parents to keeping the school safe and violence-free Adults who accept the responsibility for ending bullying in their school
What Administrators Can Do If you’re an administrator, you can: Investigate the scope of bullying in your school Engage staff and students in an ongoing dialogue of ways to stop bullying Institute a ‘Tell An Adult’ policy that guarantees confidentiality to the student reporting the bullying Educate staff and students about what bullying is and how they can stop it. Regularly set aside staff meeting time to focus on violence prevention efforts in the school Bring a bullying intervention program to your school
What Teachers Can Do Have the class discuss types of bullying and agree on a no bullying policy for the classroom Reward positive behavior. Immediately intervene to stop any bullying that you witness. Make it safe for students to report bullying to you. Be especially sensitive to name-calling and hostile atmosphere surrounding racial, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender, sexual and gender issues. Studies estimate that high school students hear language that is derogatory to GBLT youth 26 times per day – or once every 14 minutes. Even when there is no direct name-calling, those derogatory terms create an atmosphere of hostility in youth who are coming to terms with their own sexuality. Model appropriate behavior for your students. React calmly but consistently to any bullying. Remember that bullies, victims AND bystanders all need attention and support.
What Students Can Do Students who witness bullying have far more power than they realize. Studies have shown that in many cases, all it takes to stop a bullying incident is ONE person speaking up in defense of the target. In many cases, bystanders believe they are the only one who is uncomfortable with the situation, and fear that the bullying will turn on them if they speak up. By engaging students in open dialog, teachers and administrators can help dispel that myth and make it more likely that students will speak out. One way is to offer students concrete ways to help stop bullying in their school. Try posting a list similar to the following of strategies to help a bullied victim.
10 Ways To Stop A Bully 1. Tell a teacher what’s going on. 2. Drop an anonymous note in the Bully Box if you’re afraid to come forward. 3. Don’t laugh at a bully’s mean jokes. 4. Say “That wasn’t funny” 5. Invite an excluded student to join in an activity. 6. Listen to a friend who is being bullied. 7. Encourage a victim to go to a teacher. 8. Tell the bully to cut it out. 9. If you’re uncomfortable standing up to the bully, try standing next to the victim. 10. Find a private moment to tell the victim you sympathize. Sometimes that’s all it takes.
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Bully Solutions
