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Safe
Schools Fact Sheets
| Bullying Prevention: An Overview of Bullying |
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What is Bullying?
A student is bullied or victimized when he or she
is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative
actions on the part of one or more other students.
Bullying is characterized by three criteria:
- It
is aggressive behavior or intentional "harmdoing;"
- It
is carried out repeatedly and overtime; and
- It
occurs within an interpersonal relationship characterized
by an imbalance of power.
Types of Bullying
Direct bullying is a relatively open attack on a
victim. It can be physical or verbal in nature:
- Physical Attacks: hitting, kicking, pushing, choking
- Verbal Attacks or Harassment: name calling, threatening,
taunting, malicious teasing, rumor spreading, slandering
Indirect bullying is more subtle and may be more
difficult to detect:
- Social isolation, intentional exclusion, making
faces, obscene gestures, manipulating friendship
relationships
Risk Factors for Bullying Peers
There are individual, familial, peer, and school
factors that can place a youth at risk for participating
in bullying behavior. Generally, boys are much more
likely to engage in bullying behavior than girls.
Girls who bully are less likely to be physically abusive
than boys are. Although most bullying occurs between
students in the same grade, older students sometimes
bully younger students.
Individual Risk Factors:
- impulsive, hot-headed, dominant personality lacking
empathy
- difficulty conforming to rules and low frustration
tolerance
- positive attitudes toward violence
- physically aggressive
- gradually decreasing interest in school (achievement)
Family Risk Factors:
- lack of parental warmth and involvement
- overly-permissive or excessively harsh discipline/physical
punishment by parents
- lack of parental supervision
Peer Risk Factors:
- friends/peers with positive attitudes toward
violence
- exposure to models of bullying
School Risk Factors:
- lack of supervision during breaks (e.g., lunchrooms,
playgrounds, hallways, locker rooms, and bathrooms)
- unsupervised interactions between different grade
levels during breaks
- indifferent or accepting teacher attitudes toward
bullying
- indifferent or accepting student attitudes toward
bullying
- inconsistent enforcement of the rules
Risk Factors for Being Bullied
by Peers
There are individual, familial, peer, and school
factors that can place a youth at risk for being bullied.
Both boys and girls are most likely to be victimized
by boys. Younger and weaker students are most likely
to be bullied.
Individual Risk Factors:
- cautious, sensitive, insecure personality
- difficulty asserting themselves among peers
- physical weakness (particularly in boys)
Family Risk Factors:
- over-protection by parents (possibly)
Peer Risk Factors:
School Risk Factors:
- presence of aggressive students in same or slightly
higher grade
- lack of supervision during breaks
- indifferent or accepting teacher attitudes toward
bullying
- indifferent or accepting student attitudes toward
bullying
- uneven, inconsistent enforcement of the rules
Where Bullying Occurs
Bullying takes place in the classroom, on the playground,
in hallways, in gyms, in locker rooms, and in bathrooms.
Bullying is two to three times more likely to occur
at school as on the way to and from school.
Why Should we Attempt to Prevent/Reduce
Bullying?
Short-term effects on
the victims:
- Painful and humiliating experiences can cause
young victims to be unhappy, distressed, and confused.
- Victims lose self-esteem and become anxious and
insecure.
- Physical injury or threats of physical injury
may affect concentration and learning and result
in a refusal to attend school.
- Victims may feel stupid, ashamed, and unattractive,
and may start to view themselves as failures.
- Victims may develop psychosomatic symptoms such
as stomach and headaches.
- Constant devaluation of themselves may lead to
depression and suicide.
Long-term effects on the
victims:
- Former victims tend to be more depressed and
have poorer self-esteem than their nonvictimized
peers.
Long-term effects on bullies:
- Students (particularly boys) who bully are more
likely to engage in other antisocial/delinquent
behavior (e.g., vandalism, shoplifting, truancy,
and drug use) into adulthood.
- Bullies are four times as likely as non-bullies
to be convicted of crimes by age 24.
- Physical bullying is a moderate risk factor for
serious violence at ages 15-25.
Effects on school social
climate:
- Students tend to feel less safe and are less
satisfied with school life in schools where bully/victim
problems occur.
- In schools where bully/victim problems are ignored,
students may start to regard bullying behavior as
acceptable. This may result in more bullying behavior
as well as other, possibly more severe, problems.
Four Basic Principles for Prevention/Intervention
in Bully/Victim Problems
- Awareness and warm, positive involvement of adults
(e.g., teachers, principals, school counselors,
parents);
- Set and stick to firm limits as to what behavior
is unacceptable (i.e., Bullying is not accepted
in our school);
- Consistently apply non-hostile, nonphysical negative
consequences for rule violation and unacceptable
behavior; and
- Encourage adults to act as authorities and positive
role models in students’ academic learning
and social relationships in school.
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