By Dr. David Childs, Ph.D.
Northern Kentucky University
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines bullying as “abuse and mistreatment of someone vulnerable by someone stronger or more powerful.” Furthermore, it can be “prone to or characterized by overbearing mistreatment and domination of others.” The Encyclopedia Britannica defines bullying as “intentional harm-doing or harassment that is directed toward vulnerable targets and typically repeated. Bullying encompasses a wide range of malicious aggressive behaviours, including physical violence, verbal mockery, threats, ostracism, and rumours spread either orally or by other means of communication, such as the Internet.”
Dan Olweus (A Norwegian researcher and psychologist) argues that “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.” However some scholars challenge Olweus’ definition because a single act of violence or verbal abuse can cause considerable damage to a person, especially a child going through various stages of development. So therefore, some scholars argue that the incident does not necessarily have to be a repeated behavior in order for it to be bullying. They also go on to argue that “additionally, not all people engaged in this interaction can be categorized as pure bullies or pure victims; research has distinguished a third category of “bully-victims,” that is, young people who are both the bully and the victim. As a result, the website stopbullying.com defines school bullying as “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time… In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include an imbalance of power. Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people.”
The first known use of the term bully was in 1742 according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Therefore, the idea of bullying has been around for some time. It seems to primarily be associated with schools. In the 1970’s Olweus did significant research in Europe on bullying. Furthermore, the suicide of several victims in 1983 brought even more attention to the subject. In the 1990’s, due to increased school shootings and more suicides related to bullying, much media attention was given to the subject matter.
There has long been a culture in the US to blame individuals that are being bullied as being a part of the problem. That is, it is thought that the victims’ actions or existence somehow warrant or justify their being bullied. For example, in many late twentieth century films an awkward student that excels in academics but is not good in sports is often targeted, becoming a victim of school bullies. The idea is that if the victim would somehow adopt more socially acceptable behaviors and become more “cool” they would no longer be the recipient of the violence or teasing. Many schools today tend to be a breeding ground for bullying. This culture has taken on a sinister turn, as many of the school shootings have been directly connected to bullying. That is, some of the school shooters have retaliated against their oppressors by resorting to violent resolutions. On the other hand, some of the shooters have been actual bullies themselves. Perhaps they fit the category we have mentioned earlier “bully-victims.” The Encyclopedia Britannica also points out that “A U.S. national study published at the turn of the 21st century documented that bullying and other forms of aggression affected approximately 30 percent, or 5.7 million, middle- to high-school students in the then-current school term.”
In contemporary times bullying has become a hot button issue in the US because of the increase of school shootings and suicides that seem to be directly connected to the phenomenon. Fortunately, many schools and classrooms have adopted anti-bully curriculum, that is often implemented throughout the entire campus. The resources below were identified for educators, to assist them in creating sophisticated and meaningful curricula surrounding bullying.
Curriculum/Lesson Plans
There Are No Bullies Just Children Who Bully—And You Can Help Them
National Bully Prevention Center
30-60 Minute Lesson Plan: Middle and High School, Introduction to Dynamics of Bullying
Week Long Curriculum: Middle and High School, Starting the Discussion Toolkit
Evidence-Based Bullying Programs, Curricula and Practices
Bullying Prevention Program
Violence Prevention Works: Safer Schools, Safer Communities
Open Circle: Getting to the Heart of Learning
PeaceBuilders® Creating Safe, Positive Learning Environments
Safe Schools Ambassador Program
Teaching Students to Prevent Bullying- NEA
Embedding Bully Prevention in Core Curriculum
Bullying Prevention Unit: The Power to Create a Positive School Environment
Safe School
Bully Prevention in Positive Behavior
Middle School Bully- Lesson Plans
Documentaries
“Bully” Award Winning Documentary
Too Scared For School (Bullying Documentary) – Real Stories (British Documentary)
Minnesota Nice? – A Documentary On Bullying And Suicide In Minnesota Schools
The Bully Effect | Stop Bullying: Speak Up | Cartoon Network
References
Bullying defined
Bullying- Encyclopedia Britannica
Bullying- Wikipedia
What is Bullying- Stop Bullying.gov
Dealing with Bullying
Bullying- Psychology Today
Stomp Out Bullying: Change the Culture
Bullying Facts, Statistics, Prevention and Effects
Discussion Questions
1. What are resources from above that might be most helpful to you?
2. Were you ever a victim of bullying in your own schooling experience? How was it handled, if at all?
3. What did you learn from your experience with bullying?
4. As a teacher have you witnessed bullying in your school? How has your school handled it?
5. What are strategies you have implemented to curtail bullying?
6. Do you think bullying is handled properly in US schools? Is it taken seriously enough? Why or why not?
I found the concept of a bully-victim to be new and refreshing to me and to fill a void that needed to be filled. Many times the victim is not purely innocent like the scenario sometimes can suggest, they too have made mean comments possibly about the bully and the bully in that situation is just retaliating. This terms shows the shades of grey on the idea of bullying and makes you think how when dealing with a bullying situation, that sometimes it might be efficient to also question if the victim is innocent or if they bullied the bully themselves. There are three sides to every situation.
Bullying is such a huge issue in our world today. It isn’t like the movies where there is a nerdy kid and mean older boys.. bullying is much more than that. Not only can you do the bullying in person but you can also do it over the internet. Cyberbullying happen every single day to tons of people. I think children need to be aware of this issue starting at a young age and need to be taught what bullying really is. We will never be able to get rid of bullying all together but I think we can help children be aware of it as a young age and telll them things they can do to help prevent bullying or where to go to get help.
This article shares a very controversial and important topic of school bullying. School bullying is very mainstream and has extended to social media as well. I specifically liked the quote: “As a result, the website stopbullying.com defines school bullying as “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance.” Technically students should be equal in an education setting but often with social groups, it creates a power imbalance among peers. I also like the Safe Schools Ambassador Program because it provides training to students on how to appropriately combat/prevent bullying. I work in a summer camp and I see many children who are unsure of how to deal with minor social problems that bloom into a confrontation. So programs like Safe Schools Ambassador Program are much needed.
Looking back through my years of schooling, I will tell you that I never have many friends. With that being said I also understood that having a seizure disorder made me very different because younger kids can’t wrap their heads around certain things. I was excluded from so many activities and from then I learned to be independent at a very young age. Bullying can happen in the most settle of ways, like Bri said, one of the biggest and most seen form of bullying today is exclusion. As future educators, we need to talk to our kids about why this is wrong and how we can fix it. There is such an amazing feeling when you are finally included in something and I think that more children deserve to have that feeling. Kindness takes so little effort to give but it also can mean so much to recive.
Bullying is definitely portrayed as a big issue in today’s society of the youth. I do think a lot of children are uneducated on what bullying really is. In the movies and promotional videos, bullying is always shown in a physical manner like pushing or in a verbal manner like “You’re ugly.” While these are both examples of bullying, this is not the type of bullying we see in the schools today. Today we see things like exclusion, making fun of kids, etc. Often children don’t really know if they are being a bully or just being themselves. Personally, I think students by the age of middle school should be taught more to stick up for themselves and ignore people because when they become adults, that’s all they really can do. Instead of teaching students what bullying is and what to do if it happens to you, teach them how to respond to it and I believe the bullying in schools would stop.
I really enjoyed this article. Being bullied myself at a young age this article hit home for me. When I was in elementary school I was a victim of bullying, I felt so alone. No one around me liked me. I am very glad that now-a-days this issue is being taken more seriously and punishments are more severe. My school took the issues seriously and took action to solve the problems.
I really enjoyed this article, the main reason is because I have had some trouble with my brother being bullied and he is only in the third grade. This is very hard for some people to see because in my brothers case he can’t talk so he couldn’t tell his teacher. When he came home from school he was crying and having a hard night and I felt so bad I talked to him and asked him what happened when he told me what happened. My mom emailed the teacher and it was not addressed until the next day but some kids don’t have a great support system so this could go unnoticed.
Bullying is, obviously, very prevalent in today’s society. I, for one, think that most of the issues with bullying stem from socialization. Most victims seem to fall outside of the societal norm. People have taught their children that if someone doesn’t fit in with the status quo, that they aren’t enough. The idea that everyone should fit in a certain mold has ruined society as a whole. Socialization forces individuals to suppress their true selves for fear of bullying. Instead of learning about others and their likes and talents, we would rather ridicule because we don’t understand why they aren’t the same as everyone else.
Democracy and Me Article Response
Bullying in American Schools
With societies refusal to see mental health as important factor of overall well being will we ever stop bullying? If mental health professionals were brought into the school system as support to children, could this have an impact on the bullying problem in american schools? It is a preventative approach that could possibly identify mental instabilities and treat before actions are taken out on other kids. Could there be a relation between the psychology of a child and the child that resorts to bullying? Anti-Bullying Alliance states that “some young people are bullied as a result of their mental health issues; and some young people develop mental health issues as a consequence of being bullied” (anti-bullyingalliance.org, 2017). No matter what end the child falls on, the bully or the victim, psychology seems to play a part. Therefore, maybe pushing mental health into the school system should be a change made in the future to better the children’s social interactions.
Reference
National Childrens Burea, (2017, April 18). Mental Health. Retrieved on May 26, 2019 from https://www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk/tools-information/all-about-bullying/mental-health
Unfortunately, this article is on something I know all too well, and when reading it, I became angered by Dan Olweus’ definition on bullying as repeated abuse. This is dangerous and allows for repeat offenses and we know what can happen to a child who endures abuses. Bullying is a truly terrifying thing, it can lead to self-harm, suicide or school shootings which we’ve seen a lot lately. On top of the physical and emotional abuse, social media has also recently been added to the mix of bullying, and due to being able to do it hiding behind a screen, it’s picking up.
On the more positive side of this, it’s comforting to see many schools nowadays providing information and resources about bullying, though this should have happened a long time ago. Its great they are really starting to teach children how their actions affect others and help those who have been bullied by providing them with safe environments to talk about their experiences and be provided with help and protection. Better late than never.