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?
Bullying is a problem all around the world. Whether it be in person or on social media it is a serious issue that needs to be looked upon more often. I personally feel that there are many incidents regarding bullying that nobody hears about or kids keep to themselves but it is something that needs to be spoken on.
Bullying is a very real problem schools face. I know for me personally elementary and middle school were some of the worst times of my life because of the horrific things bullies did, and as a result I struggle today with anxiety and depression. Schools are not doing enough. Most say they have adopted “anti-bullying” policies, they do not follow them or they simply do not do enough. Another factor about bullying that needs to be talked about more is the long term effects, such as anxiety and depression. Many bullied kids do not receive the help they need after traumatic events and it haunts them all their lives, which prohibits a stable future. I believe schools should do more to help the children being effected by this horrible phenomenon.
This article primarily focuses on bullying that happens in schools but I think it should be noted that bullying is not an inherent behavior rather a learned one. Parents are often a child’s first bullies. This behavior results in the bullied becoming the bully as well. Additionally, if kids feel like those in close proximity to them aren’t supportive or demonstrative of unconditional love then have no place where they feel safe and secure – a basic human need. And even though schools are taking proactive measures to ensure that schools are safe environments for children, if the home situation does not change then there will never be an evident change in the cycle as well. And nowadays the only reason that people talk about taking a stand against bullying is because of the rise in the number of bullying related shootings. But there are also a large number of victims that don’t grow up to be school shooters but grow up with severe social anxieties that hinder them from having a stable future.
Bullying was taken very seriously in my school district, but only when reported. Many kids in my school were too scared to report their incidences, in fear that it would only get worse. While I was fortunate enough to never have been bullied, I know people that did. I believe our first step in taking action against bullying is finding the root of the problem in the bully itself. It could be the desire for attention, if they don’t get enough at home, or it could come from behaviors they learned from violence while growing up. As a future educator, I strive to be the confidant in those being bullied, and those doing the bullying. Our education system could do better in preventing it, and handling it when it arises.
The resources from above that might help me in the future are the curriculum/ lesson plans pertaining to middle school and creating a safe school.
I was never a victim of bullying in my own school, but I did see how bullying was handled at my school. I learned that the bully is hurting and that is why the bully hurts the victim.
I do not think bullying is being handled properly in US schools. It is not taken seriously enough. There is a continuous pattern of bullying being repeated. The students are really the only people who can stop this pattern and they need to stop the cycle before it continues too long. Social media and the internet has created way too many issues in recent years and if that was reduced any amount and used responsibly, we would have a better environment for students to learn and communicate with their peers. Conversation gets lost in translation over technology far too many times. The youth of our nation needs to know how to look another person in the eyes and have a structured conversation.
From when I was last in school bullying has become more of a problem. I didn’t think that that was something that could happen, but with the introduction of smart phones and social media, bullying has become even more present. Cyber bullying gives children, and even adults, ways to send hurtful messages to their peers without any immediate repercussions. This gives them a way to hide behind a screen and be able to say mean things. I don’t know how to solve this issue, and I don’t know if anyone else does, but I think that if we were all a little nicer to each other that that would go a long way.
I do enjoy the fact that schools nowadays are taking a stand against bullying. I think that schools implementing an anti-bullying curriculum is going to be a great thing for future classes, and hopefully more schools will adopt this curriculum for the safety and happiness of future students.
I was a victim of bullying in elementary, middle, and some of high school. I tried many things to make the bullying stop. In elementary, the other students made fun of everything I said, so I stopped talking. This didn’t help, they made fun of everything I did, they made gagging noises when I passed them in the hall and they sprayed anything I touched with disinfectant. Surprisingly, the teachers did not notice. Eventually, I spoke up and told my home room teacher what was happening. The students that bullied me had their parents called and I heard that they got grounded, but once again, the bullying didn’t stop. I’m not sure what else could have been done in that situation. Perhaps the teacher could have spoken to the class about bullying or told the principal about my situation. I just dealt with it until it naturally started to fade.
As a person who was bullied, I have issues with some of the definitions of bullying above. First, Merriam- Webster and The Encyclopedia Britannica both say that victims of bullying are vulnerable. I do not believe that I was any more vulnerable than any other student. I wasn’t shy or especially awkward. To this day I still do not know why I was always a target. I do not think that students who are bullied are vulnerable, I think they are just different from the other students in some way that the other students don’t like. Another point I would like to make about the definitions is that I do not think the repetition of the bullying is very important to the definition of bullying. I would probably fall on the side that believes that bullying is a repeated behavior, and use a different term for single aggressive or abusive interactions between students, but I think there are more important parts of the definition to focus on like the imbalance of power, and aggressive/abusive behavior.
As a future educator, I think one of the best ways to stop bullying comes before the fact, not after. I believe that teachers and schools need to set up an environment where students feel safe and know that those types of behaviors have serious consequences. I would like to see schools teaching kindness and respect rather than focusing on anti- bullying programs and policies. I think schools should focus on the positive rather than reacting to the negative when it comes to bullying. No bullying prevention tactic will work 100% of the time, but creating a positive environment for students has the potential to stop the problem before it starts.
This article in particular was very interesting as some types of bullying, whether that is verbal or physical, happens in every school and perhaps every classroom. The lesson plans listed at the bottom of the article are important because they range from preschool to high school, whereas when I was in middle school is when I started to see it more often. The Bullying Prevention Program website has a lesson plan for preschoolers all the way up to high school and I believe this is important to start teaching the children young because bullying is starting in earlier grades and social media is also adding to the pressure. As I have been observing in many school bullying is taken more serious now which means that bullying is becoming more secretive and teachers may not be able to see or hear what is happening.
Bullying has always been very prevalent in schools across the whole world. The definition of bullying is a very tough one however. Often times you see parents ranting on Facebook or other social media sites about how their kid was bullied but the school wouldn’t do anything about it. Since I am going into the field of education I do realize how hard it is to classify bullying. Parents also see their kids as the angel in every situation. Sometimes it can be a case of bullying-victim, the parent just doesn’t see the bullying side because their kid is also a victim. While this is the case, I do think it is hard for schools to crack down on bullying. Social media makes it so much easier for bullies to target kids. When a situation like this occurs, the child often keeps all of the posts/texts to themselves until it becomes too extreme. This is often where we see children committing suicide because the online bullying was unknown to the adults. I do think that having anti-bullying programs in schools can help other students witnessing this know how to handle the situation and bring the issue to an adult. As a future educator I can only hope that I am able to reassure my students that I am someone to talk to about these instances.
There are many forms of bullying. Bullying is a huge issue in today’s school system. Not only is there verbal bullying there is also cyber bullying. Since social media is such a huge part in today’s society it increases the online bulling you see. A lot of times a child can go to school and get bullied just to go home and be attacked online. After being in the school system for a few years, I see first hand the bullying which is happening. The school systems does a good job in stopping bullying when they see/hear it, however they don’t see it right away. As a future educator I will try my best to talk to my students about bullying and try to prevent it.