For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Recognizing Bullying Behavior
Transcript
Chapter 1: Introduction
Agreement
Transcript:
No teacher wants to find out that bullying is taking place in his or her school. It can lead to an adverse environment and have long term, negative effects for those involved.
For example, in a Swedish study nearly 55% of students who bullied others in their youth were convicted of a crime between the ages of 16 and 24. In comparison, less than 10% of students who did not take part in bullying were convicted of a crime during the same age span (Olweus, 2013).
The earlier teachers are able to identify the presence of bullying in their classrooms, the quicker they will be able to provide necessary support and guidance to both the victims and those taking part in the bullying.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Context
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Identifying bullying is almost like identifying the presence of human cells. We know cells exist, but we cannot see them unless we look closely through a microscope. Students that demonstrate bullying behaviors and victims of bullying can be just as elusive. We know they exist in our classrooms, but often don’t know how to spot them.
This module will be our microscope. We will learn how to identify bullying behavior by discovering why some students choose to bully and why others are susceptible to being bullied.
This is the first module in a set of two on bullying. Be sure to check out the second module, Addressing Bullying Behavior, where you will learn how to address bullying situations and help both victims and bullies grow from the experience.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Bullying is a problem we cannot ignore. In the past, adults might have responded to allegations of bullying by saying things like:
· “Boys will be boys.”
· “It never did me any harm.”
· “It’ll toughen you up.”
Times have changed. Most people now would agree that bullying can have long-term, negative effects on both its victims and perpetrators (Olweus, 2013).
Try to think of a time in your own life when you were bullied, or saw someone else being bullied. How did that situation make you feel? How did it affect you?
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Being identified as a bully in the world today can carry heavy consequences. It is not a title we want to toss around lightly, so it is important to understand what is, and what is not bullying.
We can define bullying as “the process of establishing and maintaining social dominance through overt aggression” (Crothers, 2004, p.496).
One of the first individuals to research bullying, Dan Olweus, identified three essential criteria for determining if a pattern of behaviors constitute bullying. They include: intentionality, repetition, and power imbalance.
The Bullying Numbers
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Bullying is more common than you may realize.
According to a 2001 study, 19% of American students have taken part in bullying behavior, and 17% of all students have been victims of bullying (Cornell & Bandyopadhyay, 2010). As a teacher you may be thinking that you don’t see anywhere close to this amount of bullying taking place in your own school, but the truth is that bullying mostly occurs in the shadows.
Students who bully others do not want to be caught, so they take action where there is little to no supervision: in the hallways, during recess, and before and after school.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Examples
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Let’s take a moment to listen to a story, and use the three criteria to decide if bullying is taking place.
Choose one of the two stories provided based on the grade level you teach.
Lucy's Story
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Meet Lucy. Listen to her story and check for the presence of intentionality, repetition, and power imbalance.
Lucy: I had a lot of friends growing up, but when my family moved to a new town around the time I turned 15, I felt alone. Being at a new school, I was shy and had difficulty making friends. What chance did I have? I was the new girl and everyone else had known each other for years.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
To make matters worse, this girl who sat next to me in math class, Hannah, started calling me Loose Lucy. I didn’t even know what it meant or why she was doing it, but it really got to me. Hannah was one of the popular girls, and I didn’t want to seem lame, so I didn’t ask her to stop. Times got worse when she started getting other students to call me Loose Lucy in the hallway between classes. When it happened I would just run the other way, sometimes crying. I never told any adult what was happening, and eventually Hannah got bored and started picking on another girl, but I never really got over it.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Aubrey's Story
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Meet Aubrey. Listen to her story and check for the presence of intentionality, repetition, and power imbalance. Aubrey’s family has had to move several times in the past few years. On her first day at her new school Aubrey tripped over the cord to the classroom projector as she went to take her seat. The class giggled, but it was no big deal.
One student, Victor, thought it was really funny and started calling Aubrey “Humpty Dumpty.” Although no one else joined in on the name calling, other students did laugh when Victor would call Aubrey by her new nickname.
One day Victor pretended to trip on the projector cord and proclaimed, “Whoa! Look at me! I’m Humpty Dumpty.” Aubrey began to cry. Victor had previously thought that what he was doing was funny, but now realized he was hurting Aubrey’s feelings. He apologized to Aubrey and never called her Humpty Dumpty again.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
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Feedback
Chapter 3: Profile of a Bully
Bullying Groups
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Now that we’ve established an understanding of what bullying is, let’s learn a little more about those involved. In this section you will dive deep into the motives, characteristics, and reactions of bullies and victims.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Why Bully
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There are numerous theories that try to explain why students bully. Some believe it is genetic, while others believe it stems from interactions at home.
One popular theory states that many students bully to gain acceptance and popularity (Rigby, 2002). This can clearly be seen when looking at 6th and 7th graders, the age in which bullying seems to be at its peak. At this time students often move from a small, close-knit elementary school to a larger middle school. Children are suddenly surrounded by a large number of kids they have never met before. Some of these students bully to get noticed by their peers and prove their worth and social dominance.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Students at this age also are beginning to go through puberty. Due to some children maturing earlier than others, there is a clear visual difference between students in size, voice, facial hair, and breast development. All of these differences can become easy traits for bullies to use as the basis for belittling other students and showing their dominance.
Home Influence on Bullying Behavior
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Life at home can also influence bullying. Children will often imitate the actions of their parents in their own
relationships with peers. Here are a few factors in a child’s home life that may contribute to bullying behavior in
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Transcript:
Bullies can come in all shapes and sizes. But research shows that children who bully others tend to share some common characteristics. By knowing these common traits, you will be able to identify students who may be prone to bullying and take steps to help these students demonstrate more appropriate behaviors. This does not mean a short kid who hates violent movies cannot be a bully. Nor does it mean all tall, athletic kids are bullies.
Look over the list of common traits and press “Proceed” when you are ready to move on.
Bullying at Different Age Levels
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Students’ interactions with one another change over time, based on their level of maturity and social needs.
These changes often affect the way bullying “looks” in different age groups. As students become older bullying
becomes less about a desire for tangible items and the method of bullying becomes more psychological. Click
on each student to see how bullying evolves as students move through childhood and into adolescence.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Girl Bullies
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When most people think of bullying, they picture males being both the bullies and victims. But bullying among girls is not a problem to be ignored. Boys tend to use physical aggression and to bully both boys and girls. By contrast, girls usually only bully other girls and take a more psychological approach (Kohut, 2007).
Here is a list of some of the ways that girls bully one another. Press “Proceed” when you are ready to move on.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Chapter 4: Profile of a Victim
Common Signs
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It is rare for a victim to tell an adult that he or she is being bullied. Often a bully will threaten targets with more harm if they tell. Victims are embarrassed about their predicament and don’t want to admit to it. And due to low self-esteem and a lack of confidence in the adult’s ability to help, victims often don’t believe telling an adult will actually end the harassment.
But being a victim of bullying is hard on any individual, and to hide that completely from the outside world is not easy. There are many signs a teacher can pick up on that may indicate a student is being bullied. The key is knowing these signs and paying close attention to what is going on at school.
Take a look at these common signs a victim of bullying might exhibit.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Types of Victims
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Anyone can be a victim of bullying, but there are certain types of students who are more likely to be harassed than others. Bullies rarely want any resistance from their victims. They pick targets who they believe will not put up a fight or tell an adult.
Not all victims are alike. It is important to understand that a student can be a victim of bullying, but not fit the stereotype of a passive victim.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Transcript:
The most common reason victims are targeted is because the bully believes they will not resist. These students often have low self-esteem and few friends. Bullies, in most cases, do not want to challenge a kid who will fight back or has a large group of friends in his or her corner.
Here are some common characteristics of children who are victims of bullying. Press the “Proceed” button when you are ready to move on.
Chapter 5: Take Action
Teacher Actions
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Knowing the common character traits of victims and bullies is only the first step in identifying the presence of bullying. While these observations are helpful, they do not provide enough evidence to know for sure that bullying is taking place.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
When you believe bullying might be occurring there are several actions you can take to find out for sure.
Make it a priority to ask other teachers and staff about what they have been seeing and to share your own observations and concerns. Staff members that supervise the cafeteria, recess, or dismissal may have valuable insight that can help paint a more detailed picture.
Contacting parents can be a helpful step. Students who are being bullied may not talk to you about it, but may share their concerns with their parents. It is also important to keep all of your students’ parents informed about any concerns you may have.
Questionnaire
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Finally, it can be helpful to administer an anonymous questionnaire to get feedback from students about the prevalence of bullying in your school. Students who would not tell you face-to-face about bullying among their peers may open up in an anonymous questionnaire. When issuing such a survey, make sure your students have a clear grasp of what bullying is. Teach students about bullying and include the bullying criteria on any questionnaire administered. Take a look at some sample statements from the widely used “Bullying Prevalence Questionnaire” (Rigby & Slee, 1993).
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Chapter 6: A Scenario
Scenario Introduction
Transcript:
Now let’s practice identifying bullying behavior in a classroom scenario. Be sure to download the module resource document, located on the course home page, to help you with this activity, and with your students.
You are a teacher at P. Lallement Middle School. Arriving to school one day you find that a concerned student has left an anonymous note on your desk. The student claims that someone who sits in the back row of class has been a victim of severe bullying for the past few weeks. There are four students who sit in the back row. The victim could be any one of them. The anonymous do-gooder felt the need to step up, but left no names, due to a fear of being bullied him or herself.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Over the course of the next week you take all of the necessary steps to identify the victim. You carefully observe your students and write down observations you believe to be relevant. You discuss bullying with the entire class and administer an anonymous questionnaire to gather more information. You meet with the rest of the 6th grade teachers to see if they have any relevant information, and you contact the parents of students in the back row.
Survey Results
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The results of the anonymous questionnaire back up the claims made by the student who left the note on your
desk. Bullying is taking place in the 6th grade at P. Lallement Middle School.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Click on each student to see and hear the information gathered about him or her from your notes, discussions with other teachers, and phone calls with parents. When you have analyzed all of the information, press "Proceed" to select the student who you think is being bullied.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Call a Parent
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Click on the phone to hear what Eli’s mother has to say.
Parent Conversation
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Eli takes school very seriously, as I did as a child. He is at the top of his class, but could be more gregarious. I do worry that he puts off seeing his friends to study instead. They always call asking to hang out. He has suffered anxiety when big tests or projects are due, but always ends up being fine.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Connor Feedback
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Connor is the student who is exhibiting the most characteristics of bullying victims. This does not mean he is for sure a victim. His grades have recently dropped, he has low self-esteem, and has been showing up late to school. There is a chance he is avoiding a bully on his way to school. His untrendy clothing could make him the subject of teasing. Your next step would be to talk to Connor directly and see if he would open up and admit to being bullied. This is not something you have to do on your own. Bringing in a guidance counselor or other professional could help with the process.
Ethan has not shown any signs of being a victim. It appears that Ethan could use some help developing his prosocial behaviors, and it is worth the teacher’s time to help him do so.
Lily is new to the school and does not have a friend base yet, but seems to have developed social skills. Her academic troubles stem from the transition from one school to another.
Eli shows signs similar to those of bullied students, but his worries seem to come from test anxiety. He has a base of friends, although small, and does not seem to have negative interactions with other students.
For a complete list of references, refer to the On-Demand Module ‘Recognizing Bullying Behavior.’
Lily Feedback
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Lily is not the victim. Take another look at your notes and the “Recognizing Bullying Behavior Resource” and select again.
Conclusion
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Identifying students who exhibit bullying behavior and students affected by bullying behavior takes close attention to detail and a willingness to collaborate with others. Students rarely admit to wrong-doing or victimization, so it is important to know the characteristics and signs to look for. The "Recognizing Bullying Behavior Resource" can help you do this.
