Effective strategies and activities to stop bullying before it starts We now know that bullying is not normal, natural, or acceptable. Young victims get hurt, both emotionally and physically. Young bullies can grow up to be abusive adults. And its not just the victims and bullies who are affected; people around them are distracted, intimidated, and upset. Bullying in the classroom prevents students from learning and teachers from teaching. While the victims of bullying need to learn skills to avoid such treatment, the bullies also need to be taught better ways of relating to others. This is where you can help. By making a commitment to prevention and intervention, you will be helping to build a positive environment where everyone feels safe, accepted, and valued. Its not enough to stop the bullying that is already happening; we also need to keep students who arent yet bullies or victims from starting down that road. The following pages give you some strategies and steps to help prevent bullying and to intervene once it occurs.
LETTERS TO A BULLIED GIRL: MESSAGES OF HEALING AND HOPE Bullying is part of every childs life. Think about it: Every kid has either been bullied, bullied someone else, or witnessed acts of bullying. The book Letters to a Bullied Girl: Messages of Healing and Hope (Harper, 2008) attempts to teach readers the real consequences of bullying so that kids wont resort to teasing, taunting, and hounding their peers. The books approach works terrifically. The book consists of letters written about the subject of bullying. Some of the letter writers are former bullies, some are victims of bullying, and some are the parents of either bullies or victims of bullying. All the letters were addressed to one girl, Olivia Gardner, a teen who was bullied for many years. Two sisters, Emily and Sarah Buder, heard about Olivias plight and organized a letter-writing campaign on behalf of Olivia. More than 4,000 letters were written, leading to the creation of Letters to a Bullied Girl.
School counselors responded to an Internet survey containing vignettes describing physical, verbal, and relational bullying. Respondents rated relational bullying the least serious of the three types, they had the least empathy for victims of relational bullying, and they were least likely to intervene in relational bullying incidents. Counselors with anti-bullying training rated relational bullying as more serious and were more likely to intervene in relational bullying incidents than were those without training. Implications for counselor education are discussed. School bullying was once considered a childhood ritual or a normal part of development and was therefore often overlooked or ignored by school personnel. However, research has found that bullying is not a harmless phenomenon; rather, it is a widespread and serious problem that must be addressed (Espelage Swearer, 2003; Hoover Oliver, 1996; Nansel et al., 2001; Olweus, 1993). Bullying has negative consequences for victims, for bullies, and for school climate (Berthold Hoover, 2000; Olweus; Payne Gottfredson, 2004). A large body of research on bullying exists in Australia, Canada, Europe, and Japan, and recognition of the magnitude and effects of bullying is growing in the United States, as researchers, educators, and lawmakers address this problem with concern. There is a general agreement that for a behavior to be considered bullying, it must have three elements: It must be intended to harm, it must be repetitive, and a difference of power–physical, social, or other–must exist between the bully and the victim (Olweus, 1993). Bullying is a subset of aggression that is typically categorized as physical, verbal, or relational (Shore, 2005). Physical bullying tends to receive more attention from school personnel, and this includes behaviors such as hitting, kicking, or any form of overt violence toward another student. Many schools have developed zero tolerance policies for violent behavior, prioritizing physical bullying over other forms of bullying (Limber Small, 2003). Verbal bullying refers to name calling, teasing, and verbal threats. Relational bullying is a form of social isolation that includes behaviors such as gossiping, intentionally leaving students out of activities, spreading rumors, and other measures that seek to change peer groups (Olweus, 1993). Bjorkqvist, Lagerspetz, and Kaukiainen (1992) described relational bullying as an “attempt to inflict pain in such a manner that he or she makes it seem as though there has been no intention to hurt at all” (p. 118).
Being Bullied
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