Addressing Bullying Within the
Classroom: Resources for Teachers
Robyn Sullivan, Ph.D., NCSP
Reading Public School District
The Blueprint for Educational Excellence
National Institute
Overview of Presentation
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Status of mental health in schools
Bullying
Resources for elementary school
Resources for middle/high school
Mental Health in the Schools
• Approximately 13% of public school students receive special
education
• Recommended ratios:
– 1:250 School Counselor
– 1:400 School Social Worker
– 1:700 School Psychologist
• Need to talk to someone other than a family member
– 48% of high school students
– 30 % of middle school students
• Sought counsel from a school psychologist or school counselor
– 11% of high school students
– 7% of middle school students
Source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education & Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 2011; Skalski & Smith, 2006; Weir, 2012
The Role of Teachers
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Create a sense of belonging
Promote resilience
Develop competencies
Ensure a positive, safe school environment
Teach and reinforce positive behavior and
decision making
• Encourage helping others
• Encourage good physical health
Source: National Association of School Psychologists
Bullying
• Bullying occurs when a student is, “…exposed, repeatedly
and over time to negative actions on the part of one or more
students”.
• Between 15-30% of all students in the United States are
bullied, making it the most common form of violence in the
country.
• Long-term consequences of bullying:
– Adjudication
– School dropout
– Poor psychosocial adjustment
Source: Olweus, 1993; Cohn & Canter, 2003
Massachusetts General Law
M.G.L. Chapter 71, Section 37o: “Bullying”, the repeated use by one or more students of a written,
verbal or electronic expression or a physical act or gesture or any combination thereof, directed at a
victim that: (i) causes physical or emotional harm to the victim or damage to the victim’s property; (ii)
places the victim in reasonable fear of harm to himself or of damage to his property; (iii) creates a
hostile environment at school for the victim; (iv) infringes on the rights of the victim at school; or (v)
materially and substantially disrupts the education process or the orderly operation of a school. For the
purposes of this section, bullying shall include cyber-bullying.
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Each school district, charter school, approved private day or residential school and collaborative
school shall provide age-appropriate instruction on bullying prevention in each grade that is
incorporated into the curriculum of the school district or school. The curriculum shall be evidencebased.
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Aggressors, Victims, and Bystanders
Al's Pals: Kids Making Healthy Choices
Bullying Prevention Program (Olweus)
Bully Proofing Series
Michigan Model for Comprehensive School Health Education
PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies)
Peacebuilders
Steps to Respect
What Teachers Can do About Bullying
Best Practices
1. School-wide
interventions
2. Value system based on
caring, respect, and
personal responsibility
3. Address off-campus
bullying
Source: Feinberg, 2003
Action Steps
1. Classroom-based
interventions
2. Clear and consistent
expectations and
consequences and
reinforcing alternate
behaviors
3. Work with parents
Aggression in Early Childhood
• Boys: Rough and tumble play begins to
emerge but does not completely replace
physical aggression
• Girls: Begin to socially exclude peers
Sources: Underwood, 2003; Wood, Cowan, & Baker, 2002
Early Childhood Interventions
Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for
Early Learning
• Scripted stories for social situations
• Recommended book list
• Tools to supplement recommended books
• Tools to teach social emotional skills and support
behavior
• Training modules
CSEFEL
Bullying and Aggression in Elementary
School
• Development of social hierarchies and cliques
– In-group/out-group bias
• Enemies
– 28% of children in grades 3 and 4
– 38% of children in grades 5 and 6
• Bullying appears in the greatest frequency among
children ages 10 through 14, and during the
transition from elementary to middle school
Sources: Eslea & Rees, 2001; Gifford-Smith & Brownell, 2003; Hoover et al., 1992; Pellegrini & Long, 2002; Pope, 2003
Elementary School Teachers
Stop Bullying Now!
• Government initiative to provide information about
bullying
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What bullying is
What cyberbullying is
Who is at risk
How to prevent bullying
How to respond to bullying
www.stopbullying.gov
Resources to use with students
Webisodes
• 12 videos for use with
students ages 9 to 13
• 2 “early childhood”
videos
• Multiple choice
questions following
videos to enhance
learning
Resources to use with students
Cool Comics
• Three volumes of comic
books, each containing
4 webisodes
• Supplemental
games/activities
following each comic
Bullying in Massachusetts
Middle School
• 36% of students report
being a victim of
bullying
• 15% of students report
being the victim of
cyber-bullying
Source: Massachusetts Department of Elementary &
Secondary Education & Massachusetts Department of Public
Health, 2011
High School
• 18% of students report
being the victim of
bullying
• 17% of students report
being the victim of
cyber-bullying
K-12 Resources
No Name-Calling Week/GLSEN
• Differentiated lesson plans
– Elementary School
• 5 lesson plans
• P.E. lesson plan
• Suggested Literature
– Middle School
• 12 lesson plans
– High School
• 4 lesson plans
• Safe space kit*
• Art Lessons
– 3 lesson plans
– Grades K-9
• Teachers Guide
No Name-Calling Week
The Massachusetts Aggression
Reduction Center
• Provides low-cost or no-cost trainings and
evidence-based curricula to Massachusetts
public school
• Provides information for
administrators/districts to choose bullying
prevention programs based on Massachusetts
law
MARC
Cyberbullying
Anti-Defamation League
• Three lesson plans
• Internet Safety Strategies
• Responding to Cyberbullying
Cyberbullying
Links to Resources
• Anti-Defamation League
http://archive.adl.org/education/curriculum_connections/cyberbu
llying/
• Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early
Learning
http://csefel.vanderbilt.edu/resources/strategies.html
• Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center
http://webhost.bridgew.edu/marc/index.html
• No Name-Calling Week
http://www.nonamecallingweek.org/cgibin/iowa/all/resources/index.html
• Stop Bullying Now!
http://www.stopbullying.gov/index.html
References
Cohn, A., & Canter, A. (2003). Bullying: Facts for schools and parents. National Association of School Psychologists.
Eslea, M., & Rees, J. (2001). At what age are children most likely to be bullied at school? Aggressive Behavior, 27, 419-429.
Feinberg, T. (2003). Bullying prevention and intervention. Principal Leadership.
Gifford-Smith, M. E., & Brownell, C. A. (2003). Childhood peer relationships: Social acceptance, friendships, and peer networks. Journal of School Psychology, 41, 235-284.
Hoover, J. H., Oliver, R., & Hazler, R. J. (1992). Bullying: Perceptions of adolescent victims in the Midwestern USA. School Psychology International, 13(5), 5-16.
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and Massachusetts Department of Public Health. (2012). 2011 Health and Risk Behaviors of
Massachusetts Youth.
National Association of School Psychologists. Supporting children’s mental health: Tips for parents and educators
Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at School: What we Know and What we can Do. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers.
Pellegrini, A. D., & Long, J. D. (2002). A longitudinal study of bullying, dominance, and victimization during the transition from primary school through secondary school.
British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 20, 259-280.
Pope, A. W. (2003). Developmental risk associated with mutual dislike in elementary school children. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 102, 89-110.
Skalski, A. K. & Smith M. J. (2006). Responding to the mental health needs of students. Principal Leadership.
Underwood, M. K. (2003). Social aggression among girls. New York: Guilford Press.
Weir, K. (2012). School psychologists feel the squeeze. Monitor on Psychology, 43(8), 34.
Wood, J. J., Cowan, P. A., & Baker, B. L. (2002). Behavior problems and peer rejection in preschool boys and girls. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 163(1), 72-89.