Bullying:
A Decade After
Columbine, What
Has Changed?
t
Chuck Saufler
School Counselor, Trainer
Former head,
Maine Project Against Bullying
The goals of bullying prevention
10 years ago:
• Reduce existing bully/victim problems among
school children
• Prevent the development of new bully/victim
problems
• Improve peer relations
• Improve school climate (Olweus Bullying Prevention Program)
The focus was often rule enforcement and
consequences for the aggressors.
Obstacles that existed 10 years ago
and still exist:
• A clear definition of bullying – leading to confusing
language in school policy and laws.
• Getting full commitment from all stakeholders. (aka
“buy-in”) Requires that they participate in defining
what will be done and have meaningful input.
Obstacles to BP Programs (continued)
• Time for training all involved – requires
administrative support at the highest level and
administrative behavior that says by example that
this issue is important- administrators attending all
training, introducing training as vital, and
modeling positive actions.
• Staff and student training driven by staff and
student survey data and other input.
Obstacles to BP Programs (continued)
• Sustaining the coordinating team and the initiative
in the face of changing priorities and staff turnover.
• Responding to the different forms of aggression
referred to as “Bullying.”
Bullying Prevention Work: Evolution
• Identify cruel behaviors and tell students to stop
• Tell targets what they should do to stop getting
bullied
• Punish bullying youth until they stop.
• Help aggressive students change their behavior
through relationship, consequences and
reflection.
• Build positive social norms addressing equity and
social justice and focusing on school culture
improvement.
From Stan Davis ©2008 www.stopbullyingnow.com
The Goal of the Work Today:
• Improving student connection and bonding to
school by improving school climate and culture
while providing protection for targeted students and
effective responses to peer aggression.
“The Wingspread Declaration,” a 2004 synthesis of
decades of research that supports this approach can
be found online at the Journal of School Health
website.
http://www.jhsph.edu/wingspread/Septemberissue.pdf
The Focus of BP Work Today:
• Respect for all.
• Protect targeted youth.
• Empower students to take positive social action.
• Restore and maintain a sense of community by
intentionally building and improving relationships
through a restorative approach.
©Davis and Saufler 2009
Important Elements
• Acknowledging that peer aggression is a systems
issue and that at the system’s center are 3 key
relational sets: student/student, staff/student, and
staff/staff.
• Recognizing that peer aggression is a relational
issue that requires relational solutions. Peers are
central to the solutions and must be included in
the process of creating them.
• The focus is on changing peer norms and behavior
– we are using peer produced data and student
lead initiatives to change school culture. (social
norms interventions)
Important elements of this work
(continued)
• At the heart of the work is climate and culture
change informed by research from education, the
social sciences and neurology.
• Using brain research on stress and its effects on
learning and memory to get buy-in from staff and
create effective interventions.
Important elements of this work
(continued)
• Identifying local biases that contribute to the
marginalization of certain groups or individuals –
these biases create local norms that make
acceptable, aggression toward certain individuals
based on social status or class, looks, personality,
and personal traits (weight, height, race, sexual
orientation, gender identity, handicap, etc.).
• Use surveys (students, parents, teachers) to
identify which biases need attention.
Important elements of this work
(continued)
• Framing this work as human rights and social
justice issues and involving students and parents
in ongoing discussions of these issues.
• Helping bystanders understand their role in
school culture and helping them find safe actions
to take on behalf of the targeted students.
• Using a restorative approach to build and
maintain a sense of community.
The Restorative Approach
Is a philosophy or guiding principle (not a program or
specific activity) that sees relationships as central to
learning, growth and a healthy school climate for
students and adults.
For more information on restorative practices see:
www.iirp.org
Announcement
Stan Davis (author of Schools Where Everyone Belongs
and Empowering Bystanders in Bullying Prevention)
and Dr. Charrise Nixon (Penn State Erie and Ophelia
Project) are looking for schools (grades 5-12)
interested in helping them compile research data on
which actions have been most effective for targeted
students at school when being treated badly.
More information can be found on Stan’s website
at www.stopbullyingnow.com
Click on Youth Voice Project.
Patti Agatston
School Counselor, Cobb County, Ga.
Co-author,
Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age
t
Cyber Bullying Defined
“Bullying through e-mail, instant messaging, in a chat
room, on a website, or through digital messages or
images sent to a cell phone.”
— Kowalski, Limber & Agatston, 2008
CDC Issue Brief on
Electronic Aggression and Youth
• 9 to 35% of youth have been the victim of electronic
aggression
• 4 to 21% report perpetrating electronic aggression
• Between 7% and 14% report being both a target and
a perpetrator
• From 2000 to 2005 there was a 50% increase in the
number of targets
Teen Perceptions of Cyber Bullying
(Cox Communications, 2009)
% strongly/somewhat agree
Boys
Girls
Bullying online is a serious problem
with today’s youth.
60%
76%
If someone is caught bullying online
there are serious legal
consequences.
45%
54%
There should be stricter rules about
online bullying
70%
80%
Cyber Bullying
and “Traditional” Bullying
Similar characteristics:
 Aggressiveness
 Power imbalance
 Repetitiveness
Cyber Bullying
and “Traditional” Bullying
Different characteristics:
• Anonymity
• Disinhibition
• Accessibility
• Punitive fears
• Bystanders
Relationship Between Cyber Bully Status &
Traditional Bullying Experience
(Kowalski & Limber, in submission)
Cyber Bullying
Status
Victim
Traditional
Victim
61%
Traditional
Bully
39%
Bully
39%
55%
Bully/Victim
64%
66%
Not Involved
33%
25%
Focus Group Themes
• Few parents and educators are talking with children
about cyber bullying.
• When asked if parents are talking to them about
cyber bullying, students primarily share messages
about internet safety.
— Kowalski et al., 2008
What Can Educators Do to
Address Cyber Bullying?
1. Incorporate Into Existing
Bullying Prevention Programs
• Include cyber bullying
prevention messages
into school-wide
bullying prevention
efforts.
2. Assess Cyber Bullying
• Use an anonymous questionnaire
to determine prevalence.
• Look for age and gender trends.
• Collect more detailed information in informal group
discussions.
3. Provide Staff Training
• All staff should be familiar with the basics.
• In-depth training for key staff
– Administrators
– Counselors
– Media specialists
4. Develop Clear Rules and
Policies About Cyber Bullying
• Incorporate into existing “student use
of technology” policy and bullying
policy for your school district.
• Distribute information about the policy to staff,
parents, students.
5. Encourage Reporting
of Cyber Bullying
6. Spend Class Time on
Cyber Bullying
• Incorporate discussions into class meetings on
bullying & peer relations.
– What is cyber bullying?
– What are the schools’ rules?
– How to respond to cyber bullying?
– Bystanders and cyber bullying
– Online “netiquette,” safe blogging, monitoring
reputations online
Cyber Bullying Prevention Curricula for
Grades 3-5 & middle/high school
Available through cyberbullyhelp.com
7. Use Students as Experts
• Youth are more knowledgeable than many
adults.
• Youth involvement sends an important message.
8. Build Strong Parent/
School Partnerships
• Host parent programs at the school on
cyber bullying. Post information on your
school website.
• Send home printed materials on cyber bullying for
parents.
• Have a contact person at the school who is
knowledgeable about cyber bullying and can assist
parents with their concerns.
Eliza Byard
Executive Director,
Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education
Network (GLSEN)
Current Situation In U.S. Schools
At your school, how often are students bullied, called names or harassed for?
% Very Often/Often
Source: “From Teasing to Torment,” GLSEN/Harris Interactive, 2005.
Experiences of Harassment & Assault
Sexual orientation and gender expression were the
most commonly targeted characteristics.
Sexual
Orientation
Gender
Identity
Source: NSCS, GLSEN 2007
Impact: Absenteeism
Source: GLSEN, NSCS 2007
Impact: Academic Achievement
Source: GLSEN, NSCS 2007
Impact: Academic Achievement
Source: GLSEN, Shared Differences 2008
Interventions: Supportive Educators
Source: GLSEN, NSCS 2007
Interventions: Supportive Staff
How many students
said that school staff
intervened “always”
or “most of the time”
when hearing
anti-LGBT remarks
at school?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Less than 10%
About half
All (100%)
About a fifth (20%)
Interventions: Safe School Policies
Source: GLSEN, NSCS 2007
Interventions: Presence of GSA’s
Source: GLSEN, NSCS 2007
Interventions: Inclusive Curriculum
Source: GLSEN, NSCS 2007
Rosalind Wiseman
Author, speaker, trainer
Queen Bees and Wannabes
Students’ Recent Questions
• If you were from another country and kids were making fun of you, what
would you do?
• What happens when boys on your bus keep doing things and I tell the bus
driver but he doesn’t do anything?
• If someone was mean to you earlier in the year and you see them getting
made fun of now, what should you do?
• When is the right time to tell on a bully and who do you talk to?
• If I were a bystander and the bully told me not to or else I would get beat
up, what should I do?
• What if your best friend is the bully and they don’t even know it?
• What do you do when your mom throws up everyday after school?
• Will I always be the loser reject?
When Does It Start?
• Studies indicate children at four and five years of age can
associate purposeful manipulation and damage to
relationships with social prominence (BYU study 2005)
• They are “controversial” children. They are perceived by their
peers as more sociable and more aggressive. “They are good
resource controllers, socially skilled, popular, conscientious,
socially integrated and yet are among the most aggressive,
dominant, arrogant, children in the peer group. This bistrategic mix or positive and negative behavior allows them to
maintain their standing in the social hierarchy.” (Hart, BYU
2005)
The Research
Research shows that repeated bullying is associated with negative
school outcomes such as absenteeism and poor academic performance.
Prevention Researcher Volume 11 #3 2004
Aggressive victims will internalize the continuous victimization until they
can no longer cope. Once they have reached their limit they resort to
violence i.e. Shooting a gun, starting a fire, or becoming bullies
themselves. Others may smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol, and use drugs.
Olweaus.
The most recent and compelling research on bullying indicates we need
to intervene on many levels simultaneously. Bullies, victims, bystanders,
school personnel, and parents. ASCA, 2008 “The Buzz on Bullying”
The Terms
Relational Aggression: The intent to harm others through purposeful
manipulation or damage to their peer relationships (Crick 1995).
Direct aggression (hands over ears, calling names etc.)
Indirect aggression (exclusion, rumor spreading)
Direct Aggression is dominant until approximately eight years of age. As
brain capacity increases (memory, perspective, etc) indirect aggression
becomes more common.
Social Aggression Across Ages
Children
Teens
Adults
Threatens to end friendships
Gossip
Openly dismisses other’s
opinions or work
Huddle together
Rolls eyes, laughing, dirty
looks
Steal boyfriend or girlfriend
Refuses to listen by covering
ears
Ignores/silent treatement
Reduce or increase work
responsibilities
Threatens to not invite to
social events
Rumor spreading
Pretend to be hurt to make
other feel guilty
Creates secret language
Embarrass in public/practical Reduces the other’s ability
jokes
to express opinions
Creates exclusive clubs
Become friends with
another as revenge
Used with Permission Center for Research
on Girls, Laurel School
Say something hurtful that
appears rational
School and the Family
While children first learn about social hierarchies and
develop social skills within a family, it is the school
setting that provides the first significant experience
for most children with respect to negotiating social
rules, expectations, hierarchies, and conflicts in large
groups. (Relational Aggression in Children and
Adolescence, Univ. of Oregon, 2006)
Psychosocial affect of RA on
targets
– Confusion and denial
– Psychological pain
– Fear and anxiety
– Efforts to escape situation or retaliation
– Don’t “Gender” RA
Teasing
• Teasing: Personal information is used as a positive
reflection of the relationship.
• Unintentional bad teasing: Personal information is
used. It transgresses a boundary but teaser doesn’t
know.
• Bad teasing: Personal information is used to
embarrass, humiliate, or dismiss. Teasing is relentless
and often strategically public. If target complains,
they are ridiculed or threatened with end of
friendship.
Want to Reach Me?
Rosalind Wiseman: rosalind@rosalindwiseman.com
202.545.0633 rosalindwiseman.com
Facebook: Search “Rosalind Wiseman”
and join my Page
YouTube: Search “Rosalind Wiseman” and subscribe to
RPW Channel
Twitter: www.twitter.com/rosalindwiseman
Webinars: October 20th, November 16th
Julia Taylor
School Counselor, Wake County, N.C.
Author, Presenter
Gender Differences in Aggression
• Girls bond more
intimately with other
girls.
• Boys form social bonds
through group activities.
• Trauma is isolation for
girls.
• Smothering is trauma for
boys.
• Girl talk on the
playground.
• Boys play on the
playground.
• Girls are socialized to be
“nice.”
• Boys are socialized to be
“tough.”
• When girls become
troubled, they get sad.
• When boys become
troubled, they get mad.
(c) 2009, Julia V. Taylor, All Rights Reserved
Relational Aggression (RA)
• RA is simply defined as any behavior that is intended
to harm someone by damaging or manipulating
relationships with others.
(c) 2009, Julia V. Taylor, All Rights Reserved
Possible Effects of Relational
Aggression
School
Refusal
Lower
Grades
Family
Fights
RA
Physical
Fights
School
Shootings
Poor SelfImage
Anxiety
Depression
(c) 2009, Julia V. Taylor, All Rights Reserved
Is Any of This Normal?
• Conflict is a part of every child's life experience.
• As children learn about cooperation and social
interaction, conflict naturally occurs.
• A common response to frustration is rejection.
• Aggression and hurtful remarks are part of conflict at
all ages; they do not necessarily mean that a problem
exists.
(c) 2009, Julia V. Taylor, All Rights Reserved
MOST KIDS CANNOT COMPREHEND
THE THINGS THAT DO DAMAGE IF
THAT DAMAGE CAN’T BE SEEN BY
THE NAKED EYE.
(c) 2009, Julia V. Taylor, All Rights Reserved
Who Me?
• RELATIONAL AGGRESSION IS VERY HARD TO PROVE!
• There has been little/no intervention on behalf of
some schools.
• No blood, no bruises, no classroom disruption –
where is the evidence?
• Lack of intervention escalates just like it would if
nobody intervened with physical fighting.
• Parents often refuse to accept their child was
punished for spreading a rumor. “NOT MY CHILD.”
(c) 2009, Julia V. Taylor, All Rights Reserved
How Educators Can Help
• Having a safe school depends on YOUR SCHOOL
and what they choose to react to or ignore.
• If a student comes to you because she is being
harassed, please don’t minimize it. Listen, offer
for them to come and talk to you, and help them
cope! Try not to tell them “It’s going to be OK”,
“Don’t worry about it”, or “You won’t remember
this when you are 18”. Those types of comments
invalidate every “valid” feeling they have.
(c) 2009, Julia V. Taylor, All Rights Reserved
How Educators Can Help
• Don’t hang up “class rules/policies” unless you
always enforce and follow them.
• Think about what you want for your students. Do
you want your students to go home crying because
they are afraid of school? YOUR CLASS?
• Be a role model! Lunchtime and hallway breaks are
often ideal times for faculty to gather and “gossip”
themselves – practice what you preach.
(c) 2009, Julia V. Taylor, All Rights Reserved
How Educators Can Help
• Understand physical fights usually are perpetuated
and begin with things adults consider “petty.”
• Issues surrounding bullying/relational aggression
negatively affect daily academic performance.
• Never dismiss a report of cruel, unethical behavior –
no matter how minor it seems.
• Know when to intervene
(c) 2009, Julia V. Taylor, All Rights Reserved
The STOP Method
Is the relational aggression
• Severe
• Traumatic
• Ongoing, or involve a
• Power struggle?
• If so, you have a duty to intervene!
(c) 2009, Julia V. Taylor, All Rights Reserved
Creating a Policy
• Clearly define relational aggression
• Name the policy
• Provide a mission statement
• What is the rationale
• How/when will you intervene
• What are the possible consequences? 1st offense?
2nd?
(c) 2009, Julia V. Taylor, All Rights Reserved
Consequence Suggestions for
Administration
• After the student has written a statement, admitted
everything, and/or if you have confiscated a horrific
note — have the student call their mother or father
and read it … every word.
• Take away privileges where they display social power.
• In/out of school suspension.
• Research RA – write a paper about it and enlist
students to volunteer to teach a class about it (great
for 4th and 5th graders to do with K-2).
(c) 2009, Julia V. Taylor, All Rights Reserved
In Conclusion
“Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Teach a
man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime.”
Chinese Proverb
(c) 2009, Julia V. Taylor, All Rights Reserved
NSBA Statement on Bullying
Congress is interested in the bullying issue and conducted a joint
hearing of two House Education and Labor Subcommittees in July 2009
called “Strengthening School Safety through Prevention of Bullying.”
NSBA submitted a Statement for the Record to the joint hearing stating
unequivocally that students must have safe and supportive climates
and learning environments that support their opportunities to learn
and that are free of abuse, violence, bullying, weapons, and harmful
substances including alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. NSBA
recommendations to the Subcommittees, include full funding for the
Safe and Drug Free Schools Program, creating a clearinghouse of best
practices, providing technical assistance to local school districts,
supporting a research agenda targeted to reducing and eliminating
incidents of bullying, and prohibiting additional regulation or reporting
that has no direct impact on the reduction or elimination of incidents of
bullying.
What’s Coming?
Webinars
• 2 p.m. Thursday, September 24: Facilities, green schools and stimulus funds
• 2 p.m. Thursday, October 8: STEM and the emphasis that science and math skills are
getting from local classroom to the halls of Congress.
ASBJ’s Magna Awards
Apply for the 2010 Magna Awards, a national recognition program that honors school
districts for outside-the-box programs that result in improved student achievement.
The awards program is FREE, and you can apply online only through October 31.
Go to www.asbj.com/magna.
About the
American School Board Journal is the award-winning education
magazine published monthly by the National School Boards
Association. Founded in 1891, ASBJ chronicles change, interprets
issues, and offers readers practical advice on a broad range of topics
pertinent to school governance and management, policy making,
student achievement, and school leadership.
For more information on the magazine and to subscribe either in print
or online, visit www.asbj.com.
About the
The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) helps
approximately 25,000 school counselors guide their students toward
academic achievement, personal and social development, and career
planning to help today’s students become tomorrow’s productive,
contributing members of society. ASCA developed The National
Standards for School Counseling Programs and the ASCA National
Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs, which provide
guidelines for designing and implementing comprehensive,
developmental school counseling programs. ASCA also maintain
ethics standards for school counselors and position statements
addressing a variety of issues. For more information about ASCA, visit
www.schoolcounselor.org.
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