Bullying: What We Know Stuart Green, DMH, LCSW Behavioral Scientist, Overlook Medical Center, Atlantic Health System NJ Coalition for Bullying Awareness and Prevention

Olweus

Traditional view 'boys will be boys', 'girls are mean' ‘it’s a dog-eat-dog world’ ‘life is cruel’ ‘rite of passage’ ‘people are like that’ ‘you have to get tough’ ‘competition builds character’ ‘you can handle it’ ‘life isn’t always fair’ = inevitable, the nature of children/people, growth experience, strengthening S. Green,

Modern view – bullying is created by adults: modeling of bullying behavior acceptance of bullying as normal inaction when bullying occurs exposing persons to social systems in which bullying is rewarded or implicitly accepted. S. Green,

DEFINITION OF BULLYING A person is being bullied when: he or she is exposed repeatedly to negative acts by a peer or peers there is intent to harm there is an imbalance of power so that the person who is being bullied has a difficult time defending himself or herself. S. Green,

Bullying may involve either: direct actions (e.g., hitting, name-calling, texting) indirect actions (e.g., avoiding, social exclusion, spreading rumors, texting others, altering a website) S. Green,

Teasing/Normal ConflictBullying Variability in roles (negative acts in both directions) Always the same target Primary goal is not to harm.Intent to harm Playful or limited in extent, because participants equal in power Harmful, directed at vulnerabilities, negative acts increase with target’s distress Relationship valued for mutual benefit, concern for other Seeking power, control or material gain as primary motive for relationship Remorseful, takes responsibility, makes effort to address problem No remorse, blames victim, discounts target’s point of view Modified from schwablearning.orgorig. Bullying at School, D. Olweus

Prevalence most common serious problem of the school-age child wide world occurrence middle school years peak period in U.S., 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) indicated that 20% of students had experienced some form of bullying on school property during the survey year 10-40% of youth reported being victims of some form of cyberbullying 20% admitted to cyberbullying others 27% of youth who were victims of cyberbullying had also carried a weapon to school Youth cyberbullied much more fearful S. Green,

NJ Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights HIB Definition HIB means any gesture, any written, verbal or physical act, or any electronic communication, whether it be a single incident or a series of incidents, that: Is reasonably perceived as being motivated either by an actual or perceived characteristic, such as race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or a mental, physical or sensory disability, or by any other distinguishing characteristic; Takes place on school property, at any school-sponsored function, or on a school bus; or off school grounds Substantially disrupts or interferes with the orderly operation of the school or the rights of other students; and that A reasonable person should know, under the circumstances, will have the effect of physically or emotionally harming a student or damaging the student’s property, or placing a student in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm to his person or damage to his property; or Has the effect of insulting or demeaning any student or group of students; or Creates a hostile educational environment for the student by interfering with a student’s education or by severely or pervasively causing physical or emotional harm to the student.

PREVALENCE … The range of American high school students who report being bullied to be between 19% and 47%. U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, % of school staff reported witnessing bullying and 43% of teachers stated they would categorize bullying in their school as a “moderate to major problem.” National Education Association (Bradshaw, Waasdorp, O’brennan, & Gulemetova, 2011) 32% of youth ages report having been bullied in the last school year. U.S. Bureau of Justice Indicators of School Crime and Safety (Robers, Zhang, Truman, & Snyder, 2010) Findings from a large nationally representative U.S. sample of 6 th -10 th graders, found the following prevalence rates: 20.8% physical bullying; 53.6% verbal bullying; 51.4% relational bullying; 13.6% cyberbullying (Wang et al., 2009). Review of 7 studies found lifetime cyberbullying victimization rates for youth of ≈ 20-40% (Hinduja & Patchin, 2010)

BEHAVIORS … Made fun of, called names, insulted Subject of rumors Pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on Threatened with harm Excluded from activities on purpose Tried to make them do something they did not want to do Property destroyed on purpose (School year , % range 18%-3%) SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Student Reports of Bullying and Cyber-Bullying: Results From the 2009 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey” Web Tables (NCES ).

Among students ages who reported being bullied at school during the school year (40% gr 6, 20% gr 12): 47.2 percent of students reported being bullied in a hallway or stairwell percent of students reported being bullied in a classroom. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, “Student Reports of Bullying and Cyber-Bullying: Results From the 2009 School Crime Supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey” Web Tables (NCES ).

All persons affected (the Bullying Circle) as bullying or bullied as bystanders (active, passive, ‘activated’) feel afraid, powerless, guilty, diminished empathy tension, numbing, fears of openness and self-expression wide range of lasting negative effects S. Green,

There is evidence that bullying is harmful (mainly to those targeted) in the following ways: Added injury: In children already suffering or at risk from a wide range of illnesses, conditions and characteristics, bullying increases their vulnerability and suffering. A source of problems: children may not have developed certain problems or developed the problems as severely if bullying had not occurred. A sign of problems: indicates that other serious problems are present, in the child and in the school/setting. S. Green,

academic performance, accidents and injury adolescent HR-QOL, adult workplace bullying, alcohol/tobacco and other drug use, animal abuse, Asperger's (and other dev dis), binge eating disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, childhood eczema, cleft lip/palate, poor diabetes self-management, feeling unsafe at school, gang involvement, IBD, lack of help-seeking and self- identification in hard-of-hearing youth, learning differences, low self-esteem, obesity, inhibited physical activity (including in youth who are obese), substance use, stuttering, psychosis*, anxiety / depression**, voiding problems, obesity, recurrent abdominal pain, suicide, weapon-carrying and school shootings (*Varese et al, Childhood adversities …, Schiz Bull, 2012) (**even more associated w cyberbullying) S. Green,

Gender (and other) differences males more likely to bully (males, females) males more likely to be bullied by males than females. in females, 'relational aggression' more common (manipulating relationships for negative effects on a peer) (males also engage in this) lgbt students more likely to be victimized) ( Nearly 9 out of 10 LGBT students (middle/high school) experienced harassment at school in past year and nearly two-thirds felt unsafe because of their sexual orientation.) S. Green,

Those who bully: difficult relationships with peers and at home more alcohol and tobacco use more authoritarian parenting * but … have good self-esteem adequate academic performance good social skills and are often popular Bully/Victims A small number of children both bully and are bullied And tend to have more problems S. Green,

*Characteristics targeted for bullying: 1. looks (e.g., obesity/shortness/) 2. race 3. gender identify and expression 4. poverty (family income) 5. religion 6. disability (e.g., learning differences, special health needs) 7. other characteristics (shyness, emotional expressiveness, less strength/athleticism, family conflict) (ref: Youth Voices Project, Stan Davis, Charisse Nixon) Any perceived difference. Any child may be bullied. S. Green,

(from MSNBC.com, ) $4.2 million settlement for student paralyzed by bully When Sawyer Rosenstein was 12, a punch from a bully changed his life forever, leaving him paralyzed, and at times, near death from the complications of his condition. Now, six years after the assault, the New Jersey school board in the district where he was a student has agreed to a $4.2 million settlement. Rosenstein family Sawyer Rosenstein with his father, Joel, and mother, Cheri, on a family vacation in Scottsdale, Ariz., in By Miranda Leitsinger, msnbc.com When Sawyer Rosenstein was 12, a punch from a bully changed his life forever, leaving him paralyzed, and at times, near death from the complications of his condition. Now, six years after the assault, the New Jersey school board in the district where he was a student has agreed to a $4.2 million settlement. “ It feels really great to finally have just a sense of closure … that this really difficult part of my life is behind me, ” Rosenstein, an 18-year-old freshman majoring in communication at Syracuse University, told msnbc.com. “ I can actually focus on all of the successful things that I am doing now and all of the successful plans that I have for my future. ”