Problems of Bullying - Assignment Example

Introduction Bullying is one of the most common problems encountered by schoolchildren in the school setting. It is also a common problem that school teachers and parents have to deal with on a daily basis. Based on the National Youth Violence Prevention Center (2007), about 30% of youth in the United States are involved in the issue of bullying – either as a bully, a victim, or both. Surveys reveal that among students in the 6th to 10th grade, about 13% revealed that they bullied others, 11% revealed that they were bullied, and about 6% revealed that they were bullied and that they bullied others as well (National Youth Violence Prevention Center, 2007). It is also a phenomenon which affects both males and females, with males more likely to be pushed, hit, or slapped. Among females, they are more likely to be targets of sexual or even sexist comments (National Youth Violence Prevention Center, 2007). Males are likely to target both males and females to bully; females often target other females – not so much through physical bullying but by spreading gossip and by encouraging other people to exclude these females (National Youth Violence Prevention Center, 2007). Various risk factors for bullying behavior include confidence and high self-esteem. Bullies also tend to be physically aggressive, hot-tempered, easily angered, and can easily get frustrated; they also tend to be domineering; get in trouble often; dislike and do poorly in school; and they are also likely to fight, drink, and smoke more than their contemporaries (National Youth Violence Prevention Center, 2007). Those who often become targets for bullying include individuals who are anxious, insecure, have low-self-esteem, and those who rarely defend themselves or retaliate when confronted by bullies. Those who are bullied are also often socially isolated or have limited social skills (National Youth Violence Prevention Center, 2007). Based on the above scenario, this paper shall now discuss and outline an approach for a school that is eager to reduce bullying. This paper shall discuss strategies at the individual, group, and systems level. Each element of the intervention shall be discussed and assessed based on applicability and effectiveness in the current scenario. This paper is being conducted in the hope of coming up with a clear and appropriate solution for bullying in the school setting, not just for one school, but for as many schools as possible. Discussion A solution which the school can implement is the “Bullying at School” program which was developed by Olweus at the University of Bergen in Norway (Carney & Merrell, 2001). The effectiveness of this program was evaluated based on its application to 42 schools in Norway and the very goal of the bullying program was to restructure the school environment in order to make it less conducive to bullying practices (Carney & Merrell, 2001). The program was also designed to gain the positive participation of teachers and parents; impose limits on unacceptable behaviors and to provide consistent but non-corporal punishment for violators (Carney & Merrell, 2001). This program is also meant to include the monitoring of the children in the home and school settings, with the adults (parents or teachers) expected to be responsible for the child’s learning and social relationships. This program involves various components or elements of involvement: from the school-level, the individual-level, the classroom level, and the community level (Carney & Merrell, 2001). These four components all have a role to play in stopping bullying in school. They also help to coordinate and sustain the efforts against bullying in order to ensure that bullying activities are stopped not just in one aspect of the child’s life, but in others as well. And only with the healthy coordination of these components can an effective anti-bullying program be implemented. School-level components On the school-level, Orweus program sets forth that there is a need to establish first a Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee (Olweus, 2010). This committee will help coordinate efforts of the school, the home, the community, and the classroom against bullying. This committee usually includes a “school administrator, a teacher representative from each grade, a guidance counselor and/or school-based mental health professional, and parent and student representatives” (Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, n.d). It is also important for the school-level components to conduct meetings and staff trainings in order to regularly monitor student activities related to bullying and to monitor the implementation of the bullying prevention program. Staff trainings will also help equip the staff with the appropriate skills in dealing with and preventing bullying in the school setting (Olweus, 2010). The staff is obliged to attend a half to one-day training program and teachers are also obliged to read the handbook on the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. School personnel are also called on to attend in a one-and-a-half day training with a certified anti-bullying program trainer (Department of Health and Human Services, n.d). There is also a need to administer the Olweus Bully/Victim questionnaire nationwide (Olweus, 2010). Such questionnaire will help assess the status of bullying and the prevalent or dominant behavior of children as bullies or as victims of bullies. In the school level, it is also important for the staff to participate in group meetings and discussions – for the teachers to attend weekly 20 to 40 minute classroom meetings in order to discuss incidents which are relevant to the bullying program (Department of Health and Human Services, n.d). These teachers are also called on to attend regular teacher discussion groups in the first year of the implementation of the program. The personnel are also obliged to attend 1 to 2 hour monthly meetings in order to discuss what they observe during the implementation of the program. In the school-level there is a need to introduce to the students, teachers, school personnel, and the parents to the bullying prevention program (Olweus, 2010). The school staff and personnel who have undergone training on Olweus’s program are responsible for introducing the students, the parents, and the community to the program. The basic rules on bullying that has to be introduced to all concerned individuals are the following: 1.) we will not bully others; 2.) we will try to help students who are bullied; 3.) we will include students who are left out; and 4.) if we know that somebody is being bulled, we will tell an adult at school and an adult at home (Riese, 2009). These rules help define the guidelines for students, for school authorities, and for parents in order to help them deal with the bullying problem. It is also important for the staff to review and to refine the school’s supervisory system (Olweus, 2010). This includes a school-wide evaluation; developing and revamping school rules on bullying; formulating school rules on reporting and bullying; and identifying ‘hot-spots’ where bullying often occurs (Goshen Local School District, 2010). In order to formally introduce the program in the school, a kick-off event may be held (Olweus, 2010). This will serve as a notice for all concerned authorities and for students as well that a program which is meant to curb bullying in the school is now in place. This will especially serve as a notice for both bullies and those who are bullied. Those who are bullies are warned to stop their bullying tactics and for those who are being bullied, they are now notified of the fact that there is a relief for their trials. Finally, this step is finalized by informing and involving parents in the program (Olweus, 2010). Parents can encourage their child to report bullying incidents and then parents can report such incidents to the school. Individual-level components It is important for the school to supervise the student’s activities; to ensure that the staff intervene on-the-spot when bullying occurs; to hold meetings with students involved in bullying; to hold meetings with parents of involved students; and to develop individualized intervention plans for involved students (Olweus, 2010). This is when the training for the staff and the school personnel will be used in order to help the staff deal with bullying scenarios and to deal with students involved in such scenarios (Hazelden Foundation, 2007). These teachers are also trained to adequately deal with students who are suspected of bullying activities. Most likely, they are also trained to deal on-the-spot with bullies. In this component, bullying students are likely to be issued consequences for their actions as soon as possible (Olweus & Limber, 2003). For the staff, specific procedures have to be taught in order to guide them in reacting to bullies which have been identified or are suspected in the classroom. Procedures include determined talks with the student who is being bullied and also talks with his parents (Olweus & Limber, 2003). A talk with the suspected bully and his parents also has to be set-up in order to discuss the issue with the bully and with his parents. During these meetings, “a clear message is communicated that the bullying will be stopped and that the situation will be closely monitored” (Olweus & Limber, 2003). Some schools conduct these meetings through counselors or school administrators in order to lend more authority and expertise to the process. However, in most cases, it is preferable for meetings to be conducted with the primary teacher or staff member who is in closest relations with the students involved (Olweus & Limber, 2003). This would help ensure that the students involved are in a trusting environment and would be inclined to open up about their situation – either as bullies or as victims of bullies. Schools are also obliged to work with parents and with mental health professionals in order to come up with individualized plans in appropriate cases; to lend support and assistance to students who are being bullied; and to rectify the behavior of students who bully other students (Olweus & Limber, 2003). There is a need to support students who are being bullied in order to help them face their situation and empower them to report the incidents to school authorities and to their parents. For bullies, there is also a need to communicate with them, to establish why they are bullying other students, and to counsel them on how to best deal with the issues which may trigger their bullying behavior (Olweus & Limber, 2003). This process of meeting with both the bullies and the bullied requires the support, the presence, and the expertise of the teacher and the mental health professionals (National Gang Center, n.d). Counseling children who are being bullied is an important element of the bullying prevention program because it helps these students get past the victimizing role of bullying. Bullying affects the emotional psyche of most students and it often causes them to perform poorly in school, also, to shy away from social interactions; and these very same characteristics make them easy targets for further bullying (Sanders & Phye, 2004). Olweus’s program helps to target students who already have a high risk of being bullied. These students are put on additional interventions to assist them in dealing with the impact of bullying, to adequately equip them with the tools for resisting and consequently, to empower them against bullies and bullying activities (Gulotta & Bloom, 2003). Olweus Bullying Prevention Program also targets the bullies. Carney and Merrell (2001) point out that bullies are not born, they are made. It is therefore possible to target both the potential and the actual bullies in order to stop the bullying behavior and in some ways to stop the cycle of violence. There is often an unparalleled cycle of violence seen in bullying behavior – with those who are bullied becoming bullies themselves at some point in their lives. It is important for mental health professionals to look into the history of the bullies – possibly their family history – in order to detect patterns of violence or abuse which often manifests as bullying behavior in the student’s life (Carney & Merrell, 2001). Classroom Component The classroom component of Olweus Bullying Prevention Program calls on the teaching of the four anti-bullying rules in the classrooms (Olweus & Limber, 2003). This process will now call on the teachers and other school personnel to notify the students about the anti-bullying rules. The teachers have to announce these rules to the class and to explain each rule to the students, including the acts which are inclusive in each rule. By clearly defining the rules, the students would know what acts are considered bullying. There is also a need for class meetings to be conducted in order to give students a chance to talk about bullying and to establish why bullying should not happen in their class and in their school (Hazelden Foundation, 2007). The classroom component will also teach students to ask for help from adults when they are bullied or when they see other people who are being bullied (Hazelden Foundation, 2007). In the classroom setting, the teachers can cite examples to illustrate the positive and negative consequences of the four anti-bullying rules (Hazelden Foundation, 2007). By citing examples they can conceptualize to the students what it is like to be bullied and the impact of bullying to students in general. The teachers also have to work hard in order to make the classroom a positive place for the students (Hazelden Foundation, 2007). Olweus and Limber (2003) discuss that there are three components of the classroom level aspect of the anti-bullying program. The first is to post and enforce school-wide rules against bullying. In this element teachers need to discuss with their students, in detail, the rules about bullying. These rules have to cover the direct and the indirect forms of bullying which can be used and adapted by students (Olweus & Limber, 2003). Social isolation and intentional exclusion are also forms of bullying which students may not often perceive as bullying (Olweus & Limber, 2003). Nevertheless, these are also forms of bullying and the students need to know this fact as well. Teachers can also post the four rules in the classroom and the school campus for easy reference and in order to remind students every now and then that bullying activities will not be tolerated in the school and that those who are bullied can seek help from school authorities. The teachers also need to inform the students that along with the rules on bullying, the consequences for bullying behavior are different from the regular school rules; and that more serious steps are going to be taken by the school authorities in order to prevent bullying (Olweus & Limber, 2003). The classroom component also calls for classroom meetings to be held on a regular (atleast weekly) basis. These meetings are for both the students and the teachers to discuss bullying and other issues in relation to bullying (Olweus & Limber, 2003). These class meetings help to establish classroom cohesiveness and a sense of community among the students and the teachers. It also gives teachers a chance to discuss the rules on bullying, to help the students comprehend their roles in order to prevent bullying, and to come up with solutions to address bullying (Olweus & Limber, 2003). As was previously mentioned, role-playing activities can help demonstrate to the students what it means to be bullied (Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, n.d). It can “help build empathy and perspective-taking skills, generate possible solutions to bullying situations, and practice positive actions to take when confronted with bullying” (Olweus & Limber, 2003). Classroom meetings with parents are also an important element of the classroom component of Olweus’s Program on the prevention of bullying. Classroom meetings help parents understand the problems related to bullying and the means and methods which the school can come up with in order to address bullying (Olweus & Limber, 2003). Classroom meetings with parents also help to extract parental input and involvement in the program in order to make the program even more holistic and effective for the students. These classroom meetings make the setting more intimate and less threatening for the parents; it helps build rapport with the teacher and to establish healthy interactions with the parents (Olweus & Limber, 2003). Community-level components Community-level components for Olweus’s Bullying prevention program calls for the school to form partnerships with community members in order to implement a wider geographic scope of the program (Hazelden Foundation, 2007). There is recognition of the fact that bullying often happens outside the walls and the gates of the school – where students are more susceptible to bullying and where bullies would likely be bolder in their bullying activities (Olweus & Limber, 2003). The school authorities would have to be prompted to coordinate with the members of the local community in order to establish ways for the members of the community to collaborate with school efforts against bullying (Olweus & Limber, 2003). Many schools have adopted this method and have coordinated with local communities and local officials in order to keep the streets and the communities safe for most students (Locust Grove Middle School, n.d). In most cases, the involvement of the local communities have assisted the teachers and the parents in keeping students safe and free from threatening environments. There is a need therefore to conduct meetings with local communities in order to explain the program and what the school needs of the community in order to protect the students and ensure the success of the program (Hong, 2009). There is a need to extend the program beyond the walls of the classroom and the school because the program would be more difficult to implement outside the walls of the school. The bullies know this, and they would likely take advantage of this fact in order to carry out their bullying activities. Hence, it is imperative for the school and the parents to seek a wider application of the program. Implementation of the program (suggested timeline) In order to implement this program, the following timeline can be followed: I. First year of implementation: winter or early spring or summer to early fall 1. Select members of the Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee 2. Assign or hire a coordinator 3. Acquire or order essential materials for the implementation of the program II. April/May or October/November 1. Administer the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire 2. Conduct a 2-day training for the members of the Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee 3. After the training, call on regular meetings of the committee in order to set-up the plans for the implementation of the program. III. Summer or October/December 1. Input and evaluate data extracted through the questionnaire using the appropriate statistical program 2. Create a database of required and essential materials which were ordered IV. August /September or November/December The committee has to conduct a ½ to 1 day in service training of all the school personnel V. September or January: The launch of the program 1. Student and parent kick-off of the program in order to introduce and formally launch it. 2. Launch other elements of the program including: a. Posting of school rules in the campus and in the classrooms b. Conduct classroom meetings and discussion of the school rules on bullying c. Increase supervision and monitoring of students in the hot spots d. Start staff discussion groups e. Launch individual meetings with student and parents, when appropriate VI. Rest of the year Implement school-level, classroom level, and individual-level elements of the program VII. Second year of implementation: August 1. Conduct training for new staff 2. Conduct regular meetings of the committee VIII. September Carry-out all school level, classroom-level, and individual-level components of the bullying program IX. April/May or October/November Re-administer the Olweus Questionnaire The Olweus program has to be carried out as a never-ending program and it should be ‘launched’ or restarted at the start of each new school year in order to ensure that its components are being followed-through and to ensure that the program is effective and is being regularly evaluated for effectiveness and appropriateness (Clemson University, 2009). Works Cited Carney, A. & Merrell, K. (2001) Bullying in Schools: Perspectives on Understanding and Preventing an International Problem. University of Oregon. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://www.uoregon.edu/~kmerrell/publicationsPDFs/CarneyMerrell2001.pdf Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (n.d) Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (BPP) University of Colorado at Boulder. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://www.colorado.edu/cspv/blueprints/modelprograms/BPP.html Clemson University (2009) Suggested Timeline for Implementing the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Clemson.edu. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://www.clemson.edu/olweus/suggested.html Department of Health and Human Services (n.d) The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Mental Health Promotion.net. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://www.mentalhealthpromotion.net/resources/theolweusbullyingpreventionprogram.pdf Goshen Local School District (24 May 2010) Bullying Prevention Information. Goshen Local Schools. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://goshenlocalschools.org/groups/district_main/wiki/a6821/Bullying_Prevention_Information.html Gulotta, T. & Bloom, M. (2003) Encyclopedia of primary prevention and health promotion. New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers Hazelden Foundation (2007) What Is the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program? Mannheim School District 83. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://www.d83.org/CAREelem/Englishparentinfo.pdf Hong, J. (2009) Feasibility of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program in Low-Income Schools. Journal of School Violence, 8(1), pp. 81 - 97 Locust Grove Middle School (n.d) Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. LGMS library. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://www.lgmslibrary.info/Library_Media_Center/Olweus_Bullying_Prevention_Program.html National Gang Center (n.d) Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. National Gang Center.gov. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/SPT/Programs/47 National Youth Violence Prevention Center (2007) Bullying Facts and Statistics. Safe Youth.org. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://www.safeyouth.org/scripts/faq/bullying.asp Olweus, D. & Limber, S. (2003) The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program: Implementation and Evaluation over Two Decades. Bullying Prevention Institute. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://www.bullyingpreventioninstitute.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=5BnCPJGFPhc%3D&tabid=72 Olweus Bullying Prevention Program (2010) Overview. Olweus.org. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://www.olweus.org/public/bullying_prevention_program.page Portnoy, J. (2003) Anti-Bullying Campaigns. NJ Bullying. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://www.njbullying.org/MetroKids4-05.txt Riese, J. (17 November 2009) Olweus-at-a-Glance: The “101” of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. International Bullying Prevention Association. Retrieved 31 May 2010 from http://74.43.1.99/providers/308/bullying_presenter_handouts/Olweus-at-a-Glance.pdf Sanders, C. & Phye, G. (2004) Bullying: implications for the classroom. California: Elsevier Outline an approach you would recommend for a school eager to reduce bullying. Include strategies at the individual, group, and systems level. Discuss how you would evaluate each element of your proposed intervention. Topic 11 deals with evaluation but a number of the other recommended readings will also be useful. Read More