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Back to School Safety: Bullying Among Children and Youth
Recent research in the United States and abroad has documented that
bullying is a common and potentially damaging form of violence among
children. Not only does bullying harm both its intended victims and the
perpetrators, it also may affect the climate of schools and, indirectly, the
ability of all students to learn to the best of their abilities. Moreover, the
link between bullying and later delinquent and criminal behavior cannot
be ignored. Although studies of comprehensive antibullying programs
are scarce in the United States, evaluation data from other countries
suggest that adopting a comprehensive approach to reduce bullying at
school can change students' behaviors and attitudes, reduce other
antisocial behaviors, and increase teachers' willingness to intervene.
Stimulated by the pioneering work of Dan Olweus in Norway and
Sweden, researchers from several nations -- Australia, Canada,
England, Ireland, Japan, Norway, and the United States -- have begun
to explore the nature, prevalence, and effects of bullying among school
children. Their findings provide compelling reasons for initiating
interventions to prevent bullying. Its high prevalence among children, its
harmful and frequently enduring effects on victims, and its chilling effects
on school climate are significant reasons for prevention and early
intervention efforts in schools and communities.
The phenomenon of bullying deserves special attention by educators,
parents, and children concerned with violence prevention for two
significant reasons. First, the prevalence of bullying and the harm that it
causes are seriously underestimated by many children and adults. It is
critical that any violence prevention strategy work to raise the awareness
of children, school staff, and parents regarding the link between bullying
and other violent behaviors.
Second, the nature of bullying does not necessarily lend itself to the
same interventions that may effectively reduce other types of conflict
among children. Because it involves harassment by powerful children
against children with less power (rather than a conflict between peers of
relatively equal status), common conflict resolution strategies such as
mediation may not be effective.
Definitionz
Bullying among children is understood as repeated, negative acts
committed by one or more children against another. These negative acts
may be physical or verbal in nature -- for example, hitting or kicking,
teasing or taunting -- or they may involve indirect actions such as
manipulating friendships or purposely excluding other children from
activities. Implicit in this definition is an imbalance in real or perceived
power between the bully and victim.
Intervention Model
The first and best-known intervention to reduce bullying among school
children was launched by Olweus in Norway and Sweden in the early
1980's. Inspired by the suicides of several severely victimized children,
Norway supported the development and implementation of a
comprehensive program to address bullying among children in school.
The program involved interventions at multiple levels:
- Schoolwide interventions. A survey of bullying problems at
each school, increased supervision, schoolwide assemblies, and
teacher inservice training to raise the awareness of children and
school staff regarding bullying.
- Classroom-level interventions. The establishment of
classroom rules against bullying, regular class meetings to
discuss bullying at school, and meetings with all parents.
- Individual-level interventions. Discussions with students
identified as bullies and victims.
The program was found to be highly effective in reducing bullying and
other antisocial behavior among students in primary and junior high
schools. Within 2 years of implementation, both boys' and girls'
self-reports indicated that bullying had decreased by half. These changes
in behavior were more pronounced the longer the program was in effect.
Moreover, students reported significant decreases in rates of truancy,
vandalism, and theft and indicated that their school's climate was
significantly more positive as a result of the program. Not surprisingly,
those schools that had implemented more of the program's components
experienced the most marked changes in behavior.
The core components of the Olweus antibullying program have been
adapted for use in several other cultures, including Canada, England,
and the United States. Results of the antibullying efforts in these
countries have been similar to the results experienced in the
Scandinavian countries, with the efforts in Toronto schools showing
somewhat more modest results. Again, as in the Scandinavian study,
schools that were more active in implementing the program observed the
most marked changes in reported behaviors.
Bullying in the United States
Although there have been few studies of the prevalence of bullying
among American schoolchildren, available data suggest that bullying is
quite common in U.S. schools. In a study of 207 junior high and high
school students from small midwestern towns, 88 percent reported
having observed bullying, and 77 percent indicated that they had been
victims of bullying during their school careers.1 A study of 6,500
students in fourth to sixth grades in the rural South indicated that 1 in 4
students had been bullied with some regularity within the past 3 months
and that 1 in 10 had been bullied at least once a week. Approximately
one in five children admitted that they had bullied another child with
some regularity in the previous 3 months.2 These figures are consistent
with estimates of several other researchers. Furthermore, contrary to
popular belief, bullying occurs more frequently on school grounds than
on the way to and from school.3
Consequences of Bullying
Studies of bullying suggest that there are short- and long-term
consequences for both the perpetrators and victims of bullying. Students
who are chronic victims of bullying experience more physical and
psychological problems than their peers who are not harassed by other
children4 and they tend not to grow out of the role of victim.
Longitudinal studies have found that victims of bullying in early grades
also reported being bullied several years later.5 Studies also suggest that
chronically victimized students may as adults be at increased risk for
depression, poor self-esteem, and other mental health problems,6
including schizophrenia.7
It is not only victims who are at risk for short- and long-term problems;
bullies also are at increased risk for negative outcomes. One researcher
found that those elementary students who were bullies attended school
less frequently and were more likely to drop out than other students.8
Several studies suggest that bullying in early childhood may be a critical
risk factor for the development of future problems with violence and
delinquency. For example, Olweus' research found that in addition to
threatening other children, bullies were several times more likely than
their nonbullying peers to commit antisocial acts, including vandalism,
fighting, theft, drunkenness, and truancy, and to have an arrest by young
adulthood.9 Another study of more than 500 children found that
aggressive behavior at the age of 8 was a powerful predictor of
criminality and violent behavior at the age of 30.10
Antibullying Initiative
Until recently, little attention has been given to the establishment of
antibullying initiatives in U.S. schools. Within the past several years, a
number of school-based programs have been developed to address
bullying, although the degree to which they embrace a whole-school
approach to the problem varies.
Only one U.S. program has been based explicitly on the comprehensive
model developed by Olweus in Sweden and Norway. Through a grant
from the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Gary B.
Melton, Susan P. Limber, and colleagues at the Institute for Families in
Society of the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC, have
adapted Olweus' model for use in rural middle schools in that State.
Interventions are focused at the levels of the individual, classroom,
school, and community at large. A comprehensive evaluation involving
6,500 children currently is under way to measure the effects of the program.
Endnotes
1. J.H. Hoover, R. Oliver, and R.J. Hazler, "Bullying: Perceptions of
adolescent victims in Midwestern USA," School Psychology
International 13:5-16,1992.
2. S.P. Limber, P. Cunningham, V. Florx, J. Ivey, M. Nation, S. Chai,
and G. Melton, "Bullying among school children: Preliminary findings
from a school-based intervention program," paper presented at the Fifth
International Family Violence Research Conference, Durham, NH,
June/July 1997.
3. S.P. Limber et al., June/July 1997; D. Olweus, "Victimization by
peers: Antecedents and long-term outcomes," in Social Withdrawal,
Inhibitions, and Shyness, edited by K.H. Rubin and J.B. Asendorf,
Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum, 1993, pp. 315-341; I. Rivers and P.K. Smith,
"Types of bullying behavior and their correlates," Aggressive Behavior
20:259-368, 1994; I. Whitney and P.K. Smith, "A survey of the nature
and extent of bullying in junior/middle and secondary schools,"
Educational Research 35:3-25, 1993.
4. K. Williams, M. Chambers, S.Logan, and D. Robinson, "Association
of common health symptoms with bullying in primary school children,"
British Medical Journal 313:17-19, 1996.
5. Olweus, 1993.
6. Olweus, 1993.
7. J.G. Parker and S.R. Asher, "Peer relations and later personal
adjustment: Are low accepted children at risk?" Psychological Bulletin
102:357-389, 1987.
8. B.J. Byrne, "Bullies and victims in school settings with reference to
some Dublin schools," Irish Journal of Psychology 15:574-586, 1994.
9. Olweus, 1993.
10. L.D. Eron, L.R. Husemann, E. Dubow, R. Romanoff, and P.W.
Yarmel, "Aggression and its correlates over 22 years," in Childhood
Aggression and Violence: Sources of Influence, Prevention and
Control, edited by D.H. Crowell, I.M. Evans, and C.R. O'Donnell,
New York: Plenum, 1987, pp. 249-262.
For more information, contact Susan Limber, Assistant Director,
Institute for Families in Society, University of South Carolina, Carolina
Plaza, Columbia, SC 29208, 803-737-3186.
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Copyright © Juvenile Justice Clearinghouse, and Authors Susan P. Limber and Maury M. Nation. Reprinted with permission. Visit STOP Sex Offenders for more child safety information!
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