Supporting Students Affected by Bullying

Bullying is a persistent issue in schools, with long-lasting impacts on both the victims and the school community. While teasing and peer conflicts are natural parts of childhood development, it’s important to differentiate these from bullying. Bullying involves repeated, aggressive behavior targeted at an individual, often involving a power imbalance. The effects of bullying can be severe, ranging from anxiety and depression to school withdrawal and self-destructive behavior. Educators, staff, and administrators play a key role in creating a safe, supportive environment for all students, ensuring bullying is addressed promptly and effectively. Read on to learn how to identify bullying, its impact, and ways to support affected students

What Is Bullying?

Bullying involves intentionally and repeatedly harming another person through unwanted, aggressive actions.

• Unwanted, targeted, aggressive behavior doesn’t need to be extreme. For example, purposely staring down a classmate from across the room can be used to intimidate, but it is not extreme.
• Repetition — Bullying occurs over time between the same perpetrator(s) and victim(s). Repetition is a critical aspect of bullying, as it differentiates bullying behaviors from other types of peer abuse. It is important to note that the behavior itself might not be repeated. Still, the fear and anticipation of repetition can be ongoing for the victim.
• Power imbalance — A real or perceived power imbalance between the perpetrator and their target must exist. This imbalance may come from physical strength or size, age, position within a peer group, or social status such as popularity.

What Bullying Isn’t

Students will change friends, disagree, argue, and tease each other. They will still need guidance on coping with the emotions that come with these behaviors. However, these behaviors are part of growth and change. Teach students that you will support them and help them figure out this type of conflict as it arises but that it is not bullying.

Even with a clear definition, the line between bullying and teasing can be challenging to distinguish. This is because teasing happens on a spectrum, from a positive experience to an annoying or, at its worst, a bullying incident. Each individual will have a different sensitivity to teasing, so one person’s fun teasing can be another person’s bullying. All students should know it is safe to speak up when they feel teasing is no longer fun. Students should be encouraged to speak with an adult if they can not get the person teasing them to stop.

Bullying is also confused with normal conflict. Conflict is a disagreement between two or more people with different wants or needs. Conflicts tend to arise at a moment when two people have different points of view. Typically, both parties in a conflict will feel they have been harmed somehow. An example of conflict is two students not agreeing on how a poster should be decorated or if a 4-square ball is foul or fair. If the conflict is one-sided and only one person feels harmed, it may have become bullying.

In the worst-case scenario, bullying is confused with criminal actions. If a cruel action has been taken against a protected group of people, your school may be dealing with a crime. Federally protected classes are race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.  If the incident involves gender-based bias, such as anti-LGBTQ comments placed on a student’s locker or racial hate, such as a pro-white group disrupting an all-school pep rally, these are criminal actions. These crimes need to be reported to local authorities.

How Bullying Affects Students

There are three types of people involved in any bullying situation, and how bullying affects students differs for each. It is essential to know how these individuals may be feeling so that you can stop or prevent further situations.

Victims – are typically perceived as “different” in some way. For example, not “fitting in” or lacking friends is the number-one risk factor for bullying. This perception can start a cycle where students who experience elevated social difficulties have an increased risk of being a target for bullying. Victims will often withdraw from school activities or become angry. Long-term consequences include loneliness, depression, anxiety and stress.

Witnesses – of bullying are also affected by it. They typically feel helpless or guilty for failing to confront the perpetrator, not supporting the target, or not reporting the bullying to an authority figure. Over time, witnesses may become desensitized to the behavior or experience the same adverse effects as victims.

Bully – A popular misconception is that students who bully act tough to hide feelings of inferiority and self-loathing. In truth, perpetrators usually have a positive self-image and average to above-average self-esteem. Bullies are willing to use force and manipulation to get what they want. They are more apt to act impulsively, appear to “enjoy” conflict and display little remorse for their behavior.

Signs of bullying

Educators and school personnel should always be on the lookout for common indicators that a student is being bullied, such as:

• Unexplained cuts, bruises, scratches, or other injuries.
• Books, electronics, or other personal items that are missing or damaged without a credible explanation.
• Soiled, damaged, or torn clothing.
• A lack of friends or a sudden loss of existing friends/social isolation, exclusion from activities.
• Avoid particular places such as not eating lunch to avoid the cafeteria. Or a loss of interest in activities that were once considered enjoyable, such as complaints of headaches when it is time to go outside for recess.
• An over-reliance on teachers or a desire to remain near adults.
• Signs of unhappiness, insecurity, anxiety, depression, helplessness, or self-blame.
• Deteriorating schoolwork or a loss of interest in school altogether.
• Self-destructive behaviors such as running away from home, self-harm, or suicide ideation.

These indicators do not mean bullying is taking place but should be taken seriously. As an adult, you must protect the students and follow your school policy to stop any bullying that may be taking place. Do not ignore the indicators, but instead ask questions and show concern. It is difficult for a child to come forward in this situation; you should be ready to listen.

How to Support Students Affected by Bullying

When a student has been bullied, they will need additional support to deal with the situation.

• Know the school resources and policy. As a mandated reporter, you must promptly notify a building administrator and file a written incident report if you suspect bullying.
• Support the bullied child in a way that allows them dignity and makes them feel safe. This can be done by privately meeting with them and increasing supervision to prevent repeated bullying.
• Talk to the bystanders and give them ideas for appropriate intervention. Let them know that you appreciate the ways that they tried to help.
• Impose immediate consequences, but do not force apologies, as they may not be sincere. The consequences should be logical and connected to the offense; for example, if the bullying occurred at lunch, the child who did the bullying must sit alone for the next week.
• Do not use peer mediation for bullying. It is best not to give the bully and the victim an equal voice in the situation.

 

Ways Administrators can Prevent bullying

Administrators are essential in establishing a school culture where bullying is not tolerated. Below are six tactics you can leverage to help create a more inclusive environment.

• Review the school bullying plan to ensure it is current and includes a plan to protect victims and discipline perpetrators.
• Ensure all teachers and staff are trained on bullying. They should be able to recognize signs, know the school policy on bullying and know how to support students affected by bullying.
• Use a student behavior management tool to ensure incidents and disciplinary action are documented and followed up on for bullies.
• Incorporate bystander intervention training for students at all grade levels. Students must be given actions to take when they feel unsafe or witness bullying.
• Implement an anonymous reporting tip line so affected individuals or peers can report bullying.
• Create a culture at your school where bullying issues are taken seriously, and acts of hate and bias are not tolerated.

Bullying is a continuous problem for schools, educators and students. All educators and staff in the school community should be trained on how to identify bullying, how bullying affects students and how to support students affected by bullying. All administrators should be aware of the environment they are creating and ensure that bullying is not tolerated.