Adults are not always very good at estimating the nature and extent of bullying at their school. Frequently we are quite surprised by the amount of bullying that students experience, the types of bullying that are most common, or the "hot spots" where bullying happens. As a result, it is often quite useful to assess bullying by administering an anonymous questionnaire to students about bullying. What are the possible benefits of conducting a survey of students? Findings can help motivate adults to take action against bullying.
Data can help administrators and other educators tailor a bullying prevention strategy to the particular needs of the school.
Data can serve as a baseline from which administrators and other educators can measure their progress in reducing bullying. Bullying prevention should not be the sole responsibility of an administrator, counselor, teacher-or any single individual at a school. To be most effective, bullying prevention efforts require buy-in from the majority of the staff and from parents.
Form a group to coordinate the school's bullying prevention activities. Bullying prevention efforts seem to work best if they are coordinated by a representative group from the school.
This coordinating team which might include an administrator, a teacher from each grade, a member of the non-teaching staff, a school counselor or other school-based mental health professional, a school nurse, and at least one parent should meet regularly to digest data from the school survey described in Strategy 2; plan bullying prevention rules, policies, and activities; motivate staff, students, and parents; and ensure that the efforts continue over time.
A student advisory group also can be formed to focus on bullying prevention and provide valuable suggestions and feedback to adults. All administrators, faculty, and staff at your school should be trained in bullying prevention and intervention. In-service training can help staff to better understand the nature of bullying and its effects, how to respond if they observe bullying, and how to work with others at the school to help prevent bullying from occurring.
Training should not be available only for teaching staff. Also, ensure your students know the consequences for bullying others at school. They should understand that bullying is not tolerated and will be addressed.
It may help to supplement your school's bullying policies with additional guidelines in your classroom that focus on respect and kindness. Make sure your students see you anywhere bullying might occur, like the bathrooms, hallways, and even in the lunchroom. You also may want to make yourself visible near the school buses in the afternoon and during recess if you can. Also, be sure your school has proper supervision in all bullying hot spots. Remember, kids who bully are opportunists. They know where the teachers are most of the time and will wait until the coast is clear to target another student.
Make sure there are very few opportunities for students to bully others. Be sure you are able to recognize the most common types of bullying as well as cyberbullying indicators. Also, be aware that boys and girls often bully differently. For instance, boys may resort to physical bullying and girls are more likely to use relational bullying like ostracizing another student.
Look for what is called "gateway indicators. Some possible gateway indicators include rolling eyes, laughing under their breath, making jokes, turning their back on others, and using sarcasm. If you see these behaviors, look a little closer.
There may be subtle forms of bullying taking place already. Strive to empower the bystanders in your class. Encourage them to stand up against bullying behavior or to report it to you or another adult. Remind them that research has shown that bullying ends when one person takes a stand. Then provide safe and confidential ways that they can report bullying incidents.
Victims of bullying are often afraid or embarrassed to come forward. As a result, you may need to rely on other students to let you know when bullying is occurring. Identify your class leaders early in the school year and check in with them.
Let them be your eyes and ears when you cannot be present. Also, be sure you make it safe for them to alert you of potential issues. No student wants to be called a snitch. So, make sure you implement ways for them to get information to you without the rest of the students knowing who it came from. Strive to build a rapport with all your students. Get to know them as individuals. Greet each student every day and ask how things are going. Watch for signs that they might be experiencing bullying.
Do your best to find out about their interests and goals. And if they are struggling, offer support or direct them to school resources where their specific needs can be met. Engage parents in your bullying prevention programs.
Encourage parents to support school rules and bullying intervention strategies. If a parent reports a bullying incident, be sure to investigate it right away. Try to partner with parents to reduce bullying incidents in your classroom. One way to help prevent social cliques from forming in your classroom is to assign students to groups when they have a group project. When you allow kids to pick their own groups, this opens the door to bullying opportunities.
It also allows cliques to strengthen, and it creates an opportunity for kids to ostracize others. When you select the group, you are ensuring that your students learn to work with those outside their circle of friends.
Pre-selected groups also give students the opportunity to learn how to work with different types of people. Ensure that your school has effective anti-bullying goals and policies. Some people mistakenly believe that victims of bullying bring it on themselves.
But bullies must always own the bullying behavior. Encourage everyone to adopt this mindset. Foster a sense of community in the classroom and school. When students feel like part of a community, schools can decrease bullying incidents, improve school climate , and facilitate healing for anyone who has been affected by bullying.
When students feel connected to their school, their peers, and their teacher, they do better. Do what you can to create a sense of community among your students.
Create a team atmosphere where everyone feels like they belong and the students learn to support one another. When you spot bullying, address it right away. When you do that, kids are less likely to feel safe in school and the bullying will likely escalate.
Bullies expect their victims to keep silent about their actions. Surprise them and call them out. Skip to content.
Page Content. Use a whole-school approach A school that engages their whole school community to address the problem of bullying is much more likely to succeed in preventing bullying than a school using single-factor interventions only.
Use an appropriate method There are a number of factors that can schools should consider to help them determine their choice of method. Severity and frequency Deciding the level of severity can be difficult because some students are more vulnerable than others. Low severity bullying This is bullying at a relatively low intensity as in unpleasant teasing; occasional pushing and shoving; and short-term exclusion by some peers.
High severity bullying This is bullying at a relatively high intensity as in the continual use of abusive language, physical assaults, repeated threats to hurt someone and sustained and comprehensive exclusion. Impact Does the behaviour warrant intervention even if the target does not appear particularly upset? What are the legal implications? How often does the bullying occur? Does it continue after repeated teacher intervention?
Illegality of the bullying behaviour Is the behaviour potentially criminal? Persistent or repeated behaviour patterns Can the school identify, and therefore address, the triggers of bullying behaviour in students such as peer groups, environment isolated areas in the playground , social and emotional skills, or teaching methods?
Sanctions are considered more justified when the bullying persists after repeated counselling. Single or group bullying Some strategies have been designed for working with students whose bullying behaviour is being supported by a group of students. Degree of remorse Is the bully feeling remorseful after the bullying incident? Mediation willingness Are both the bully and target ready to accept help from a mediator?
Target support Are there other students who are willing to support the target? Student age How old are the students involved? Capacity of the targeted student Will the target be able to learn the skills required to resist bullying behaviours?
Training and expertise Do school employees have the required training? Support from the school Is there a consensus amongst the school employees that the methods employed are effective? Parent engagement Is the parent community supportive of the methods employed at the school? This should include talking to the students involved to gather as much background information as possible, and noting schools must conduct investigations in accordance with direction from police if they are conducting a concurrent investigation into allegations of related criminal activity.
See: Changing bullying behaviours. Ensuring all students are offered counselling support and are encouraged to use this service. Engaging additional assistance from the Student Support Services or other Departmental or external supports that are available. These records should be kept in a secure place for future reference.
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