Violence & Bullying in Schools

Group 23

Rachel JohnsonBart Jacobsen

Brittany SchultzKaila Debesse

Trevar WachsmannBill Cowley

Discussion Question:

• What do you consider bullying?

• What type of behaviors are considered bullying?

What is Bullying?

• School bullying can be described as a situation in which one or more students single out a child and engage in behaviors intended to harm the child.

• Bullying is a serious problem and should never be treated as normal youth behavior

• Bullying is widespread and not limited to only certain groups.

Forms of Bullying:

• Direct and indirect

• Threats and intimidation

• Extortion or stealing money

• Exclusion from the peer group

• Physical violence and attacks

• Verbal taunts– Name-calling and put-downs

Characteristics of a Bully:

• Confident, aggressive, and lack empathy for the victim

• Comes from homes where there is poor supervision and tolerance for aggressive behaviors

Characteristics of Victims:

• Quiet, passive children with few friends

• Do not respond effectively to aggressive actions

• Ashamed and often DON’T tell an adult

What Causes Bullying?

• Family Factors– Lack of attention and warmth at home– Poor supervision– Use of aggression from parent to child

• Individual Factors– Personality styles and behaviors– A boy’s physical strengths

• School Factors– Social context and supervision

Violence andBullying Statistics

Bullying is one form of violence that seems to have increased in recent years, although it is not clear if the increase reflects more incidents of bullying at school or perhaps greater awareness of bullying as a problem.

Violence andBullying Statistics

• Bullying affects nearly one out of every three U.S. children in grades 6-10.

• 55% of 8- to 11-year-olds and 68% of 12- to 15-year olds say that bullying is a major problem.

• As many as one-fourth of elementary and middle school teachers don't understand the seriousness of bullying or putdowns and, therefore, intervene in only 4 percent of bullying incidents.

• While approaches that simply crack down on individual bullies are seldom effective, when there is a school-wide commitment to end bullying, it can be reduced by up to 50%.

Violence andBullying Statistics

Contrary to public perception, violent crime in schools has declined dramatically since 1994. The annual rate of serious violent crime in 2003 (6 per 1,000 students) was less than half of the rate in 1994.

Rate Per 1,000 Students Ages 12-18

Violence andBullying Statistics

• Six out of ten kids identified as bullies in middle school are convicted of a crime by the time they reach the age of 24.

• In 2004, students ages 12 to 18 were victims of 107,400 serious violent crimes at school.

• In the 2004-2005 school year, there were a total of 48 student, staff, and non-student school-associated violent deaths.

• In 2005, 28% of all school-age children reported being bullied at school, an increase over the 7% that was reported in 2003.

• Between 1998 and 2003, on average, teachers were the victims of approximately 183,000 total nonfatal crimes at school, including 118,800 thefts and 64,600 violent crimes (rape, sexual assault, robbery, aggravated & simple assault) each year.

Bullying Leads to Violence

• Childhood bullies and their victims are more likely to engage in more serious violent behavior.

• Victims are more likely to suffer from depression and low self esteem as adults

• Bullies more likely to engage in criminal behavior later in life

NICHD Results:Violence in Schools

• Boys who had bullied– 52.2% had carried a weapon– 43.1% had carried a weapon in school– 38.7% involved in frequent fighting

• Boys who had been bullied– 36.4% had carried a weapon– 28.7% had carried a weapon in school– 22.6% involved in frequent fighting

Examples of Bullying Leading to Violence:

• Columbine Massacre– Littleton, Colorado

• Two high-school seniors– Dylan Kelbold and Eric Harris

• Warning signs– Found it difficult to fit into any cliques– Frequently picked on

• Violence targeted toward students who had picked on them

Violence at Home

• Children exposed to violence in the home engaged in in higher levels of physical bullying compared to children who didn’t witness violence in the home

– Parents are powerful role models– Children mimic the parent’s

behavior

Parental Influence

• Parents play a role in:– Bullying Behavior

• Violent Behavior• Harsh Discipline

– Victimization• Overprotectiveness

Parental Influence

• If your child is the bully:– Talk to your child, teachers, and

administrators about the problem– Make it clear that you will not tolerate this kind

of behavior– Increase supervision– Praise the non-violent and responsible

behavior of the child

Parental Influence

• If your child is the victim:– Recognize the signs of harassment– Help schools and teachers become more

aware of the problem– Talk to your children about how to protect

themselves– “Don’t Ignore the Problem!”

Parental Influence

• According to a recent study, “…most teenagers rate ‘not having enough time together’ with parents as their top concern.” (Schwebel 7)

• Parents should show their acceptance of their children

• Parents should make sure that their children know that they love them regardless of their behavior

What Can Teachers Do?

• Develop a safe and supportive school climate

• Awareness and involvement with regard to bully-victims

• Better supervision during recess and lunch

• Immediate consequence for the bully

Teachers continued…

• Verbal praise for students with helpful behavior

• Specific class rules that do not tolerate bullying

• Serious talks with parents of bullies and victims

Dealing With a Bullying Incident

• Step in immediately • Talk to the bully and victim separately • Tell administration as well as other staff

members to alert the problem and get a wider reading on the root of the problem

• Expect denial from the bully• Reassure the victim that the bully will be

punished

Teacher Strategies to Stop Bullying

• Develop a Class Code of Conduct• Teaching of non-violent, non-racist, and non-sexist

ideas, values and behaviors• Teaching social skills including communication,

making friends, and accepting feedback from others and problem-solving

• Positive, respectful, and supportive behavior by the teacher.

• Implement programs such as SAVEStudents Against Violence Everywhere

Cyber Bullying

• Cyber bullying is done through the use of internet, cell phones and other forms of digital technology.– Text messaging during class time

• Online bullies are able to be completely anonymous.– Fear of the unknown cyber-bully among

classmates distracts students from schoolwork

• One problem is that parents and kids relate to technology differently. – Parents see it as practical tools while kids

see it as a lifeline to their peers.

Types of Cyber Bullying

• Cyber bullying can be found in text messages, e-mail, websites, chat rooms, and blogs.

• It can include– Threatening remarks– Sexual remarks– General hate messages– Disclosing victims’ personal information– Assuming the identity of a victim– Posting victims’ photos or edited

photos with defaming captions

Statistics of Cyber Bullying

• 57% of students said that someone had said hurtful or angry things to them online with 13% saying it happens "quite often"

• 53% of students admit saying mean or hurtful things to someone online and 7% admit to doing it "quite often"

• 58% have not told their parents or another adult about their experiences online

• Girls inflict virtual abuse more than boys through instant messaging, online conversations, and e-mails.

• Boys are more likely to make online threats and build websites targeting others.

Media Violence and Bullying

• Some believe that violence in school stems from what students are watching, listening to, and playing at home.

• One study poses the question:– Are young adolescents more

hostile and aggressive because they expose themselves to media violence, or do previously hostile adolescents prefer violent media?

Violent Games Research

• 89% of video games contain some violent content.

• Students who play more violent video games are more likely to have been involved in physical fights, arguments with teachers, and they perform poorly in school.

• Poor parent-child communication was associated with higher levels of aggression in children and adolescents.

• Findings show that the relationship between game violence and aggression is complex, moderated by several factors, such as family communication and social intelligence.

Intervention Study

• In a recent intervention study, 3rd- and 4th-grade students received classroom instruction designed to reduce media consumption.

• The intervention focused on limiting the amount of TV, video game, and video use at home, but did not focus specifically on changing habits regarding violent media.

• After 6 months of instruction, students who had received the intervention displayed lowered peer ratings of aggression and lower observed verbal aggression.

Video and Discussion

• Bullies at McKinney High School Video

• Did any of your schools have a big bullying problem and what happened?

Friday Night Lights

• “A worksheet was due that deciphering the meaning of some lines from Macbeth, and was handed a copy of the homework by someone else so he could copy down the answers.” Pg.135

• “If all he has been was a hell-raiser, Charlie Billingsley might have been in some trouble. But he also had the numbers, the kind of numbers that everyone in Odessa understood and admired…” Pg.80

More Quotes

• “No longer will a member be the personal Geisha girl of a player…But the Pepettes still spent time baking players cookies and making them signs.” Pg. 137

• “Instead of getting a bag of cookies, he got a six-pack of beer.” Pg. 45