tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/bullying-in-schools-11262/articlesBullying in schools – The Conversation2024-01-19T13:03:14Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2207992024-01-19T13:03:14Z2024-01-19T13:03:14ZEmotional problems in young people were rising rapidly even before the pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569863/original/file-20240117-27-ejuhzp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C0%2C6000%2C3943&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Adolescence is an age when people are particularly vulnerable to mental health problems.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/depression-anxiety-concept-woman-fetal-position-773688718">Thomas Andre Fure/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It wasn’t just the virus that spread during the pandemic – anxiety, depression and other mental health concerns saw a worrying rise as well. But <a href="https://acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jcpp.13924">new research</a> from my colleagues and I confirms there had already been a substantial increase in emotional problems among young people even before COVID-19. </p>
<p>Adolescence is an age when people are particularly <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(19)31013-X/fulltext">vulnerable</a> to mental health problems, which may then continue <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-023-02202-z">into adulthood</a>. Studies have highlighted concerning trends showing a <a href="https://www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(21)00646-7/fulltext">steep rise</a> in mental health issues in recent decades. </p>
<p>However, the reasons most frequently given for this rise, such as changes in family life, school factors and social media, do not fully explain all <a href="https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-981-10-0753-8_9-1">the issues</a>. </p>
<p>We wanted to know if rates of emotional problems had increased in young people in Wales between 2013 and 2019 – and if any trends varied between groups of young people, such as boys and girls or richer or poorer families. We also wanted to determine whether changes in friendship quality and the prevalence of bullying over time mirrored any increase in adolescent emotional problems, and whether these factors could explain a part of this rise.</p>
<p>Good quality friendships are associated with <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0153715">better</a> self-esteem and mental health, whereas bullying is linked with <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30475016/">poorer</a> mental health.</p>
<p>We used data from secondary school children which is collected every two years via the <a href="https://www.shrn.org.uk/">School Health Research Network</a>. This is used to increase our understanding of risk factors for health, and to help schools and other organisations improve the lives of young people in Wales. </p>
<p>Students answered questions about emotional problems, including how often they felt low, irritable, nervous and had sleep difficulties. They also answered questions about friendship quality and bullying, both in person and online. In total, we looked at data from more than 200,000 students aged between 11 and 16 from three surveys of Welsh secondary schools in 2013, 2017 and 2019. </p>
<h2>Rise in emotional problems</h2>
<p>We found a substantial increase in emotional problems among young people in Wales between 2013 and 2019. The proportion of young people with high numbers of emotional problems rose from 23% to 38%. Our findings are in line with <a href="https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/mental-health-of-children-and-young-people-in-england/2017/2017">increasing rates</a> of emotional disorders, <a href="https://www.health.org.uk/publications/reports/improving-children-and-young-peoples-mental-health-services">referrals</a> to child and adolescent mental health services, and youth <a href="https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-021-03235-w">self-harm and suicide</a> during this period. </p>
<p>Our study highlights that existing mental health inequalities were getting worse even before 2020. This is a particularly concerning trend as it predates COVID, which is known to have <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9373888/">exacerbated</a> mental health problems. Girls and those from poorer families experienced steeper increases in emotional problems. </p>
<p>The reasons for this finding are complex. While our study doesn’t examine potential reasons, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/wps.21160#:%7E:text=These%20structural%20conditions%20include%20factors,to%20access%20acceptable%20and%20affordable">other research</a> suggests that being richer allows families to access better housing, adequate food, better healthcare and less stressors more generally. </p>
<p>There are several <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0366(16)30348-0/fulltext">possible reasons</a> for worse mental health among girls, including sex hormones, lower self-esteem, more interpersonal stressors, gender-based violence and – on a societal level – a lack of gender equality and discrimination. But not enough research has been conducted in this field.</p>
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<img alt="A girl in the foreground looks at her phone while a group of girls behind her laugh." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/569867/original/file-20240117-29-bx3ipk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Girls and those from poorer families experienced steeper increases in emotional problems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/pre-teen-girl-being-bullied-by-636363332">Daisy Daisy/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The proportion of students experiencing bullying increased slightly between 2013 and 2019, and friendship quality decreased slightly. However, while we found a strong association between the quality of adolescent social relationships and emotional problems, social relationships such as friendship quality and bullying did not appear to explain these population-level increases in mental health problems. </p>
<h2>Mental health support</h2>
<p>Our findings highlight a growing need for mental health support for young people to address the steep increase in their emotional problems over the past decade, particularly among poorer families. Currently, <a href="https://endchildpoverty.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Local-child-poverty-indicators-report-2022_FINAL.pdf">one in three</a> Welsh children live below the poverty line. We need to pay particular attention to supporting these young people, and others <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00787-019-01305-9">across the UK</a>, who are at greater risk of emotional problems.</p>
<p>While social relationship measures didn’t follow the same steep trend as emotional symptoms, improving the quality of young people’s social relationships and reducing bullying are still important priorities. There is currently a move towards a <a href="https://www.gov.wales/framework-embedding-whole-school-approach-emotional-and-mental-wellbeing">whole school approach</a> in Wales, which involves providing a supportive context for healthy relationships in schools more generally. </p>
<p>The growing needs of young people with mental health issues are adding to our already <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8353214/">significantly strained</a> child and adolescent mental health services. Much more investment needs to be made to support our young and most vulnerable people. </p>
<p>Policy-makers, schools and practitioners should pay particular attention to this steep rise in emotional problems, particularly among girls and young people from less-affluent families.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220799/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca E Anthony receives funding from the Wolfson Foundation</span></em></p>New research looking at data from 200,000 children in Wales has found a substantial increase in mental health issues.Rebecca E Anthony, Research Associate at the Centre for Development, Evaluation, Complexity and Implementation in Public Health Improvement and Wolfson Centre for Young People's Mental Health, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1807332022-05-02T18:54:28Z2022-05-02T18:54:28ZDisruptive kindergartners are likely to be bullied later in elementary school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460414/original/file-20220428-24-xxymvo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5100%2C3825&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Misbehavior increases the risk of being bullied.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/children-at-school-royalty-free-image/83606485">Rubberball/Nicole Hill/Brand X Pictures via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Kindergartners who act out, disrupt classrooms, get angry and argue with their teachers are especially <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-022-09520-7">likely to be bullied</a> once they reach third, fourth and fifth grade, our research group has found. </p>
<p>We continue to investigate bullying in U.S. elementary schools, but our initial findings indicate that the odds that disruptive kindergartners will be shoved, pushed or hit, teased or called names, left out, and have lies told about them are roughly twice as high as for kindergartners who do not act out in classrooms. We observed this in analyses accounting for many other risk factors.</p>
<p>Our findings are consistent with, but also extend, prior research documenting that children who are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0044118X20932594">from poor families</a> or who are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2017.05.007">struggling academically</a> are more likely to be bullied than their peers who are from <a href="https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2014.301960">wealthier families</a> or who are more academically skilled. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2020.10.011">As with older children</a>, we find that young boys are more likely to be shoved, pushed or hit, while young girls are more likely to be teased or called names, left out, and told lies about. Children with disabilities, particularly boys, are more likely to be frequently bullied. Black boys more frequently experienced other children telling lies about them than white boys, consistent with prior work finding that Black children are at greater <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9843-y">risk of being bullied in adolescence</a>.</p>
<p>We believe our study represents the first analysis of a nationally representative sample that identifies which kindergartners are most likely to be bullied later in U.S. elementary schools. We hope the information helps parents and school staff identify and support young children who are especially likely to be bullied.</p>
<h2>The harms of bullying</h2>
<p>Schoolchildren who are frequently bullied are likely to later be <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/bul0000171">depressed</a>, anxious and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291716000362">suicidal</a> as well as to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/obes.12432">unemployed</a>, impoverished and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2016-3426">abusing substances</a>. These risks are as large as those associated with being placed in foster care or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.0000000000000137">experiencing maltreatment</a>. </p>
<p>Early identification can help support those children who are being bullied and so limit the potential damage. Screening and prevention efforts are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2014.11.005">more effective</a> when delivered while children are still young. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-0504">Mental health supports</a> may be needed for those being frequently bullied.</p>
<p>And looking at specific types of bullying may help schools and parents more directly serve the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12621">different psychological needs</a> of children experiencing physical or nonphysical bullying.</p>
<p>The results suggest that <a href="https://www.childtrends.org/publications/what-works-for-reducing-problem-behaviors-in-early-childhood">the more schools can do</a> to help kindergartners learn to manage their disruptive behaviors, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2019-2654">less likely</a> these children are to be bullied later on in elementary school.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul L. Morgan has received funding from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences. </span></em></p>Children who are bullied in school are at higher risk for depression and anxiety later in life.Paul L. Morgan, Eberly Fellow, Professor of Education and Demography, and Director of the Center for Educational Disparities Research, Penn StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1665072021-08-23T05:22:57Z2021-08-23T05:22:57ZSchool students who had COVID-19 report stigma and bullying. How can we stop it?<p>Queensland school students have <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-20/qld-covid-bullying-ironside-state-school-student-outbreak/100375132">reportedly been bullied</a> after being diagnosed with COVID-19 and have struggled to return to school as a result. The Queensland Department of Education stated it hasn’t heard of any bullying related to the COVID-19 outbreak. Given the nature of bullying, this isn’t necessarily surprising.</p>
<p>Stigma related to being diagnosed with COVID-19 has the potential for school students to be devalued, rejected and excluded. This is synonymous with bullying and may reflect students looking for someone to blame for the impacts of COVID-19 on their lives. </p>
<p>Bullying is often misunderstood. It’s a specific type of aggression that occurs repeatedly, is harmful and involves an imbalance of power. This behaviour could include verbal, physical and indirect or social bullying (which arguably includes cyber-bullying). It’s often unclear who should take on the responsibility of acting on bullying. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-fears-can-trigger-anti-chinese-prejudice-heres-how-schools-can-help-130945">Coronavirus fears can trigger anti-Chinese prejudice. Here's how schools can help</a>
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<p>All types of bullying, especially indirect and social bullying, are often hidden. As a result, bullying can be very difficult to identify and address – even more so in the case of online behaviour and cyber-bullying. This lack of visibility probably explains why the Queensland Department of Education hasn’t heard reports of bullying. </p>
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<h2>How is the pandemic a factor?</h2>
<p>Being empowered is not something we generally think about with school students. Youth are typically at the whims of other people’s power. The ongoing uncertainty, restrictions and lockdowns due to COVID-19 seem likely to reinforce this lack of power and control. </p>
<p>Coping with stress and school or study-related problems were already the <a href="https://www.missionaustralia.com.au/publications/youth-survey/706-five-year-mental-health-youth-report/file">most common concerns</a> reported by Australian adolescents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, young people have experienced increased stress. They may be <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7409951/">especially vulnerable</a> to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression during lockdowns. </p>
<p>These impacts might lead to some students seeking to exert power and control by bullying other students in relation to being diagnosed with COVID-19. This could be one problematic way students attempt to cope with their situation. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-you-want-to-cut-bullying-in-schools-look-at-the-invisible-violence-in-our-society-123093">If you want to cut bullying in schools, look at the 'invisible violence' in our society</a>
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<p>However, this may or may not be the case. Bullying is a complex behaviour. We simply don’t know enough about the COVID-positive students being bullied and there may be a broader context to these reports. </p>
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<p>For example, there may be a history of bullying that parents, teachers and schools are unaware of. This is especially the case with indirect, social and cyber-bullying. </p>
<h2>Bullying can cause lasting harm</h2>
<p>The impacts of bullying are relatively clear. Bullying and emotional abuse are a <a href="https://www.missionaustralia.com.au/publications/youth-survey/706-five-year-mental-health-youth-report/file">significant concern</a> for young people. It’s a common experience, which can have long-term negative impacts on mental health and overall wellbeing. </p>
<p>Bullying can result in feelings of rejection, exclusion, isolation and low self-esteem. Bullying <a href="https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020/11/the-mental-health-of-children-and-adolescents_0.pdf">appears to be linked</a> to serious mental health issues like depression. </p>
<p>However, it’s less clear how to intervene successfully when bullying occurs. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/got-no-friends-sit-on-the-buddy-bench-untested-anti-bullying-programs-may-be-missing-the-mark-156391">'Got no friends? Sit on the buddy bench.' Untested anti-bullying programs may be missing the mark</a>
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<h2>Why is it so hard to overcome?</h2>
<p>Anti-bullying approaches are the main way schools deal with bullying. While these approaches claim strong support, the actual evidence for them varies considerably. </p>
<p>Some anti-bullying interventions which focus on universal, whole-school approaches <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0165025411407457">reduce bullying</a>. However, other approaches often achieve no reduction. Even more concerning, some result in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22028">increases in bullying</a>. </p>
<p>Bullying behaviour is often presented as a simplistic relationship between “victim” and “bully”. This is problematic, as bullying is a complex cyclical relationship. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teenagers-who-are-both-bully-and-victim-are-more-likely-to-have-suicidal-thoughts-76306">Teenagers who are both bully and victim are more likely to have suicidal thoughts</a>
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<p>Behaviours exist when they’re useful. Given that bullying occurs across human cultures, it’s interesting to consider whether and how bullying benefits some people. If it does, simply saying we don’t accept bullying may not be an effective solution. </p>
<p>Another way of thinking about bullying is that it’s a way of describing power imbalances in relationships. Providing school students, parents and teachers with an understanding of this might be a valuable way forward.</p>
<h2>So, what should schools and parents do?</h2>
<p>This is a difficult question to answer. It often falls to teachers and schools to act on bullying that occurs both within and outside school. </p>
<p>Schools are certainly part of the solution, as they’re an important part of all students’ social world. But it should be emphasised that schools are only a <em>part</em> of the solution to bullying. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-every-schools-anti-bullying-program-works-some-may-actually-make-bullying-worse-116163">Not every school's anti-bullying program works – some may actually make bullying worse</a>
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<p>Schools can contribute to breaking down COVID-related stigma, but we need to be conscious that schools and teachers are not medical professionals and that the stigma reflects broader community concerns. A systemic approach involving schools, medical professionals and students’ families is more likely to have a positive effect. </p>
<p>Schools use a range of strategies to support students being bullied. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li>using a consistent whole-of-school approach</li>
<li>providing education about bullying</li>
<li>focusing on prosocial behaviour such as co-operating with others to achieve common goals </li>
<li>providing access to mental health support where appropriate. </li>
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<p>Where students have experienced bullying after contracting COVID-19, schools might supplement these approaches by reinforcing health advice that medical professionals have provided. This is a teachable moment, but teachers aren’t health experts, and medical professionals aren’t education experts. Reinforcing official health advice will have more face value and be more difficult to dismiss.</p>
<p>Parents and caregivers should talk with their children about bullying and normalise their feelings and concerns about COVID-19. As with schools, there is a need to reinforce the health advice from medical professionals. Look after your child’s basic mental health – like sleep, diet and physical activity – and seek help if you need to. </p>
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<p><em>If this article has raised issues for you, or if you’re concerned about someone you know, call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166507/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The impacts of the pandemic on students and the stigma of having had COVID-19 could be leading to bullying. It’s a complex situation, requiring schools, parents and medical experts to work together.Brian Moore, Lecturer, School of Education, Charles Sturt UniversityStuart Woodcock, Associate Professor, School of Education and Professional Studies, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/635592016-08-10T15:47:20Z2016-08-10T15:47:20ZTaunts and bullying drive children with albinism from Tanzanian schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/133651/original/image-20160810-18023-1mgdhau.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children with albinism are often teased and bullied by their peers.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Any label that’s used to describe a person’s skin colour carries some connotation. It may point to discrimination, stereotyping and perceptions of beauty, even between those of the same race. This is especially true for people with albinism. Their skin colour leads to negative social constructions among Africans, including beliefs that they are evil <a href="http://www.sajbl.org.za/index.php/sajbl/article/view/236/287">cannibals or are cursed</a>. </p>
<p>In Tanzania, witch doctors (<em>waganga wa kienyeji</em>) <a href="http://www.repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/18645">believe</a> that people with albinism are immortal and that their genitals bring wealth. This drives people with albinism into hiding as they fear being murdered so their body parts can be used in rituals.</p>
<p>But Tanzanians with albinism don’t just face the threat of physical violence. They also suffer everyday discrimination. This begins, in many cases, at school. There is no hard data available about how many children with albinism are enrolled in the country’s schools. Overall, Tanzania has a very <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16916463">high rate</a> of people living with the condition.</p>
<p>Early evidence from my ongoing study of the issue – building on my own <a href="https://theconversation.com/tanzania-is-still-failing-to-protect-its-children-who-live-with-albinism-53888">previous research</a> – suggests that such discrimination makes students with albinism <a href="http://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CRC/Shared%20Documents/TZA/INT_CRC_NGO_TZA_18032_E.pdf">particularly vulnerable</a> to dropping out of school. This squares with what previous research into the problem <a href="http://www.ijern.com/journal/2015/June-2015/32.pdf">has shown</a>.</p>
<h2>The law versus the reality</h2>
<p>In theory, people with albinism are protected by Tanzania’s laws. The <a href="http://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/tz/tz008en.pdf">constitution’s equality clause</a> stipulates that all human beings are born free and equal, and all are entitled to recognition and respect for their dignity. </p>
<p>So when they are unfairly discriminated against on the basis of their condition, people with albinism should be able to rely on the constitution. Sadly though, these paper rights don’t translate into daily life. Research by medical anthropologist Giorgio Brocco has shown that many Tanzanians simply <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2015.1075869">don’t understand</a> albinism. They know very little about what causes the condition and display their ignorance by mocking people with albinism. </p>
<p>This sort of mockery is sadly common in schools. Children with albinism are teased and physically bullied by classmates who don’t understand their condition.</p>
<h2>Name-calling causes real damage</h2>
<p>The presence of difference seems to give some children the “green light” to tease others. Fear, ignorance and a lack of education about albinism drive this teasing.</p>
<p>Name-calling may be interpreted as a means by which to oppress people with albinism. Certain words function to describe someone in a derogatory way, which in turn oppresses and hurts the individual in question. </p>
<p>It has also <a href="http://disability-studies.leeds.ac.uk/files/library/padmore-mrp2.pdf">been argued</a> that name-calling has the effect of excluding people. Students with albinism feel they can’t participate fully or confidently in class. When they ask questions or venture an opinion, they are called names such as “whitey”, “four eyes” (albinism is often associated with <a href="http://www.visionaware.org/info/your-eye-condition/guide-to-eye-conditions/albinism-6165/125">poor vision</a>) and “<em>mzungu</em>” (“white person”) by fellow students, so they simply withdraw. </p>
<p>Research <a href="http://www.ijern.com/journal/2015/June-2015/32.pdf">has shown</a> that teachers and school managers in Tanzania don’t know much about the specific educational needs of children with albinism. The resulting lack of support and care, the evidence <a href="http://www.ijern.com/journal/2015/June-2015/32.pdf">suggests</a>, drives up rates of truancy among these children – and can even lead to them dropping out before they finish school.</p>
<h2>Support needed</h2>
<p>All children – especially those with special learning needs – require support if they are to learn effectively and remain in school. For children with albinism this support must come from policymakers, teachers, their peers, parents and health specialists.</p>
<p>Schools need to take the lead to tackle bullying in the classroom. They are in the ideal position to teach children about the harm that’s done by discrimination. Lessons can also be arranged specifically to teach pupils about albinism – its causes, the myths that surround it and why these really are just myths. Children themselves could take part in these lessons by doing research or talking to their classmates who have albinism so they can begin to develop understanding and empathy.</p>
<p>Parents must also get involved. They can model behaviours for their children that teach them how to deal with negative comments. They can develop positive ways for their children to respond to teasing and name-calling in the future. They can also put pressure on schools to put in place proper anti-bullying policies.</p>
<p>Given that children with albinism are very vulnerable to dropping out of school early, such support is crucial. These children deserve an education as much as their peers. There should be no barriers to them achieving this.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/63559/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Ngalomba does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Children with albinism are teased and physically bullied by classmates who don’t understand their condition. They withdraw from learning – and many ultimately leave school early.Simon Ngalomba, Lecturer in Educational Management, University of Dar es SalaamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/556392016-03-03T00:53:37Z2016-03-03T00:53:37ZBullying linked to gender and sexuality often goes unchecked in schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113505/original/image-20160302-25897-nc9sx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">About 80% of homophobic and transphobic incidents that young people experience take place in schools.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Over the past few weeks, proselytising and campaigning about the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/the-responsible-thing-malcolm-turnbull-defends-safe-schools-review-20160301-gn7c65.html">role of the Safe Schools Coalition</a> has reached fever pitch. </p>
<p>While the program faces continuing malicious <a href="https://theconversation.com/safe-schools-coalition-what-is-the-christian-right-afraid-of-55296">attacks from the right</a>, many Australians have been thrust into a discussion that invokes the idea of “the gay agenda”, sexuality recruitment and indoctrination about sexuality and gender. </p>
<p>While social and psychological research wholeheartedly dismisses these claims, the voices that propagate them continue on without recognition of <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-safe-schools-coalition-55018">the broader aims</a> and outcomes that the program legitimately addresses.</p>
<p>The Safe Schools Coalition doesn’t only supports students who are diverse in gender identity or sexuality. It supports everyone within the school environment, including teachers, principals and straight/cisgender students. Specifically, the program provides schools with crucial resources that disrupt violence and aggression based on gender and sexuality in schools.</p>
<p>Bullying that relates to gender or sexuality is the most common form of violence that students encounter in schools. </p>
<p>While figures from Australia are unavailable, <a href="http://epx.sagepub.com/content/23/4/519.abstract">research from the US</a> indicates that 80% of students will experience some kind of gender-based bullying during their primary and high school studies, regardless of their sexuality or gender identity. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113506/original/image-20160302-25872-zy4tfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113506/original/image-20160302-25872-zy4tfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113506/original/image-20160302-25872-zy4tfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113506/original/image-20160302-25872-zy4tfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113506/original/image-20160302-25872-zy4tfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113506/original/image-20160302-25872-zy4tfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/113506/original/image-20160302-25872-zy4tfo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Violent behaviour relating to gender or sexuality is most likely to occur in schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This type of bullying includes any kind of threatening or harassing behaviours that are based on gender role expectations. As such, it encompasses sexual harassment, coercion and assault; insults, intimidation and assaults based on perceived or actual sexual orientation; and verbal or physical harassment.</p>
<p>Violence of this kind can manifest in school environments when gender roles are clearly defined by language and culture. Students (and in some cases teachers) subsequently discriminate against those who may deviate from these expectations. </p>
<p>Some common examples of this include girls who are called “sluts” if they wear particular clothes or makeup, or boys who are called “faggots” if they are not into sports or refuse to look at pornography. </p>
<p>Similarly, transphobic bullying can happen when students do not fit neatly into binary gender understandings. </p>
<p>These environments are particularly hostile for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning (LGBTQ) students. They are likely to hear <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10538720802161680#.VtZgtJN95Bw">eight homophobic insults a day</a>, with one-third of these either perpetrated or condoned by school staff.</p>
<p>Some 80% of homophobic and transphobic incidents that LGBTQ young people experience <a href="http://bzaf.org.au/homophobic-bullying/">take place in schools</a>.</p>
<p>Importantly, an <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/files/attachments/31038/meyer2008gendered-harassment.pdf">emerging body of research</a> has demonstrated that teachers are <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/09654289910256914">often not equipped</a> to respond to moments of gender-based violence. </p>
<p>While aggression related to race and ethnicity is often responded to firmly and with confidence, school staff often ignore instances where aggressors <a href="http://opac.library.usyd.edu.au:80/record=b4498324%7ES4">target a student’s gender</a>. </p>
<p>Research has shown that teachers often fail to intervene in these instances because they see them as inevitable or not serious. This is additionally problematic as students often frame gender or sexuality-based aggression <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0954025022000010749">as joking</a> or not serious (like other forms of bullying are). </p>
<p>They may also suggest that the victim <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ab.10045/abstract">deserved the violence</a>. Each of these attitudes fosters a culture of non-reporting, further facilitating <a href="http://gas.sagepub.com/content/early/2014/02/28/0891243214526468.abstract">aggression of this kind</a>.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://opac.library.usyd.edu.au:80/record=b4498324%7ES4">my research</a>, teachers suggested that the students who were at risk of gender-based or homophobic bullying had exceptional strengths that protected them from emotional or psychological damage from such incidents. </p>
<p>Teachers often failed to recognise that homophobic language, or epithets like “slut” and “poof”, could be harmful to students. When moments of homophobia or gendered aggression occurred, they often dismissed it as not serious or as an inevitable product of adolescent relationships.</p>
<p>Each of these positions is equally concerning as they allow bullying that relates to gender and sexuality to go unchecked in school environments, communicating to students that these actions have no institutional consequences.</p>
<p>Programs such as the Safe Schools Coalition confront these attitudes by providing teachers with resources to purposefully recognise and disrupt bullying that relates to gender and sexuality. They also provide support for students who may be experiencing this aggression regardless of whether they are same-sex attracted or gender diverse.</p>
<p>Some commentators have suggested that the removal of the Safe Schools program constitutes <a href="http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-opinion/the-vitriol-against-the-safe-schools-program-reflects-statesanctioned-homophobia-20160225-gn4794.html">state-sanctioned homophobia</a>. This notion recognises that by removing the limited support structures for addressing violence related to gender and sexuality, institutions become complicit in its (re)production.</p>
<p>Homophobia and transphobia are not issues only for LGBTQ students. These aggressions affect whole school populations by preventing students from behaving in particular ways in case they are “called out” as gay or lesbian, or told that their masculinity or femininity isn’t “correct”.</p>
<p>Programs that address aggression based on gender norms and associated sexualities enable a more positive learning and social environment, with greater behavioural flexibility for all students.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Victoria will be on hand for an Author Q&A between 3:30 and 4pm AEDT on Thursday, March 4, 2016. Post your questions in the comments section below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55639/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Victoria Rawlings does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>About 80% of students experience some kind of gender-based bullying in their primary and high school years. But research shows that teachers often fail to intervene or are not equipped to deal with it.Victoria Rawlings, Lecturer in education, pedagogy and sexuality, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/449172015-08-02T20:08:19Z2015-08-02T20:08:19ZIs your child less likely to be bullied in a private school?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90254/original/image-20150730-22674-1plardw.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Is the data correct that there are fewer bullies in elite schools, or is something else at play? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/foxschumacher/16793504311/">FoxSchumacher/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The most recent Household, Income and Labour Dynamics Australia (<a href="https://www.melbourneinstitute.com/hilda/">HILDA</a>) survey data revealed that twice as many parents of public school students reported their children had been bullied compared to private school parents. </p>
<p>Is it really the case that more bullying occurs in public schools? And should this affect a parent’s choice of school for their child?</p>
<h2>Do these results reflect what’s happening?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.melbourneinstitute.com/downloads/hilda/Stat_Report/statreport_2015.pdf">HILDA</a> tracked a sample of 13,000 households in New South Wales between 2001 and 2012. The data on schools comes from 2012 when participants were asked a range of educational questions. </p>
<p>Households with school-aged children were asked whether or not their child was bullied at school. A higher proportion of parents of children in state schools reported their child was bullied compared with private schools. The differences were greatest for high schools, with 22% of parents at state schools reporting their child was bullied, compared to 15% in Catholic and 11% in other private schools. </p>
<p>So is this information likely to be accurate? There is no reason to suggest the sample is not representative of the NSW population. However, given the question about bullying is based on one question only (with no definition of bullying apparent in the report), it would be useful to draw comparisons with other research. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90257/original/image-20150730-22660-1ocjkkm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Do bullies discriminate by sector?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/yum9me/891746029/">Yum9me/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>There is actually very little research comparing bullying rates at private versus state schools. This is probably because schools are unlikely to agree to take part in research that makes direct comparisons between schools on such a sensitive topic. </p>
<p>There is, however, a similar population sample survey conducted by the US government. In this <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2005310">study</a>, parents whose children attended state schools (29%) also reported higher rates of bullying than parents whose children attended private schools (22%). So does this mean an individual child is less likely to be bullied at a private school? </p>
<p>Parents want the best for their child and are attracted to schools that report good data for students on academic, behavioural and social outcomes. But whether your child will have the same experience as children who have gone before depends on whether the results reported are the result of what happens at the school or whether they are inherent to the sample of children who attend the school.</p>
<h2>Misinterpretation of statistics</h2>
<p>A team of New Zealand researchers conducted some <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10734-008-9114-8#page-1">interesting research</a> on individual and school factors affecting students’ academic success at school and later success in tertiary education.</p>
<p>They found the success of a school can be judged by educational programs but not by the demographics of who attends the school. Given general school-leaving results reflect both demography and education programs, they are not a valid measure of a school’s educational quality.</p>
<p>Students’ academic achievement is influenced not only by the educational program a school offers but by what the individual student brings to the school in terms of genetic capability, family support and prior learning. </p>
<p>Almost all state schools are required by law to accept all students in their catchment area. Private schools are not bound by this requirement. Private schools attract a selective population of students whose parents can afford the fees and who are conscientious enough to have enrolled their child many years in advance. </p>
<p>Most private schools also have enrolment applications that exceed their quota, so they can screen for academic ability and behaviour. These schools do not end up with a representative sample of students (and neither do the minority of state schools that have merit entry). </p>
<p>It is therefore a fallacy that we can deduce the relative benefit schools can provide for our child by simply comparing outcome data across schools.</p>
<h2>More at-risk minorities in state schools</h2>
<p>There is no research to my knowledge that examines the differences in effectiveness of private or state schools in preventing or addressing bullying. However, we do know that private schools start with different populations of students from state schools. </p>
<p>Not surprisingly, the HILDA report shows that family income and the proportion of parents holding university degrees are highest in non-Catholic private schools and lowest in state schools; state schools also have a higher proportion of single parents.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/90258/original/image-20150730-22667-pb70mz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">There are more at-risk minorities in state schools.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/beckywithasmile/5639109917/">Beckywithasmile/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The greater diversity of students at state and private schools results in state schools educating more students at risk of being bullied. Several demographic factors on which state and private schools differ <a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/spq-0000008.pdf">have been found</a> to be <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22795511">relevant to the risk</a> of a child being bullied. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/features/spq-0000008.pdf">Children with a disability</a> are <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22795511">much more likely</a> to be victims of bullying and violence at school than other students, as are children enrolled in <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2008-17775-001">special education classes</a>. </p>
<p>Parents’ educational level <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10826-013-9820-4">has been found</a> to discriminate bullied from non-bullied children. Children whose father is absent (likely to be more often the case in single-parent families) are also at <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2008-17775-001">greater risk of victimisation</a>.</p>
<p>This suggests that the differences in victimisation between private and state schools may not be due to a higher level of victimisation across all state school students; rather they may reflect a higher proportion of a minority of children who are frequently victimised.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.pc.gov.au/research/recurring/report-on-government-services">2015 Productivity Commission report</a> also provides evidence that a much higher proportion of at-risk students attend state rather than private schools. </p>
<p>In 2013, 84% of Indigenous students and 76% of students with a disability attended state schools. Nationally in 2013, the proportion of students with a disability was significantly higher in state schools (6.2%) than in private schools (3.6%).</p>
<p>Around <a href="http://www.eventoffice.com.au/ssl/downloads/NCAB_Program.pdf">10% of children in Australia</a> are bullied on a daily basis. For these frequently bullied children, victimisation tends to be chronic over time. It can <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J008v19n02_03#.VbmTx0KqpBc">continue even when children change schools</a>, which includes crossing from primary to middle or secondary school contexts. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005789414000847">In a study at the Parenting and Family Support Centre</a>, where making a fresh start at a new school was part of an intervention for some of the children, there were at least as many successful transitions for children moving from private to state schools as for children moving from state to private schools. What was more important was the ability of the child to fit in and make friends at the new school.</p>
<h2>So is a child less likely to be bullied at a private school?</h2>
<p>Although more parents from state schools report their child is bullied than do parents from private schools, this could result from the higher proportion of at-risk students who attend state schools. Therefore we cannot conclude that an individual child will be less likely to be bullied if they attend a private school.</p>
<p>There is bullying at all schools. A number of factors impact a child’s risk of being targeted for bullying. These include school management, the child’s social and emotional skills, support from friends and the parenting they receive. </p>
<p>Children’s friendships at school <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9923467">are an important protective factor</a> against bullying. So whether your child already has good friends or is likely to be able to make good friends at a school is an important factor in choosing a school for your child. </p>
<p>Supportive family relationships <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20132419">help protect children</a> against the emotional consequences of bullying at school, so families should take lifestyle factors such as the financial burden of school fees and long travel times into account when choosing a school.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karyn Healy conducts ongoing work with state schools and occasional work in private schools.
She coordinated the trial of Resilience Triple P, an intervention for the families of children bullied at school, which was funded by the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Recent survey data revealed that twice as many parents of public school students reported their children had been bullied compared to private school parents.Karyn Healy, Program Coordinator (Psychologist), Resilience Triple P program Parenting and Family Support Centre, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/442232015-07-20T20:11:16Z2015-07-20T20:11:16ZCutting down the tall poppies: female athletes bullied in Aussie schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87252/original/image-20150703-11345-1qfkrj3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">All female athletes in a study reported bullying as a major challenge despite not being asked about it.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15388220.2013.846223#preview">New research</a> has found talented adolescent female athletes are bullied for their successes by their school peers.</p>
<p>The research also revealed that being bullied at school about their sports achievements left young female athletes with lasting psychological and social problems they carried into adulthood.</p>
<p>In a self-professed sports-mad country, why is this happening?</p>
<h2>Origins of the Australian ‘tall poppy’ culture</h2>
<p>Although the “tall poppy” concept dates back to <a href="http://classics.org.au/classicum/CLASSICVM_TOC_00_07.pdf">classical Greek and Roman cultures</a>, the term has been used in Australia from the 19th century when English freemen and convicts settled the country. </p>
<p>This social mix led to a distinctive social hierarchy with a strong underdog culture accompanied by a resentment of authority. From the mid-1800s to recent times a more egalitarian Australian society has emerged. </p>
<p>Although this has had a positive influence on social mobility, the negative effects of this approach have led to a culture of resentment, or “put down”, of successful individuals. </p>
<p>As a result high achievers are often subjected to negative criticism because their talents or achievements elevate them above or distinguish them from their less successful peers. </p>
<p>The research found in many instances that less successful students carried out the bullying in an attempt to normalise those more successful than themselves. </p>
<p>The Australian media frequently provide examples of these types of behaviours, particularly when reporting the “fall from grace” of popular <a href="http://www.news.com.au/national/white-house-secrets-of-bill-and-hillary-clinton-during-monica-lewinsky-scandal/story-e6frfkp9-1227308083581">politicians</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X55X7CCAzm8">athletes</a>. As a result young Australians are familiar with “tall poppy” behaviours.</p>
<h2>A culture of envy</h2>
<p>The types of bullying behaviours reported in the research included being marginalised, alienated, ostracised, excluded by their peers from social events, teased and called names, and behaviours such as stealing books and bags. As one female athlete explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Certain girls in the groups will talk around me, not use my name, not have eye contact with me and give me the death stare.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Other athletes spoke of being physically pushed around and then resorting to withdrawal tactics to survive life at school. Another female athlete reported:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I ended up just going to the sick room and getting the nurse to ring my mum to pick me up as this was easier than being pushed and shoved in the playground or assembly […] In this way I was not being harmed or constantly having to put up with being called the f***ing bitch as they would deliberately shove me into a wall.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87253/original/image-20150703-11348-zajt2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87253/original/image-20150703-11348-zajt2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87253/original/image-20150703-11348-zajt2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87253/original/image-20150703-11348-zajt2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87253/original/image-20150703-11348-zajt2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87253/original/image-20150703-11348-zajt2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87253/original/image-20150703-11348-zajt2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87253/original/image-20150703-11348-zajt2o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">No male athletes reported bullying.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jealousy was the main issue reported by most of the female athletes in this study. This was often disguised through taunting and name calling and was especially evident when there was a perceived failure in the sporting performances of the athletes in this study. </p>
<p>School peers would often gloat if a tall poppy were perceived to have failed by being placed but not winning at a national or international competition. Names such as “loser,” “f***ing show-off” or “weirdo” were common examples given.</p>
<p>The youngest female in our study (15) felt that the bullying she experienced from other school friends was due to an attitude of “bitchiness”. She noted this nasty or “bitchy” behaviour was not only inflicted on her by her own age school peers but also by younger school students who mimicked the older students’ name calling and taunts. </p>
<p>Interestingly, more bullying reports involved female athletes who attended a state school.</p>
<p>The study examined 19 high-performance former or current secondary school athletes. All 12 female participants reported being bullied but not one of the seven boys mentioned bullying when asked about issues they faced in coping with school life and sports demands. </p>
<p>No-one in the study was asked if they were bullied, but all of the females reported bullying as a major issue, and none of the males mentioned it.</p>
<p>We’re unsure if males are just less likely to report bullying, or if females in particular are more likely to cut down other females who are emerging as tall poppies.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Maureen and Angie will be on hand for an Author Q&A between 3 and 4pm AEST on Tuesday, July 21. Post your questions in the comments section below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44223/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research has found talented adolescent female athletes are bullied for their successes by their school peers.Maureen O'Neill, Researcher, University of the Sunshine CoastAngie Calder, Lecturer in coaching science, University of the Sunshine CoastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/446332015-07-17T13:44:03Z2015-07-17T13:44:03ZHow to reduce prejudice among groups of children at school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88393/original/image-20150714-21701-1rnlgep.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Children often need to be told to be inclusive. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ludo via Umkehrer/www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Racist and anti-immigration views held by children,” warned a recent headline <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/may/19/most-children-think-immigrants-are-stealing-jobs-schools-study-shows">in The Guardian</a>, reporting the results of a <a href="http://www.srtrc.org/news/news-and-events?news=5776">survey</a> of nearly 6,000 British schoolchildren conducted by the charity <a href="http://www.srtrc.org/">Show Racism the Red Card</a>.</p>
<p>It’s clear that prejudices are present among young people, due to a complex range of influences, many beyond their schools’ control. However, new <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.12388/abstract">evidence</a> suggests that schools which work hard to promote an inclusive environment can help curb negative attitudes between groups of children in the classroom.</p>
<p>Much research has focused on how <a href="http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html">self-identity is reliant upon our membership of flourishing social groups</a>. By the age of seven, children are aware of the groups to which they belong, and prefer being a member of an “in-group”, such as fans of a certain football team or members of a different ethnic group. Much of the evidence within this strand of research suggests that, on a day-to-day basis, children do not hold negative attitudes towards children outside of these groups, and are more worried about not being excluded themselves.</p>
<p>Among the most powerful influences on young people’s behaviour are norms: the rules, stated or otherwise, which govern society. Such rules exist within children’s groups: for example, to share or not to share, how to dress, or who can be included in an activity. </p>
<p>Norms within the school context are often explained to children within school charters – a document or statement that outlines how teachers expect pupils to behave in order to create a harmonious learning environment. By attending school, children agree to adhere to this set of generic rules. For example, one clause might be that all children have the right to learn in peace, regardless of their age, gender or ethnicity. Many schools adopt such a method, but little work has tested how efficient it is in beating prejudice. </p>
<h2>Making inclusion the norm</h2>
<p>In a <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.12388/abstract">study we just published</a>, my colleagues and I carried out an experiment with 229 seven to 11-year-olds to explore this further. In this case, the children were asked to imagine that they were going to compete in a drawing competition. Participants were introduced to photographs of children they would never meet and told some were going to be their team mates and the rest the other team. In the past, it’s been shown that this leads to <a href="http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jeff_Kiesner/publication/227747433_Effects_of_Group_Norms_on_Children's_Intentions_to_Bully/links/02bfe50d0624c6e34c000000.pdf">participants suggesting they would verbally bully</a> a member of an opposing team, if members of their own team in the competition asked them to. </p>
<p>We were most interested in what might happen if a pupil’s peer group urged them to exclude those who were in the opposing team in the drawing competition, but the school stepped in and told the children to behave inclusively. </p>
<p>Half of the children heard a message recorded by a teacher instructing them to act in a kind and inclusive manner towards people from other groups and schools, or risk the consequences. Such an intervention is akin to the norms promoted by teachers, in either a formal charter-style, or more informally in the classroom. The children were then given a survey and asked to rate how much they liked, trusted and would like to play with members of both their own, and the other team.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88644/original/image-20150716-5080-qnovkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88644/original/image-20150716-5080-qnovkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88644/original/image-20150716-5080-qnovkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88644/original/image-20150716-5080-qnovkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88644/original/image-20150716-5080-qnovkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88644/original/image-20150716-5080-qnovkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88644/original/image-20150716-5080-qnovkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Kids can be cruel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Boy being builied via Monkey Business Images/www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When children were told by a teacher to be more inclusive, it had a positive effect on their attitudes towards their competitors. These children scored higher in the survey – meaning they were more likely to trust and like the opposite team – compared with participants who didn’t hear a message from the teacher. This was still the case even when the child’s team mates had asked them to exclude their competitors. </p>
<h2>Peer groups matter too</h2>
<p>Unfortunately, this was not always the case. When children thought their team mates within the competition would be able to read their answers to the survey, they reverted to saying they wouldn’t like or trust members of the other team. These results suggest that telling children to be more inclusive can be a useful intervention at the school level, but must work in conjunction with an effort to encourage peer groups to be positive and inclusive between each other. </p>
<p>This matches what other researchers <a href="http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1405176512.html">have found</a>: one of the most powerful influences on the development of children’s attitudes, are children themselves.</p>
<p>Our research pinpoints that we can successfully intervene in schools to help minimise prejudice between groups of children. School charters emphasising equality and inclusion that are endorsed by teachers and make clear there will be genuine consequences for those who flaunt the rules, should be encouraged. But it is vital to recognise that school rules alone are not enough to change attitudes. Teachers and children must work together to develop a harmonious multicultural environment in British schools.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44633/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luke McGuire receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p>When teachers and schools remind children to be inclusive, they are nicer to those not in their ‘group’.Luke McGuire, PhD Candidate, Social Developmental Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/437112015-06-30T20:11:17Z2015-06-30T20:11:17ZIt shouldn’t take legal action for schools to act on bullying<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86481/original/image-20150626-16893-1bh7nq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Threats of legal action may force schools to take action on bullying, but this should not be their main driver</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A former pupil is <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/student-sues-school-over-alleged-bullying-20150621-ghtq11.html">suing her Victorian school</a> for the psychiatric harm she allegedly suffered from bullying. </p>
<p>There is now a <a href="http://www.livescience.com/11163-bullies-bullying.html">strong body of evidence</a> that demonstrates the severe psychiatric and emotional damage bullying can cause, and the <a href="http://www.bullyonline.org/stress/ptsd.htm">significant impact</a> it can have on life’s expectations. And its harm is widespread – the sufferers, the bullies and society as a whole.</p>
<p>Investigations of school shootings such as <a href="http://center4research.org/violence-risky-behavior/z-other-violence/bullying-and-violence/">Columbine</a> speculate that they are acts of retaliation. Not infrequently there are <a href="http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/bullying-and-suicide.html">reports of suicides of students</a> who are bullied. Tolerance in schools can lead to bullying in workplaces, families and other areas of life.</p>
<p>We have come a long way to recognise bullying as intentional, often criminal behaviour, which would be treated as such outside the schoolyard. It should never be tolerated, especially now that we are aware of the harm it causes.</p>
<h2>Does failure to take action render schools liable for harm?</h2>
<p>The courts believe so. In 2003, <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/06/20/1055828492584.html">following the successful action</a> of former student Lisa Eskinazi against her Victorian school, incredulity turned to concern in the education community.</p>
<p>Doubt was further cast aside when the New South Wales Supreme Court and Court of Appeal decided that former students <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nsw/NSWSC/2007/471.html">Benjamin Cox</a> and <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/nsw/NSWCA/2013/135.html">Jazmine Oyston</a> (2007 and 2013 respectively) were entitled to damages from their schools.</p>
<p>Firmly buried was the traditional notion that bullying should be endured as part and parcel of school years. More recently, though, technology has provided ample opportunity for a widespread, remote and more cowardly form of bullying – cyberbullying. This clouds the question as to the extent of a school’s responsibility.</p>
<p>It makes the position of schools more difficult, or alternatively perhaps (though yet to be tested), it affords them greater escape from liability.</p>
<p>So what is the basis of a school’s responsibility to deal effectively with wrongful actions by one student against another? In legal terms, liability relies on a breach of a duty of care causing the harm suffered.</p>
<p>Schools clearly owe a duty of care to students. A long line of precedents where students have suffered physical injury is testament to this. It becomes hazier when psychiatric and emotional harm is alleged many years later.</p>
<p>In simple terms it relies on a school’s lack of effective action in the face of knowledge, and on a causative link between that inaction and the harm suffered. </p>
<p>This is easy to determine in the case of playground accidents, but decidedly more difficult in cases of school bullying, particularly with a long period of time intervening. However, as demonstrated above, it’s not impossible. </p>
<h2>The question of liability misses the point</h2>
<p>A much wider and more pressing question is what may be done to erase this huge blot on the landscape of schools and society. Taking the problem seriously is the first step.</p>
<p>Most would agree that a school that has knowledge of bullying behaviour within its grounds or online but arising out of school relationships, and fails to take remedial action, is complicit.</p>
<p>But what to do? Most reactions, such as excluding of perpetrators from school, may be more damaging. There are many suggestions that any disengagement from schooling can lead to increasingly bad behaviour from bullying perpetrators.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86490/original/image-20150626-18218-1sfiten.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86490/original/image-20150626-18218-1sfiten.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86490/original/image-20150626-18218-1sfiten.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86490/original/image-20150626-18218-1sfiten.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86490/original/image-20150626-18218-1sfiten.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86490/original/image-20150626-18218-1sfiten.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86490/original/image-20150626-18218-1sfiten.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/86490/original/image-20150626-18218-1sfiten.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schools need to take action to protect the well-being of all students, not because they could be held liable.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A short term fix with no long term gain</h2>
<p>A quick flick through the websites of schools and state education departments reveals endless anti-bullying programs and policies. But are these helping the child now being excluded from games, being called names, receiving hate messages or having nasty material about them circulated on social media?</p>
<p>More importantly, are they leading to changes in school cultures? The biggest challenge is how to break the cycle from the very beginning – at family, preschool and school level. This is not an easy overnight fix. It requires all members of the community having equal responsibility for a peaceful, hostile-free learning environment.</p>
<p>On one level this includes a “bystander” responsibility and encouragement of “telling”. It also requires each member of the school community showing respect, responsibility and developing the communication skills for dealing with differences. </p>
<p>It requires assisting young people to put themselves in another’s shoes, to see the harm they have caused, to repair it and restore relationships. For many schools there is evidence of success but it is easy to say and hard to do, especially given meagre resources in many cases. A highly commendable initiative is <a href="http://www.bullyingnoway.gov.au">Bullying. No Way</a> and its mantra: Taking a Stand Together. There’s a long way to go but the journey must be taken.</p>
<p>Wrongs must be redressed and the threat of legal action in many instances may lead to galvanising action. It would be lamentable, however, if this was the main driver of action. The better view is that modern educators see bullying as serious anti-social behaviour which has a severe impact on all children’s right to education, and are working on creating school cultures where bullying cannot exist.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43711/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sally Varnham does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A former pupil is suing her school for the psychiatric harm she allegedly suffered from bullying.Sally Varnham, Professor of Law, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/428132015-06-08T04:13:48Z2015-06-08T04:13:48ZNearly a third of early adulthood depression linked to bullying in teenage years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83886/original/image-20150604-2935-1r4z9iv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">School bullying takes its toll later in life too. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ashleyrosex/3679319717/">Ashley Rose/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Being bullied at school is an unpleasant and relatively common experience for many young people, but does it lead to long-lasting harm? A growing number of studies have found that being bullied is associated with an increased risk of developing <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Peter_Prinzie/publication/42371450_Peer_victimization_and_internalizing_problems_in_children_a_meta-analysis_of_longitudinal_studies/links/0a85e5359fdb714ddd000000.pdf">symptoms of anxiety and depression</a>, <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e2683">self-harm</a> and even <a href="http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/45770/1/WRAP_Wolke_Sucide%20and%20bullying%20final%20word%20version%20Winsper%20et%20al.pdf">suicidal ideation</a>. </p>
<p>Many would argue that it seems obvious that bullying might cause some young people to develop depression – but how strong is the evidence that this is the case?</p>
<h2>Does teenage bullying contribute to clinical depression?</h2>
<p>In <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h2469">new research</a> published in The British Medical Journal, we built on the <a href="http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=1654916">work</a> of <a href="http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.13101401">other studies</a> to investigate the strength of the association between being bullied as a teenager and developing depression as a young adult. </p>
<p>We used data from the “<a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/">Children of the 90s Study</a>” - a large birth cohort study based at the University of Bristol, which has been charting the health of families since the early ‘90s. We were particularly interested in bullying occurring during the early teenage years, given this is a time both when the influence of peers rises, and rates of depression begin to increase. </p>
<p>At 13 years, participants filled in detailed questionnaires about their recent experiences of different types of peer victimisation. When they were 18 years old, participants came back into the lab and took part in clinic assessments that were used to derive diagnoses of depression.</p>
<p>Of the 683 children who reported frequent victimisation at 13 years, 101 (14.8%) were depressed at 18 years. Of the 1446 children reporting some victimisation, 103 (7.1%) were depressed, and of the 1769 children reporting no victimisation at 13 years, 98 (5.5%) were depressed. </p>
<p>Children who were frequently victimised had over a two-fold increase in odds of depression compared with children who were not victimised by peers. So is this enough to show that being bullied causes depression?</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83887/original/image-20150604-2923-fkkneh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83887/original/image-20150604-2923-fkkneh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/83887/original/image-20150604-2923-fkkneh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83887/original/image-20150604-2923-fkkneh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83887/original/image-20150604-2923-fkkneh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=697&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83887/original/image-20150604-2923-fkkneh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=876&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83887/original/image-20150604-2923-fkkneh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=876&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/83887/original/image-20150604-2923-fkkneh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=876&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even if bullying starts earlier in life, the effects continue into later life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/ankakay/4115699583/">Ankakay/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sadly, some children are more at risk of being bullied by their peers than others. In particular, children who are more shy and withdrawn are <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ernest_Hodges/publication/13063504_Personal_and_interpersonal_antecedents_and_consequences_of_victimization_by_peers/links/0c96052951d8ebb985000000.pdf">more likely to be bullied</a> than their less anxious peers. </p>
<p>This makes it difficult to disentangle cause and effect – does being bullied lead to an increased risk of depression, or are kids with higher levels of depressive symptoms simply more likely to be targeted by bullies? </p>
<p>Are there other characteristics that might explain this association? Using data on children’s mental health and their family experiences, we were able to adjust for a large number of factors that might have explained the relationship between bullying and depression. </p>
<p>Even when statistically controlling for these factors, we still found that teenagers who were frequently bullied were nearly twice as likely to be depressed at 18 compared to their non-bullied peers. The more frequent the bullying, the increased likelihood of developing depression as an adult.</p>
<h2>How important is bullying as a risk factor for depression?</h2>
<p>In our sample, up to 30% of depression at 18 years might be attributed to being bullied as a teenager <em>if</em> bullying really is a cause of depression. However with our type of study, we can never be certain that there isn’t some other, unmeasured variable that might explain our findings. </p>
<p>But given that researchers would never randomly assign children to be bullied or not in order to test whether this association is causal, we must rely on evidence from observational studies such as ours. </p>
<p>Also, we can’t say for sure whether our findings generalise to other populations. That’s why it is so important that research such as ours is replicated using different samples from different populations. </p>
<p>For now, the weight of evidence is sufficiently strong that bullying should be considered as an important risk factor for depression. There are <a href="http://sinohacesnadasosparte.org/Download/english/02_METAANALISIS_2011.pdf">effective school-based interventions</a>, and schools should be supported in implementing these.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/42813/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This research was specifically funded by a Wellcome Trust grant. The UK Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. Lucy Bowes is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, and is supported by a grant of the Jacobs Foundation.</span></em></p>Children who were bullied had more than a two-fold increase in odds of depression later in life compared with children not victimised by their peers.Lucy Bowes, Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/413442015-05-20T20:03:08Z2015-05-20T20:03:08ZWhat to do when your child is the bully, rather than the victim<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82167/original/image-20150519-25403-jx8kh4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">What do you do if you're the parent of a Nelson-type bully? Why does no-one ever ask this question?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/trevgrant/14206195899/">Trev Grant/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bullying in schools is a subject that is talked about a lot. One of the quieter areas of discussion and research is the experience of parents whose child is responsible for harassing and victimising others. What happens when you’re the parent of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0701059/">Nelson Muntz</a> or “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/comment/jamie-is-only-too-real-in-our-schools-20131022-2vyot.html">Ja'mie</a> Private School Girl”?</p>
<h2>Bullying and schools</h2>
<p>A raft of policies have emerged in recent years in response to growing community concerns about the role schools have in preventing, managing and responding to bullying problems. Education departments, such as <a href="http://www.decd.sa.gov.au/mediacentre/pages/decdupdate/49014/">South Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.det.nsw.edu.au/policies/student_serv/discipline/bullying/PD20100415.shtml">New South Wales</a>, require schools to have anti-bullying policies that outline school procedures for managing bullying, as well as describing programs to support those who are affected by it in some way.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82311/original/image-20150519-30575-1valocn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82311/original/image-20150519-30575-1valocn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82311/original/image-20150519-30575-1valocn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82311/original/image-20150519-30575-1valocn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82311/original/image-20150519-30575-1valocn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=373&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82311/original/image-20150519-30575-1valocn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82311/original/image-20150519-30575-1valocn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82311/original/image-20150519-30575-1valocn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=468&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bullying policies have advice to support those being victimised, but not for those victimising.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nevertheless, much of the focus is understandably on the students who are the bullied, rather than on the bullies themselves. Even the <a href="http://www.bullyingnoway.gov.au/index.html">national bullying program</a> for schools, teachers, students and parents does not provide specific information for schools about working to support students who are bullying, despite the <a href="http://www.schoolatoz.nsw.edu.au/wellbeing/behaviour/bullying-advice-for-parents1/what-if-my-child-is-bullying">research</a> suggesting that this needs to happen. </p>
<p>The research also highlights the importance of schools and parents working together to achieve a positive outcome for the student who is bullying. </p>
<h2>What can schools do to help parents?</h2>
<p>No parent wants to hear the news that their child is bullying other students at school, so the concerns must be raised in a considered way. It’s important the school and parents together consider what issues, either at home or at school, could be contributing to the student’s bullying behaviour.</p>
<p>A plan to manage the bullying behaviour needs to be developed by the school, parents, and student (if appropriate). It must consider any underlying issues the student may be experiencing. The plan should outline the expectations for the student, as well as consequences for both negative and positive choices the student makes. </p>
<p>It should also include steps to support the student to help them understand their bullying, and may include additional support such as access to the school counsellor. </p>
<p>Finally, schools need to be aware of the reluctance of some families to approach the school about such matters, concerned that they may be unfairly or harshly judged by school staff. To alleviate this, schools must make sure the opportunity for discussion and planning happens in an environment and a way that will allow the parents (and student if they are present) to speak and contribute openly.</p>
<h2>Parent-child relationships in bully dynamics</h2>
<p>What to do when your child is a bully seems to be harder to contemplate than what to do if your child is being bullied. The parental reaction can be similar to that of the first two stages of the commonly known <a href="http://psychcentral.com/lib/the-5-stages-of-loss-and-grief/000617">Five Stages of Grief</a>, that of denial and then anger. A typical reaction might be something like this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>No, I can assure you Principal my Jane/John is an angel and does not indulge in that type of behaviour. I am so angry at this accusation that I will withdraw John/Jane from your school. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Research has shown that parents or guardians, usually being the closest person to their son or daughter, may in fact be the last to know or accept this event is happening. A <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00127-008-0395-0">study in Finland</a> from 2009 showed that parents really were the last to know, as the table below shows. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82032/original/image-20150518-25437-1d1ov1u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82032/original/image-20150518-25437-1d1ov1u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=110&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82032/original/image-20150518-25437-1d1ov1u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=110&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82032/original/image-20150518-25437-1d1ov1u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=110&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82032/original/image-20150518-25437-1d1ov1u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=138&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82032/original/image-20150518-25437-1d1ov1u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=138&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82032/original/image-20150518-25437-1d1ov1u.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=138&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian Institute of Family Studies.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Advice to Parents</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.psychology.org.au/publications/tip_sheets/bullying/">Australian Psychological Society</a> says parents should ask the child how they would feel if they were in the situation of being bullied, and praise the child when s/he plays in a respectful way with others. </p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82312/original/image-20150519-30533-g3z8yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82312/original/image-20150519-30533-g3z8yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/82312/original/image-20150519-30533-g3z8yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82312/original/image-20150519-30533-g3z8yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82312/original/image-20150519-30533-g3z8yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82312/original/image-20150519-30533-g3z8yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82312/original/image-20150519-30533-g3z8yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/82312/original/image-20150519-30533-g3z8yb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It will be hard for parents to believe their beloved child is harming others.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The issue can be resolved in a way where negative behaviour is replaced by positive reinforcement. Gradually improvement can take place in most cases where there is an understanding that the child has behaved poorly and that discussion can help improve the situation. </p>
<p>Of course, like many psychological issues, serious family dysfunctions such as the child being affected by negative discipline at home will have a detrimental affect on the child’s ability to understand the harm that bullying can do to another person. The development of empathy is key to the child understanding the harm that bullying can have on the other person.</p>
<h2>What do I do?</h2>
<p>Most parents will experience a mixture of shock, embarrassment and disbelief about the suggestion their child is bullying others. The urge to defend your child from such accusations should not, however, mean that parents ignore the fact that some kind of problem exists. </p>
<p>It is equally unhelpful to immediately assume that all complaints are objectively accurate and that swift <a href="http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/bullying_-_your_child_bullying.html">punishment is needed</a>. Instead take the time to talk calmly and privately with your child, discuss the reported events and take advantage of the supports offered by the school, such as counselling and social skill development. </p>
<p>Schools also have a critical role to play here in facilitating interventions appropriate to the <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/publications/working-families-whose-child-bullying/supporting-children-who-bully-and-their-families">severity of the problem</a>. This can range from structured parent conferencing, to referrals made for specialist counselling through to involvement of law enforcement where the immediate safety of a child is of concern. It is not enough to leave these parents on their own to manage a situation that is being experienced in the school setting, an environment beyond their immediate control.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41344/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Bullying in schools is a subject that is talked about a lot. One of the quieter areas of discussion and research is the experience of parents whose child is responsible for harassing and victimising others.Natalie Swayn, Lecturer, Inclusive Education and Psychology, University of New EnglandChristopher Boyle, Senior Lecturer in Educational Psychology , University of New EnglandDr Joanna Anderson, Lecturer in Inclusive Education , University of New EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/371522015-03-16T19:16:19Z2015-03-16T19:16:19ZWhat should parents do if their child is bullied at school?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/74266/original/image-20150310-13559-196kzrh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If a child is being bullied at school should parents intervene? Talking to the school, the other parents, the other child are all options, but is it better to let your children fend for themselves?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Having your child bullied at school is one of the greatest fears of parents – and research shows this fear is well founded. School bullying <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24317152">has been described as</a> the single most important threat to the mental health of children and adolescents. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18250239">Well-controlled</a> studies <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19414712">show that</a> being bullied in primary school <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e2683">increases the risk</a> of serious mental health problems <a href="http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/120/2/397.abstract">into adolescence</a> and ongoing depression <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/17596591111132882">leading well into adulthood</a>.</p>
<h2>Damned if you do, damned if you don’t?</h2>
<p>So when parents find out their child is being bullied, they are right to be concerned. But what exactly should they do about it? Should they tell the school, approach the parents of the other child, or just let their child deal with it?</p>
<p>It can be difficult to weigh up the sometimes conflicting advice given to parents. Parents desperately want to help their child, but if they jump in too quickly to protect their child they can be labelled as <a href="http://www.penguin.com.au/products/9780143206286/strictly-parenting-everything-you-need-know-about-raising-school-aged-kids">over-protective or over-indulgent</a>. </p>
<p>School authorities often recommend parents leave the school to handle it. This is fine if the school is successful in stopping the bullying. However, this is not always the case. Most school programs to address bullying make <a href="http://osbha.org/files/How%20Effective%20are%20School%20Bullying%20Intervention%20Programs,%20Merrell%20et%20all,%202008.pdf">only modest improvements</a>, leaving <a href="http://njbullying.org/documents/ttofifarrington2011.pdf">some children to continue to be bullied</a>. </p>
<p>This could be why we often hear of parents taking matters into their own hands. This can lead to uncertain legal ground if parents reprimand other children and to ugly arguments between parents. Clearly none of these approaches is ideal.</p>
<h2>New research on how parents can help their children</h2>
<p>We now know that parenting specifically affects children’s risk of being bullied at school. A <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213413000732">meta-analysis in 2013</a> concluded that warm, supportive parenting is a protective factor and negative parenting is a risk factor for children being bullied at school. </p>
<p>Another <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23627948">large well-controlled study</a> from the UK showed that having warm supportive family relationships also helps buffer children against the adverse emotional consequences of being bullied. This means that when children feel supported by their parents, they are less likely to attract bullying. They also have someone to turn to at home when things are not going well at school, which helps them cope.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19210004">Research has identified</a> two additional ways parents can make a positive difference to children’s relationships with peers: parents can coach children in social skills and they can actively support their children’s friendships. </p>
<p>Parents see children every day so are in an ideal position to help children find ways to deal with peer problems. Parents can improve children’s social skills, which can help children become better accepted by peers, and support children’s friendships by organising play-dates and other activities that help children develop close friendships with children at school. Having good friends at school <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15851537">helps protect children</a> against bullying.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005789414000847">program</a> at the University of Queensland called “Resilience Triple P” teaches parents to support their child, support their child’s friendships, coach their child in social and emotional skills, and communicate effectively with the school and other adults. </p>
<p>A total of 111 families were randomly allocated to either receiving the program or not, and monitored over nine months. Schools of both intervention and control families were informed that parents had a concern about bullying. </p>
<p>Compared with families in the control condition, children whose families received Resilience Triple P showed greater reductions in victimisation, distress and depression. Teachers reported children became better accepted by peers. Children reported liking school more. </p>
<p>Resilience Triple P involves parents in helping children deal effectively with peer problems. However, if the child’s efforts do not work, or if the child is in danger, the parents step up as advocates for their children.</p>
<h2>How parents can help children cope</h2>
<p>If your child talks to you about problems with other children at school, this is good news. Very often children don’t tell anyone about being bullied; they might feel ashamed or worried how their parents will respond. It is important that when children approach parents with a problem, parents stop and listen. If parents become emotional or over-react, this may discourage children from confiding further.</p>
<p>If a child is not communicating, there are signs that indicate they could be being bullied at school. These signs include trying to avoid school or social situations, greater sensitivity and mood swings, changes in eating and sleeping, and unexplained physical symptoms. If children are demonstrating any of these patterns, parents could gently ask children how things are going in various areas of their lives.</p>
<p>Whether or not a child is being bullied, it is important for parents to support their children’s friendships, as an investment in children’s ongoing mental health and well-being. This means making time for children to catch up with friends and getting to know other parents as a way of supporting your child’s relationships.</p>
<p>When children are upset by other children’s behaviour, parents can provide a valuable sounding board. They can help children interpret situations and decide what to do. </p>
<p>Very often problems can be solved if the child can stand up for themselves calmly. Parents can help children practise how to do this. </p>
<p>Parents might also help children learn how to ignore minor issues, strengthen friendships with kind children, resolve ongoing conflicts and get help from a teacher when needed.</p>
<h2>Approaching the school and other adults</h2>
<p>If a child is unable to deal with a distressing issue by themselves, it is important that the parent communicates for the child. If the child is experiencing problems at school, parents should first contact the child’s school. This would involve approaching the child’s teacher if the issue is with another child in the class, or perhaps the school management if the issue is broader. </p>
<p>It is important when approaching the school for parents to plan carefully what they want to say. Schools can easily become defensive about the issue of bullying. It is important parents stay calm and explain exactly what happened and how their child was affected. The parent can request help in improving the situation and then check how this goes over time.</p>
<p>There are other adults who may be supervising children when bullying occurs. Parents may need to have conversations with out-of-school-hours care staff, sporting coaches, scout leaders and dance teachers.</p>
<p>The situation is a bit more sensitive if the problems occur when your child is being supervised by friends or family members. The same principles apply though – you need to calmly request the other adult’s help without blaming them or putting their child down. Sometimes this can start by acknowledging the children are having problems – and suggesting you could work together to help them.</p>
<p>Generally it is a risky move to approach parents of another child at school bullying your child, if you don’t already have a good relationship with them. Your approach is unlikely to improve things and may result in heated conflict. This may worsen the relationship between the children, making it more difficult for the school to resolve the issue.</p>
<h2>What if nothing works?</h2>
<p>Sometimes, despite parents’ best efforts to support their child and seek help from the school, the bullying continues. Ongoing bullying poses an unacceptable risk to any child. </p>
<p>If your child is experiencing ongoing distress from bullying, and the school doesn’t address it despite your requests, consider other options – including going to higher education authorities and reporting cases of physical assault or cyber-bullying to police. </p>
<p>Parents should also consider whether another school might provide a better option for their child, but it’s important to involve the child in this decision.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Editor’s note: Kayrn will be answering questions between noon and 1pm AEDT on Wednesday March 18. You can ask your questions about the article in the comments below.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/37152/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karyn L Healy is co-author of Resilience Triple P. Resilience Triple P and all Triple P programs are owned by the University of Queensland. The University has licensed Triple P International Pty Ltd to publish and disseminate Triple P programs worldwide. Royalties stemming from published Triple P resources are distributed to the Parenting and Family Support Centre; School of Psychology; Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences; and contributory authors. No author has any share or ownership in Triple P International Pty Ltd.Triple P. </span></em></p>If a child is being bullied at school should parents intervene? Talking to the school, the other parents, the other child are all options, but is it better to let your children fend for themselves?Karyn Healy, Program Coordinator (Psychologist), Resilience Triple P program Parenting and Family Support Centre, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/303482014-09-15T03:38:31Z2014-09-15T03:38:31ZTelling kids homophobia is wrong won’t stop bullying in schools<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57374/original/rr2cnt4z-1409035383.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teaching kids that homophobia is wrong won't necessarily stop sexuality or gender bullying. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/queereaster/170318446">Flickr/Kurt Lowenstein Education</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is no doubt that homophobic bullying is a problem in Australian schools. The latest <a href="http://www.glhv.org.au/report/writing-themselves-3-wti3-report">Writing Themselves in</a> report published by Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria reports 80% of young gay, lesbian or questioning teens experience gender and sexuality-based bullying in the form of physical and verbal assault while at school. </p>
<p>So how should schools respond to incidents of teasing and bullying related to gender and sexual identity? In an article <a href="http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8261597&fileId=S1744552311000061">Challenging homophobic bullying in schools</a>, Daniel Monk draws attention away from therapeutic or disciplinary responses to bullying, arguing we should understand homophobic bullying as part of a broader politics related to childhood and sexuality. </p>
<p>He challenges the idea that an educative response to such bullying is to try and stamp it out by educating young people about why it is wrong. While this approach acknowledges the harms caused by violence, it also silences other experiences of homophobia. </p>
<p>We gave students the scenario below of a young boy with feminine qualities being bullied, and asked what they thought he should do. Students we spoke to were in years 9 and 10 and attended public schools in Australia and New Zealand. The following is a response from a female student at a Melbourne outer suburbs high school:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A new boy has started in your class at school and he has been teased by other students because they think he is a sissy-boy, his name is Joshua but he prefers to be called Jo. He mainly hangs out with a few girls and he likes to wear make-up to school. His parents don’t care what he wears or how he looks as long as he is happy. For as long as his family can remember he has enjoyed dressing up, wearing jewellery and putting on shows for his family.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Q: <em>What advice would you give Jo about being teased?</em></p>
<p>Bisar: <em>If he doesn’t care what people think, just don’t think about them. If he wants to be like that, he can be like that, but if he actually gets offended at what people say, he should actually take it into consideration and try fixing it. So, he’ll either ignore it, or he’s got to fix it.</em> </p>
<p>Q: <em>You think it’s worth fixing it if he wants to?</em></p>
<p>Bisar: <em>Yeah, if he wants to, he can fix it. If he wants to actually get a girlfriend and be like a man, he’s got to fix it. But if he likes the way he is, who cares?</em></p>
<p>One reading of this exchange is that Bisar has the wrong answer - there is a suggestion here that Jo is broken because he is transsexual and needs fixing. One could respond by educating Bisar that this is the wrong way to think about gender and bullying. </p>
<p>But in responding to bullying related to gender and sexuality we want to suggest the need for a response that doesn’t fix Jo, or Bisar, but rather thinks more about about the politics of what it means for schools and students to respond well to bullying. We want to resist the impulse to immediately correct Bisar’s thinking about Jo - because such a response individualises the problem as Bisar’s transphobia or homophobia and fails to recognise how homophobia is shaped by cultural and religious difference. </p>
<p>Schools need to be having conversations that recognise that students don’t all think about gender and sexuality in the same way.</p>
<p>Stating that we need to do something about gender, sexuality and bullying therefore involves first grasping how students think about gender and sexuality. Where did Bisar get the idea that Jo needs fixing? And where did she get the idea that Jo might not need fixing, that he might like the way he is - and that it is okay? </p>
<h2>Misconceptions about sexuality, gender and bullying</h2>
<p>Common misconceptions exist about sexuality, gender and bullying, and how schools should cope with these issues. Some of these include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>That we can agree on what homophobia and transphobia are - and that this is stable over time</p></li>
<li><p>That there is a “right way” to respond to homophobia and transphobia</p></li>
<li><p>That teachers and students should all challenge homophobia and transphobia</p></li>
<li><p>That people who are homophobic and transphobic will benefit from anti-bullying education that illustrates why such beliefs are wrong</p></li>
</ul>
<p>If an aim of anti-bullying education is to create spaces in which young people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans identified may be safer, can we assume that saying homophobia and transphobia are wrong will have this desired effect? </p>
<p>This strategy attempts to shift responsibility away from individual students and onto schools and teachers, and to use sexuality education to explore historical, cultural and religious roots of homophobia and transphobia. </p>
<p>Classrooms should be a place for conversations about sexuality, homophobia and transphobia that recognise students’ diverse backgrounds. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>This is part of a Conversation series called <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/bullying-in-schools">Bullying in Schools</a>. Read the other pieces <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/bullying-in-schools">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/30348/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Lou Rasmussen receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fida has received Australian Research Council grants.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louisa Allen has received funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathleen Quinlivan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>There is no doubt that homophobic bullying is a problem in Australian schools. The latest Writing Themselves in report published by Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria reports 80% of young gay, lesbian or…Mary Lou Rasmussen, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Monash UniversityFida Sanjakdar, Senior Lecturer in Education, Monash UniversityKathleen Quinlivan, Senior Lecturer, College of Education, University of Canterbury, University of CanterburyLouisa Allen, Associate Professor, Crticial Studies in Education, Faculty of Education, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata RauLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/278112014-09-11T02:56:34Z2014-09-11T02:56:34ZEveryone has a part to play in managing classroom bullying<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55206/original/3dhjb5wc-1406681213.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bullying doesn't always happen where the teacher can see it, but there are ways a teacher can make kids less vulnerable to bullies. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=12043777&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQwNjcwOTk4MCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTIwNDM3NzciLCJwIjoidjF8MTAxMjc1ODh8MTIwNDM3NzciLCJrIjoicGhvdG8vMTIwNDM3NzcvbWVkaXVtLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJRSjdHSUEzY0l0aldYOVI4WEV5THZXSVhFdjgiXQ%2Fshutterstock_12043777.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=pbqWTQ2jNG2PNuj6BaVibg-1-87">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>School bullying is a proactive form of aggression which doesn’t only have impacts on the individuals being targeted, but also on the child who is bullying, their classmates, the climate and tone of the class, the teacher, the parents and families, and the broader school community. </p>
<p>Gone are the days when bullying was an issue left up to the victim alone to deal with. Most schools now have whole-school anti-bullying policies, which ensure that everyone recognises that they have a role to play as part of the solution.</p>
<p>The difficulty for teachers is that what actually occurs between students is not often visible to them. Bullying can occur online or via mobile phones out of school hours, or sometimes in parts of the school where no teachers are present.</p>
<h2>How can teachers help to prevent bullying?</h2>
<p>Creating a climate where young people feel safe in reporting to teachers or a trusted adult that one of their peers is being victimised is important, in order to counter the views that young people currently hold, that: </p>
<p>a) the teacher will do little to effectively stop it </p>
<p>b) that the bullying will get worse if they report it or </p>
<p>c) that they will become the next target.</p>
<p>The single most important thing any teacher can do to prevent bullying is to be proactive at the class and individual level. They should not assume that if they can’t see anything, then bullying isn’t happening.</p>
<p>Sometimes, however, teachers themselves can inadvertently contribute to the problem when they appear to do nothing, or seemingly ignore it. Teachers may be working behind the scenes to find a solution and to gather information, so it is important for them to communicate openly to parents and students the processes and timelines they are working through.</p>
<p>It is also important for the teacher to lead by example in modelling relationship skills. This applies not only to students, but to other staff and everyone in the school community. Children need to see what relationships based on mutual respect look like.</p>
<p>Teaching students about what is culturally and socially acceptable behaviour, and calling them out when their language or behaviour in the classroom isn’t appropriate, is fundamental to developing a safe and supportive class climate. Low-level vocabulary/excuses designed to trivialise bullying such as, “we were only having fun …” and “I was just …” should not be acceptable in a supportive class environment.</p>
<p>If any intimidating or bullying behaviour is perceived in the classroom it is important this is stopped as early as possible. During school hours teachers are responsible for the well-being of children in their care, and this includes intervening when bullying is occurring. </p>
<p>Teachers should be monitoring the social dynamic to identify how children and young people are interacting and engaging with each other. Paying attention to those who are isolated or vulnerable in some way is an important aspect of monitoring the class climate.</p>
<p>Students surrounded by friends and peers who will support them are less likely to fall victim to bullying. Building a cohesive group in the class and moulding the school environment to make sure all students have the opportunity to forge friendships and are not isolated from others are important strategies in preventing bullying.</p>
<p>Relationship and friendship problems are common throughout school and can often be the cause of bullying. Teachers should help resolve these social relationship issues before they escalate, by engaging children and young people in learning how to manage conflict. </p>
<p>It’s very important in these situations to involve the students in creating their own solutions so they feel ownership of their problems and resolutions. This ensures that the strategies are also appropriate for the child’s age and cultural context.</p>
<p>This means adopting a class philosophy of there being “no bystanders” in the class: where bullying is everyone’s problem and everyone is part of the solution; of not laying blame, but of enabling the individuals concerned to independently, and with the teachers’ support, manage any conflict, find solutions and determine ways of co-existing; and of promoting awareness and sharing concern for others, through an approach that supports the child who bullies and the child who is targeted.</p>
<p>In Australia, the National Safe Schools Framework provides guidelines for <a href="http://www.safeschoolshub.edu.au/documents/nationalsafeschoolsframework.pdf">safe and supportive</a> school communities, and the <a href="http://www.safeschoolshub.edu.au/">Safe Schools Hub</a> provides practical examples and resources for teachers, schools, parents and students. <a href="http://www.cybersmart.gov.au/">Cybersmart</a> offers information and outreach support to schools and families in relation to cyberbullying.</p>
<p>Teacher-student relationships are fundamentally important, and teachers have a pivotal role to play in countering bullying and cyberbullying in our schools. Keeping young people engaged and connected with authentic learning and creating inclusive classrooms where difference is celebrated breeds tolerance and acceptance.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, all any student who is targeted, and their parent, wants is for the bullying to stop. This can’t be done by ignoring it.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This is part of a Conversation series called “<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/bullying-in-schools">Bullying in schools</a>”. Read the other pieces <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/bullying-in-schools">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27811/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Barbara Spears does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>School bullying is a proactive form of aggression which doesn’t only have impacts on the individuals being targeted, but also on the child who is bullying, their classmates, the climate and tone of the…Barbara Spears, Director: Wellbeing Research Group, Centre for Research in Education School of Education, University of South AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/299492014-09-07T20:33:41Z2014-09-07T20:33:41ZHow parents can prevent and deal with bullying<p>Parents are one of the most influential factors when talking about bullying - in that they are the most likely to be able to prevent it. The way <a href="http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/soccog/soclrn.html">parents model appropriate interactions</a> and communication to their children (for example, resolve disagreements, be assertive when appropriate) will impact on how their children interact with others – at school, online, or in the workplace. </p>
<p>In particular, children learn about interacting with others <a href="http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/soccog/soclrn.html">through their observations</a> of others (for example how their parents treat one another and other family members). Parents should aim for an <a href="http://jea.sagepub.com/content/11/1/56.short?rss=1&ssource=mfc">authoritative parenting style</a>: one that includes showing love and care towards a child, gives a child an appropriate level of independence for their age, and also sets clear rules and consequences for inappropriate behaviour. </p>
<p>Parents can help children to develop empathy and learn to take the perspective of another by talking with their children about how others might feel when they behave in certain ways and how they feel given certain behaviours by <a href="http://www.parentingscience.com/teaching-empathy-tips.html">others</a>.</p>
<p>Providing children with opportunities to play with other children and learn how to do so in social ways under the supervision of parents, gives children the chance to practice interacting in <a href="http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/why_play_is_important.html">socially acceptable ways</a> from an early age.</p>
<h2>But how can the parents know what goes on at school?</h2>
<p>Despite our best efforts to prevent bullying, it may still occur and parents need to know what to do in situations where their child is bullying others or being bullied by others. Parents should be aware of signs that their children may be bullying someone. This comes down to knowing your child well and detecting changes in behaviour. This includes changes in demeanour, and more obvious signs such as acquisition of money or expensive possessions. </p>
<p>Alternatively, another parent, child, or school staff member may alert a parent that their child is bullying others. In situations where a child is bullying others, parents need to focus on the behaviour (and <a href="http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/bullystoppers/Pages/parentbehave.aspx">avoid labelling their child</a>) as behaviours <a href="http://www.ncab.org.au/parents/otherchildren/">can be changed</a>. </p>
<p>Important steps are for parents to find out from their child’s perspective what has been happening and why s/he may be bullying others. Parents also need to clearly explain that such behaviour is not acceptable and discuss with their children appropriate ways of behaving. In general, <a href="http://www.psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/punishment_position_paper.pdf">punishment is not effective</a> because it does not teach the child alternative ways of behaving. </p>
<p>It is a good idea for parents to seek advice and help from others who may be able to assist the child to learn new ways of interacting as early as possible. Parents may like to talk with a trusted friend or family member, their GP, the school principal or welfare co-ordinator, or search for information from reliable sources on the internet such as the <a href="http://raisingchildren.net.au/">Raising Children Network</a> and <a href="http://www.ncab.org.au/">National Centre Against Bullying</a>. </p>
<p>For parents who are concerned that their children are being bullied by others, communication with their children is crucial. Ensuring that there are open lines of communication makes it more likely a child will talk with a parent about being bullied. Parents should listen to their child’s experiences and then <a href="http://www.ncab.org.au/parents/whattodo/">discuss possible solutions with him/her</a>. </p>
<p>It is important that parents convey to their children that they are taking what the children say seriously, that bullying is not okay, and that there are solutions available. Consistent with the approaches mentioned for preventing bullying, parents need to ensure that any solutions explored are socially acceptable and do not escalate the situation (for example, fighting back).</p>
<h2>Cyberbullying</h2>
<p>Bullying using technology (or cyberbullying) presents new challenges for parents. Given rapidly changing technologies, it can be difficult for parents to keep up with how to use the technology their children are using. However, monitoring a child’s behaviour is an important way of ensuring that their behaviour <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/protective/pdf/parental_monitoring_factsheet.pdf">does not get out of hand</a>. </p>
<p>Monitoring that is focused on keeping children safe and ensuring acceptable behaviour is good parenting. Parents need to take an interest in the technology and sites their children are using. As for the offline environment, parents need to set ground rules for behaviour online. And just as parents teach children how to stay safe in the offline world (“don’t talk to strangers”, “look both ways when you cross the road”), children also need to learn how to stay safe in the online world for situations when parents are not present. </p>
<p>A really important message for all parents is that as children grow up and enter adolescence and early adulthood, <a href="http://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/family_relationships_teenagers.html">they still need</a> and value their parents - although it may not always seem to be the case! It is therefore important that children, regardless of their age, can access their parents when situations such as being bullied or bullying others arise and know that they can rely on their parents to help them to resolve the situation. </p>
<p>Finally, parents should not be expected to handle bullying on their own – they may need to work with their children’s friends and their parents, the school, a social networking site, or seek assistance from appropriate support and health services. </p>
<hr>
<p>This is part of a Conversation series called “Bullying in schools”. Read the other pieces in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/bullying-in-schools">here.</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29949/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sheryl Hemphill receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, and the National Institutes of Health (USA). She is an invited member of the National Centre Against Bullying and a member of the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth. She has also received funding from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, including reviewing content for the Bully Stoppers. web site.</span></em></p>Parents are one of the most influential factors when talking about bullying - in that they are the most likely to be able to prevent it. The way parents model appropriate interactions and communication…Sheryl Hemphill, Professor of Psychology, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/281492014-08-27T02:49:12Z2014-08-27T02:49:12ZHow to handle bullies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/53263/original/vxfydpk7-1404794808.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tactics that experts say help deter bullies are often not the tactics employed by young people.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielfoster/7081042823">Flickr/Daniel Foster</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Being bullied is a stressful experience – in fact it is one of the most stressful experiences we can face. <a href="http://www.flinders.edu.au/people/phillip.slee">International research</a> shows bullying occurs in every school. We now better understand that bullying is physically, socially and psychologically damaging, with the hurt extending beyond just the victim to the bully and the bystanders who witness the activity as well.</p>
<p>As such, we have to develop techniques to help students cope with bullying, including cyberbullying. However, <a href="http://www.caper.com.au">our research</a> suggests that students have a very limited repertoire of strategies for dealing with bullies.</p>
<h2>How we cope with bullies</h2>
<p>“Coping” describes how we deal with stress, including the everyday stresses we face in life. Coping strategies may be described as positive strategies that can decrease the likelihood of continued victimisation, such as seeking help or support from others to stop the victimisation. </p>
<p>Not quite so effective are “avoidance” approaches, such as denial and refusal to think about an incident after it has happened. How effective each strategy might be is dependent on the context. Any strategy that reduces the bullying may be beneficial, while any that results in no change may be harmful. </p>
<p>Coping strategies are dependent on internal factors, such as the person’s self-esteem, intelligence and personality, and external factors, such as the level of social support from family and friends.</p>
<p>Our research shows that repeated experiences of victimisation may severely tax the coping resources of children and young people. That is, bullying incidents that are frequent and occur over a long time overwhelm the coping capabilities of victims. The type of bullying directed at victims, such as name calling, physical bullying or cyberbullying, may also influence how well we cope.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57445/original/g2n2dc58-1409103906.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57445/original/g2n2dc58-1409103906.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57445/original/g2n2dc58-1409103906.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57445/original/g2n2dc58-1409103906.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57445/original/g2n2dc58-1409103906.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57445/original/g2n2dc58-1409103906.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57445/original/g2n2dc58-1409103906.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57445/original/g2n2dc58-1409103906.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=584&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Repeated bullying may make it harder to cope.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=159177017&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQwOTEzMjY1NCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTU5MTc3MDE3IiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDE1OTE3NzAxNyIsImsiOiJwaG90by8xNTkxNzcwMTcvbWVkaXVtLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCI4WEE0YzlWdlNPQWZXc2tUcE9ZVTkzcEdRVk0iXQ%2Fshutterstock_159177017.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=redownload_standard&license=standard&src=dYnLO_pz406YJ6m7bmM_YA-1-8">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How to stop the bullies</h2>
<p>An important element of many anti-bullying programmes is encouraging victims to tell someone. Our research shows that this is the number one coping strategy reported by trainee teachers as the tactic they would most recommend to students.</p>
<p>Victims are also encouraged to speak to their parents or guardians. Some schools have developed peer-support systems to counsel or advise other pupils. </p>
<p>However, many victims do not seek help. This could be due to a fear of retaliation from bullies, or shame over how they’ll look in front of their classmates.</p>
<p>In our Australian study involving adolescents we asked them to tell us how effective various coping strategies were for dealing with bullying. At the same time we asked “experts” (teachers, counsellors and researchers) from around the world to tell us what they thought were the most effective strategies. </p>
<p>The experts generally agreed on which were effective and ineffective strategies. There was consensus that the same strategies were appropriate for all types of bullying. They rated strategies such as talking to family members or professionals outside school, talking to teachers and counsellors at school and using the school’s anti-bullying and harassment policies and procedures as the most effective.</p>
<p>Least effective were denying that the bullying was happening, using drugs to avoid the pain or staying away from school. However, it was found that seriously bullied students reported they would not use the strategies the “experts” thought were effective. Instead, they would use strategies such as avoidance and denial.</p>
<p>Cyberbullying takes things to a new level - given its 24/7 nature, virtual anonymity and the broader audience available, not to mention the power that written and visual electronic media can have. Simplistically, education authorities and parent advocates will frequently propose measures to assist with coping in terms of banning or restricting access to technology. However, other measures are more successful.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Education about the harmful effects of bullying is vital.</p></li>
<li><p>Young people themselves should be involved in developing and promoting coping strategies.</p></li>
<li><p>The strategies should be adapted to the age, background and culture of the young people.</p></li>
<li><p>Schools should have policies and procedures in place developed by young people.</p></li>
<li><p>Parents should be communicated with about the likely signs of their child being bullied.</p></li>
<li><p>Schools and parents should work closely in partnership to support those being bullied.</p></li>
<li><p>Strategies such as telling a trusted adult, using the school peer-support system and counselling should be advertised and encouraged.</p></li>
<li><p>Greater awareness is needed that bullied students are not likely to use positive coping strategies; effort needs to be made to help them use these positive coping strategies.</p></li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p><em>This is part of a Conversation series called <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/bullying-in-schools">Bullying in Schools</a>. Read the other pieces <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/bullying-in-schools">here</a>. If there is an aspect of bullying you would like to see covered, please contact <a href="Mailto:alexandra.hansen@theconversation.edu.au">The Conversation.</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28149/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Phillip Slee does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Being bullied is a stressful experience – in fact it is one of the most stressful experiences we can face. International research shows bullying occurs in every school. We now better understand that bullying…Phillip Slee, Professor, Human Development, School of Education , Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/278612014-08-07T20:30:18Z2014-08-07T20:30:18ZThe difference between ‘bullying’ and ‘everyday life’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52584/original/8cgccsb3-1404101696.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bullying means different things to different people, but a key factor is that one group exerts power over the other</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=79721434&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQwNDEzMDQ2NSwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfNzk3MjE0MzQiLCJwIjoidjF8MTAxMjc1ODh8Nzk3MjE0MzQiLCJrIjoicGhvdG8vNzk3MjE0MzQvbWVkaXVtLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCIvenk4Qmg4ckVaTjltMzNyWHEzNERMRHhRTmMiXQ%2Fshutterstock_79721434.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=NHsTCra5LgNLF5d6ovUFaQ-5-27">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A few weeks ago a <a href="http://aifs.govspace.gov.au/2014/06/03/abs-cyber-bullying-is-worrying-children/">survey</a> by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that bullying was the number one concern of young people in Australia. Bullying has displaced their concerns about the environment and the importance of healthy eating or owning a computer. This is surprising since the incidence of bullying does not seem to be increasing.</p>
<h2>Definitions of bullying</h2>
<p>Perhaps the meaning of the word bullying has expanded in our community. Taking psychological or medical words which have specific definitions and incorporating them into our everyday speech is widespread. Nobody is sad anymore, we are depressed; if someone is neat and tidy they have OCD; nobody gets a cold anymore, it’s the flu. </p>
<p>Perhaps bullying is now so broadly defined and even carelessly used that it has lost the specific meaning it had. So what is bullying? That depends on who you ask.</p>
<p><strong>Researchers’ definitions</strong></p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52593/original/vp2hs8p7-1404102082.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52593/original/vp2hs8p7-1404102082.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52593/original/vp2hs8p7-1404102082.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52593/original/vp2hs8p7-1404102082.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52593/original/vp2hs8p7-1404102082.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52593/original/vp2hs8p7-1404102082.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52593/original/vp2hs8p7-1404102082.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/52593/original/vp2hs8p7-1404102082.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1130&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">To constitute bullying, the behaviour has to be repeated.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=200320298&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTQwNDEzMDgyMiwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMjAwMzIwMjk4IiwicCI6InYxfDEwMTI3NTg4fDIwMDMyMDI5OCIsImsiOiJwaG90by8yMDAzMjAyOTgvbWVkaXVtLmpwZyIsIm0iOiIxIiwiZCI6InNodXR0ZXJzdG9jay1tZWRpYSJ9LCJGQWZmd056ZEpIaGdiSktsaXRPeG9Fbm5RVjQiXQ%2Fshutterstock_200320298.jpg&racksite_id=ny&chosen_subscription=1&license=standard&src=NHsTCra5LgNLF5d6ovUFaQ-1-94">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Researchers say bullying is a complex social relationship problem, which is deeply embedded in our society. </p>
<p>The behaviour of the person bullying has to have three fundamental properties. First, the person must intend to harm the victim; bullying can’t be accidental. Some researchers even go as far as saying that the person must feel harmed; if not, it is not bullying.</p>
<p>Second, the bullying behaviour is usually repeated. A one-off spiteful remark would not be called bullying, but if it is constantly repeated, it would be.
Third, bullying is not fighting among equals; there is a power imbalance in the relationship. </p>
<p><strong>Kids’, teachers’ and parents’ definitions</strong></p>
<p>In one study I did I asked groups of kids and parents and teachers what they thought bullying was. All three groups said that an imbalance of power was central to saying what bullying was, different from fighting. </p>
<p>One student said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>fighting … it’s like both of them putting stuff on each other where bullying is just … you know, I’m going to pick on you but you can’t fight back because I’m bigger than you.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A teacher said bullying was “an intimidation thing by an individual or group of people attacking one person or a group of people”, while a parent described bullying as a “form of abuse, psychological abuse or physical abuse”.</p>
<p>All three groups, however, did not mention that to be considered bullying the behaviour would usually be repetitive. Although the intention of the bully to cause harm was mentioned in all of the groups, in the parent group there was some disagreement. One parent said that “the person doing the bullying may not actually see themselves as being a bully”, which was countered by another parent saying, “Oh no, bullies know what they’re doing.”</p>
<h2>Forms of bullying</h2>
<p>There are also different forms of bullying. The one that usually comes to mind is physical bullying where a stronger/older person or group beats up on a helpless victim. </p>
<p>Verbal bullying is being spiteful, calling people nasty names, or relentless teasing. Relational bullying includes starting untrue rumours, gossiping and excluding people. </p>
<p>The most recent form of bullying is cyberbullying, where bullying is done by electronic means such as text messaging, videos on the internet, in blogs, on social media sites and in chat rooms.</p>
<h2>Why meaning matters</h2>
<p>Because student bullying is usually carried out without adults being present it is difficult for teachers and parents to know about it. Even when adults are present the behaviour can be very subtle and difficult to recognise. If we add this to the fact that we often differ in what we think bullying is, it makes the situation very difficult both to prevent and manage.</p>
<p>So it is important if we use the word bully that everybody agrees on the meaning. We need to distinguish between aggression, bullying, harassment and nastiness. I think it is useful to think of aggressive behaviour as the umbrella term, with bullying as one type of aggression distinguished by intention, repetition and an imbalance of power.</p>
<p>Harassment is one type of bullying, where a person’s race or gender or sexuality is the cause of bullying. Nastiness is people being mean to each other but without necessarily repetition or the imbalance of power. </p>
<p>Why we need to agree is this determines how we manage the harmful incident. If two kids are fighting, we usually punish both of them and try to teach them to solve their differences more constructively. If one kid is bullying another kid, it is unfair to punish both of them. The victim did not do anything wrong and often punishment doesn’t change the bully’s behaviour. </p>
<p>Conflict in our lives can be functional or dysfunctional. Bullying is always dysfunctional for the victim, the bully and the witnesses. We can’t avoid conflict and disagreement, but we don’t have to abuse our power to hurt others.</p>
<hr>
<p>This is the first piece in a Conversation series called “<a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/bullying-in-schools">Bullying in schools</a>”. If there is an aspect of bullying you would like to see covered, please contact <a href="Mailto:alexandra.hansen@theconversation.edu.au">The Conversation.</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27861/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marilyn Campbell has received funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>A few weeks ago a survey by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that bullying was the number one concern of young people in Australia. Bullying has displaced their concerns about the environment…Marilyn Campbell, Professor Faculty of Education, School of Cultural and Professional Learning, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/288652014-08-07T05:18:47Z2014-08-07T05:18:47ZWhat works best to help stop bullying in schools?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55877/original/pq4bmr9s-1407330605.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Good anti-bullying strategies can give kids extra muscle. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-183147242/stock-photo-strong-child-with-muscles-drawn-on-chalkboard-in-elementary-school.html?src=fEd/GU2BwX+QFuCy3/61DQ-4-2">Child via Robert Kneschke/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bullying in schools has been recognised as a serious and pervasive problem now for at least two decades. There is now also <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11218-011-9158-y#page-1">evidence</a>, including from the UK and other European countries, North America and Australia, that traditional forms of bullying in schools have decreased modestly over the last decade or so. This is very likely due to the increase in work to prevent bullying.</p>
<p>Yet much still persists. In 2010, the <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/media%40lse/research/EUKidsOnline/EU%20Kids%20II%20%282009-11%29/EUKidsOnlineIIReports/D4FullFindings.pdf">EU Kids Online project</a> found 19% of children were victims of bullying and 12% bullied others. A recent <a href="http://www.eukidsonline.net">follow-up study in 2014</a> suggested an increase in cyberbullying, though not in traditional bullying. Figures elsewhere are not dissimilar, although prevalence rates vary greatly in terms of how it is measured and how bullying is defined.</p>
<h2>Lessons from Scandinavia</h2>
<p>Bullying is usually defined as intent to harm another person repeatedly; with an imbalance of power, the victim cannot easily defend themselves. <a href="http://www.uk.sagepub.com/booksProdDesc.nav?prodId=Book233197">It can take the form of</a> everything from physical and verbal attacks, to social exclusion, spreading rumours and <a href="https://theconversation.com/its-the-permanence-of-online-abuse-that-makes-cyberbullying-so-damaging-for-children-29874">cyberbullying</a>. </p>
<p>Internationally, there have been many school-based anti-bullying programmes that bring about, on average, a reduction of <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11292-010-9109-1#page-1">some 20% in bullying</a>. The Norwegian <a href="http://www.violencepreventionworks.org/public/index.page">Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme</a> aims to provide a different structure to school classrooms to discourage bullying and reward more helpful behaviours. The <a href="http://www.kivaprogram.net/">Finnish KiVa programme</a> uses virtual learning methods and enlists high-status peers as defenders of those who are being bullied. </p>
<p>These two methods have <a href="http://www.uk.sagepub.com/booksProdDesc.nav?prodId=Book233197">been successfully replicated</a> in their home countries, but the extent to which this can be done elsewhere should become clearer in the next few years.</p>
<p>In the UK, the philosophy has generally been not to adopt or impose a specific programme to stop bullying, but rather to make a range of options and resources available for schools to choose the most appropriate. There are now many sources of support for children, parents and teachers, from organisations such as the <a href="http://www.antibullyingalliance.org">Anti-Bullying Alliance</a> and <a href="http://www.beatbullying.org">BeatBullying</a>.</p>
<p>To provide a good foundation for effective anti-bullying prevention and intervention, it is recommended that schools use an anti-bullying policy with clear definitions and procedures that are communicated to the whole school community. </p>
<p>Schools should have multiple avenues for reporting bullying that don’t stigmatise children, and a central recording system for incidents (particularly important as evidence). Staff also need ongoing training in intervention and regular auditing to measure the impact of anti-bullying work. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-use-and-effectiveness-of-anti-bullying-strategies-in-schools">Research is starting to show</a> the range of strategies available to schools.</p>
<h2>Preventing bullying</h2>
<p>To introduce proactive strategies that can help prevent bullying, schools need to think about the whole school environment, including the classroom and playground. Schools should promote adults as good rolemodels, and provide an “open door” policy for parents or carers.</p>
<p>Other strategies can include using assemblies to underpin a clear, anti-bullying message or to develop the school council as an effective reporting system. The curriculum can also be used to embed anti-bullying work, while in the playground, schools can create quiet zones and train lunchtime supervisors. </p>
<p>Peer-support strategies use trained students to prevent and respond to bullying. These can include buddy schemes, peer mediation, <a href="http://www.beatbullying.org/">online mentoring</a>, anti-bullying committees and lunchtime clubs. </p>
<p>But some schemes, such as designated “buddy benches”, can be stigmatising if accessing peer support is too obvious. Others can be underused, or even misused. While peer supporters generally have high morale and are very positive about the schemes, pupils who use the schemes tend to <a href="http://www.academia.edu/1270509/Peer_support_systems_to_counteract_bullying">have more mixed views</a>, depending on the quality of support, accessibility of peer supporters, and follow-up on mentoring sessions.</p>
<p>Providing the right support for these kinds of schemes is vital. This might be that a school recruits the right number of peer supporters to avoid drop-out, or provides regular supervision with a designated supervisor. </p>
<p>And when it comes to the transition from primary to secondary school, peer supporters can be particularly effective – if the supporter to student ratio is high enough. Outreach work in primary schools can also help establish good relationships and help make school induction day easier for newcomers.</p>
<h2>Reacting to bullying</h2>
<p>Strategies to respond to bullying incidents after they happen also need to be put in place by schools. And there are a range of various possible responses. </p>
<p>Direct sanctions range from a “telling off”, to permanent exclusion and can send a clear message that bullying is not tolerated. To be effective, sanctions need to be expressed as a clear set of consequences in a school’s anti-bullying policy and used in the framework of another more restorative approaches. Isolation rooms for “internal exclusion” and a re-integration process for excluded students are also recommended.</p>
<p>Restorative approaches can provide an effective, flexible range of strategies to prevent and respond to all types of bullying. Schools using these strategies systemically report the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/182421/DFE-RR098.pdf">best results</a> in terms of stopping bullying. If using restorative approaches, all staff need to be trained and sanctions are needed as a back-up if the restorative process fails.</p>
<p>A third strategy is the seven-step support group method. It has been <a href="http://www.uk.sagepub.com/repository/binaries/pdf/The_Support_Group_Method.pdf">used by some schools in England</a> because it is non-confrontational and avoids “punishment”. But other schools have chosen not to employ it because it avoids directly assigning blame or responsibility. Support groups can be effective especially for relational bullying, between friends. The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/182421/DFE-RR098.pdf">strategy works best</a> with older primary students and younger secondary students, particularly as they transition between the two schools. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://w3.unisa.edu.au/eds/documents/RigbyBullying.pdf">Pikas method</a> of “shared concern” – where meetings take place with children suspected of bullying – is also non-confrontational but more rarely used. It may be effective as one of a range of strategies when other group-based approaches have not worked – or for “provocative victims”. For both support-group and Pikas methods, teachers and school staff need both specific training and other back-up strategies.</p>
<p>Research on school bullying over the last 30 years has resulted in a broad accumulation of knowledge about the issues involved. Two or three decades ago, we knew very little, and were unable to provide effective support for teachers, schools, parents and young people. We now know that well-planned interventions can substantially reduce bullying, although there can be pitfalls along the way. But there is still much to learn about which interventions are most effective and in which circumstances.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article is part of a series on bullying. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/bullying-in-schools">other articles in the series here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28865/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter K Smith has received funding from ESRC, Qatar Foundation and EU/DAPHNE.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fran Thompson has received funding for her research from EU/DAPHNE II, the UK department for education and DigitalME. </span></em></p>Bullying in schools has been recognised as a serious and pervasive problem now for at least two decades. There is now also evidence, including from the UK and other European countries, North America and…Peter K Smith, Emeritus Professor, Unit for School and Family Studies, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of LondonFran Thompson, Researcher, Unit for School and Family Studies, Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/298742014-07-31T05:07:34Z2014-07-31T05:07:34ZIt’s the permanence of online abuse that makes cyberbullying so damaging for children<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55303/original/zr3rcxkk-1406711044.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=92%2C97%2C878%2C597&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Just like a punch to the stomach.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-77236459/stock-photo-sad-teenager-sitting-on-the-sofa-with-mobile-phone.html?src=pp-recommended-94638583-GdQo3qgFhBb0HTCNySg0vg-4">Sad teenager by Sabphoto/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>We are currently experiencing an epidemic of <a href="http://www3.open.ac.uk/media/fullstory.aspx?id=22931">cyberbullying</a> in schools that has taken the educational community by surprise. One new <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/EUKidsOnline/EU%20Kids%20III/Reports/NCGMUKReportfinal.pdf">UK study</a> of children’s digital habits found that online bullying has overtaken traditional forms bullying, with 12% of children now suffering cyberbulling compared to 9% face-to-face. </p>
<p>Changes in the way children communicate via social media are occurring so fast that there is a sense of panic among many parents, teachers and healthcare professionals that we are just not doing enough to protect children from becoming victims of cyberbullying. Only now is the important question being asked – what’s so different about cyberbullying? </p>
<p>In cyberspace, bullying can occur without the bully seeing the victim’s immediate reaction. At the same time, there are more opportunities for the cyberbully to maintain anonymity. This allows the bully to feel more empowered through the disinhibition of conventional expectations about acceptable social behaviour and by <a href="http://spi.sagepub.com/content/33/5/467.full">not being in direct face-to-face</a> contact with the victim. </p>
<p>But perhaps the most merciless feature of cyberbullying is that posts can continue to exist for a long time, accessible by the victim and by others. What is posted in cyberspace <a href="http://spi.sagepub.com/content/34/6/575.full.pdf">can become permanent</a>, and have long-lasting ramifications for victims.</p>
<h2>Taking pleasure in distress</h2>
<p>Bullying comes in many forms, including taunting, physical aggression, and deliberately isolating the victim. But it is essential to make a distinction between one-off instances of violent and aggressive behaviour and the prolonged and repeated victimisation that constitutes the heart of the bullying process. </p>
<p>In true cases of bullying, as distinct from unintentional bullying, the bully is fully aware of the distress that is being caused and the taking of pleasure in this distress is the real reason why the bully maintains their focus on a victim. </p>
<p>But establishing the amount of bullying that goes on in schools is very difficult, since only a small proportion of <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Helping_Troubled_Pupils.html?id=Wb2SOccLhEgC&redir_esc=y">cases are reported to teachers</a>.</p>
<p>A number of studies have looked at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-health-impact-of-childhood-bullying-can-last-a-lifetime-26541">long-term consequences</a> of bullying on the victim’s psychological adjustment and educational progress. Not only are victims of frequent and prolonged bullying made to suffer, but they may also develop mental health problems. They can become truants or school refusers, do less well at school academically than they would otherwise have done, and in extreme cases are <a href="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/LIFE/usaedition/2013-10-17-Lessons-to-be-learned-from-latest-cyberbullying-story_ST_U.htm">driven to commit suicide</a>. </p>
<h2>The permanence of cyber abuse</h2>
<p>Traditional bullying can also be a <a href="http://spi.sagepub.com/content/33/5/505.abstract">potential warning sign</a> of a move into cyberspace. One of the similarities with traditional bullying in schools is the persistent aggressive behaviour by one pupil towards another, intended to <a href="http://spi.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/05/01/0143034313479698">cause the victim to suffer</a>. This prolonged and repeated victimisation can also happen in <a href="http://www.fixers.org.uk/UserFiles/Files/p_mpbLkT.pdf">cases</a> of cyberbullying. </p>
<p>Being a victim of cyberbullying can lead to <a href="http://www.cyberbullying.us/cyberbullying_and_self_esteem_research_fact_sheet.pdf">low self-esteem</a>, depression, anxiety and psychosomatic problems like headaches and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781119954484.ch12/summary">sleep disturbances</a>. It can also lead to reduced concentration, increased school absences, alienation, lower academic achievement, negative perceptions of the school climate and also <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23332116">suicide attempts</a>.</p>
<p>Incidences of cyberbullying typically include sending angry, rude or vulgar messages about a person to an online group or to a person via email or messaging. But it also extends to other forms of online harassment and posting material about a person that contains sensitive or embarrassing information including forwarding <a href="http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ947949">private messages or images</a>. Cruelly <a href="http://www.booklocker.com/pdf/2631s.pdf">excluding someone</a> from an online group can also be seen as cyberbullying. </p>
<p>The fact that cyberbullies’ comments and images can be accessed any time and by anyone, often indefinitely, only augments the cyberbully’s pleasure in causing distress to the victim. In fact, in some cases, <a href="http://www.cortezeditora.com.br/DetalheProduto.aspx?ProdutoId=%7BB5CDC02E-E8DF-E111-A4EE-842B2B1656E4%7D">the desire of the cyberbully</a> to expose their identity on the internet using social websites is much more intense than the fear of suffering any type of retaliation from the teachers, head teachers or parents.</p>
<p>When schoolyard <a href="http://spi.sagepub.com/content/33/5/505.abstract">bullies become cyberbullies</a> it is crucial to note that teachers, parents and health workers have to think together about <a href="http://edtv.alexanderstreet.com/view/1737653">policies</a> concerning the <a href="http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/anti-cyberbullying-app-stopit-launches-to-help-victims-and-halt-cyberbullies-241287651.html">practices</a> of bullying and cyberbullying. </p>
<p>Strategies to tackle cyberbullying include developing a positive ethos and a whole-school <a href="http://www.cbp.com.au/Publications/Cyberbullying-and-schools---reducing-the-risk-of-l">anti-bullying policy</a> that includes online forms of abuse. Victims should be listened to, and mediation between bullies and victims promoted.</p>
<p>What’s clear is that we need to wake-up to the disruption that cyberbullying can have on children’s lives. Just because it doesn’t happen on the school playground, it doesn’t mean online abuse can be ignored. </p>
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<p><em>This article is part of a series on bullying. Read the other articles <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/bullying-in-schools">in the series here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29874/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We are currently experiencing an epidemic of cyberbullying in schools that has taken the educational community by surprise. One new UK study of children’s digital habits found that online bullying has…Chris Kyriacou, Professor in Educational Psychology , University of YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/274112014-07-22T14:53:45Z2014-07-22T14:53:45ZWho are more likely to be bullies – poor kids or rich kids?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54460/original/dq2vgvcx-1405958547.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It doesn't matter how much your parents earn.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bullying picture via stefanolunardi/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bullying is the repeated and <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1475-3588.2004.00089.x/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false">systematic abuse of power</a> with the aim of causing intentional harm. Examples of bullying have been found in all societies, including among modern hunter-gatherers and in ancient civilisations. But <a href="http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2014.301960">new research</a> has shown that in the modern age, we can draw few strong conclusions about whether bullies are more likely to come from richer or poorer families. In hierarchical social settings, anybody can be at risk of bullying. </p>
<p>Some <a href="http://scholar.google.co.uk/scholar?hl=en&q=volk+bullying+2012&btnG=&as_sdt=1%2C5&as_sdtp=">researchers consider bullying</a> to be an evolutionary adaptation, designed to gain access to resources, secure survival, and allow for more mating opportunities. Bullying can also reduce stress upon bullies: by enabling them to develop a culture of fear and respect it deters others from attacking them and means they have to spend less of their time fighting.</p>
<p>While children diagnosed with conduct disorder or delinquency are more often found in <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890856709637369">socially disadvantaged groups</a>, such as among families with low socioeconomic status, it is less clear whether bullies are also more likely to come from these backgrounds. </p>
<p>If bullies are motivated by the desire to obtain greater status and dominance, and use strategic behaviour as a means of gaining social success and romantic partners, then it is likely they will be found in similar numbers among all socioeconomic groups.</p>
<h2>Richer or poorer?</h2>
<p>To explore this, <a href="http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.2014.301960">we investigated</a> whether being a victim, bully, or bully/victim (someone who is victim but also fights back) was associated with socioeconomic status. Our research synthesised findings from 28 studies published since 1970 covering 342,611 children and adolescents in North America, Europe and Australia. </p>
<p>We found a weak association between socioeconomic status and being a bully: bullies were only slightly more likely to come from middle or lower-socioeconomic backgrounds. In contrast, victims and bully/victims were more likely to live in poorer families. Fewer victims came from richer households. </p>
<p>The results suggest that bullies exist across all socioeconomic groups: they are as likely to be found in deprived inner city areas as they are in leafy, suburban schools in well-to-do neighbourhoods. In contrast, those who become victims, particularly victims who retaliate unsuccessfully (bully/victims), are more likely to be raised in less well-off families. Overall, it seems that socioeconomic status is not the most accurate indicator for identifying those involved in school bullying.</p>
<h2>A social strategy</h2>
<p>These findings for bullies support an evolutionary interpretation of bullying situations. Unlike other forms of child aggression, such as conduct disorder or delinquency, which can result from psychiatric problems within the child, <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022440511000173">bullying appears to be a social strategy</a>, which is used to gain access to resources and achieve greater social status.</p>
<p>Emerging evidence shows that bullies are more prevalent in social settings characterised by hierarchical social structures, and more financial or social inequality. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X09001451">Greater financial inequality</a> in nations, as well as more hierarchical <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10964-013-0040-4">classroom</a> and <a href="http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ijamh.2012.24.issue-1/ijamh.2012.004/ijamh.2012.004.xml">household</a> structures all increase the risk of children bullying others. The more unequal a social setting, the more likely it is that using any means of getting ahead is endorsed. </p>
<p>Contrary to views held by some teachers, parents and even psychiatrists that bullies are poorly adjusted, there is also increasing evidence that bullies excel at reading other people’s emotions, and are often <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1348/026151099165384/abstract">skilled manipulators</a> who use a variety of social strategies. These may range from classical bullying (verbal, physical, black mailing or social exclusion) to more “pro-social strategies” such as publicly offering favours that make the victim feel uncomfortable and cannot be repaid.</p>
<p>The benefits to bullies have recently been shown in a range of longitudinal studies, which found bullying others had <a href="http://pss.sagepub.com/content/24/10/1958.short">few psychological, health or economic downsides</a> in early adulthood. It has actually been shown that being a bully may be protective for health: bullies were <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/05/09/1323641111">found to have less “chronic inflammation”</a> – caused when the body tries to fight an infectious agent – and therefore might be at a decreased risk for developing cardiovascular or metabolic illness.</p>
<h2>Reasons for being picked on</h2>
<p>In contrast, low socioeconomic status does somewhat increase the risk of being victimised at school. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/pits.20472/abstract">Standing out from the rest of the peer group</a> such as being unable to afford lifestyle items may single out children for victimisation. </p>
<p>Alternatively, characteristics which differ by socioeconomic level, such as parenting strategies, may explain this association. <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213413000732">Harsh parenting practices</a> and greater rates of <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213403001145">domestic violence</a> increase the risk of being victims or bully/victims, but are also more often found in <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/2002-02628-008">low socioeconomic households</a>. Overprotective, or so-called “helicopter parenting”, in particular, increases the risk of becoming a victim of bullying.</p>
<p>Overall, bullies are found in all socioeconomic groups while victims or bully/victims are slightly more likely to come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. To predict who might become a victim or bully/victim, a combination of background, family factors, such as parenting or sibling relationships, and individual characteristics need to be considered. </p>
<p>As bullies are found in all social strata, social conditions can mean that anyone is at risk of becoming a victim, particularly those in hierarchical school settings who are new or different, and have few friends to support them.</p>
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<p><em>This article is part of a series on bullying. Read the other articles in <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/bullying-in-schools">the series here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27411/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dieter Wolke receives funding from the Economic and Social Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil Tippett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Bullying is the repeated and systematic abuse of power with the aim of causing intentional harm. Examples of bullying have been found in all societies, including among modern hunter-gatherers and in ancient…Neil Tippett, PhD student, University of WarwickDieter Wolke, Professor of Psychology, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/270872014-06-30T13:34:16Z2014-06-30T13:34:16ZWhy children with autism often fall victim to bullies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52489/original/bbh2vwym-1403884724.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">I didn't get the joke. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-35531647/stock-photo-young-child-holding-up-sign-to-mask-true-emotion-psychology-concept.html?src=pp-same_model-35531653-Z_db2vlYzryCUGzQj6MRZw-2">Young child via Cheryl Casey/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bullying can affect anyone at any time, but young people with autism are especially vulnerable. The results can be devastating. Not being able to keep up with the teasing banter that often takes place among groups of young people can make the social world a very daunting place for children with autism. Being at odds with their peer group can lead to social isolation, rejection, and a lack of the supportive friendships that can protect against bullying. </p>
<p>Autism (including Asperger syndrome) is a developmental condition that the <a href="http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/autism-and-asperger-syndrome-an-introduction.aspx">National Autistic Society describes</a> as affecting “how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people and the world around them”. It is on a spectrum, meaning that although there are common areas of difficulty, people with autism are affected in very different ways, with widely varying degrees of severity. </p>
<p>As a consequence, while approximately 30% of young people with autism spectrum conditions attend special schools, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-with-special-educational-needs-an-analysis-2013">around 70% are in mainstream settings</a>, according to the government. </p>
<p>Worryingly, there is a growing body of research that indicates that young people on the autism spectrum are considerably more vulnerable to bullying than their peers. </p>
<h2>Bullied for being different</h2>
<p>The nature of autism means that negotiating the complex social world can be a challenging and daunting experience. It is a “hidden condition”, and so other children may struggle to understand why a pupil with autism is behaving in a different way. Results from my recent <a href="http://aut.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/07/23/1362361313495965.abstract">research</a> – in which more than 100 parents and 700 teachers of children with autism spectrum conditions participated – indicated that behaviour problems are a major predictor of being bullied. </p>
<p>Outbursts can be seen as frightening or disruptive by peers, despite being a result of unbearable levels of stress and anxiety. It is also difficult for other children to understand some common differences, such as having particularly strong interests or sensitivity to noise. Jokes and sarcasm can also be problematic, with the autistic child often taking the literal meaning of what is said. </p>
<p>One such example would be a teacher telling a pupil to “pull up your socks” when intended to encourage more effort. This may be met with confusion and (what is perceived to be) an inappropriate or cheeky response by an autistic child who has taken the comment at face value. </p>
<p>With the arrival of adolescence, social groupings and conventions become more important and complex, presenting additional challenges. While bullying is generally thought to decrease with age, <a href="http://aut.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/07/23/1362361313495965.abstract">my research</a> suggests this may not be the case for young people with autism. We should be more, rather than less concerned, as this group of young people grows older. </p>
<p>Indeed, there have been a number of tragic cases where a young person with autism has taken his or her own life, often following years of bullying and isolation from peers. While suicide is thankfully rare, the short and long-term <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-health-impact-of-childhood-bullying-can-last-a-lifetime-26541">effects of being the victim of bullying</a> have been well documented. These negative consequences include low self-esteem, difficulties at school, and mental health issues, all of which can persist long after the bullying has ceased.</p>
<h2>What can parents and schools do?</h2>
<p>All of this paints a bleak picture. But it is important to remember that not all young people with autism are bullied, and there are strategies that can be used to prevent it. Bullying is a complicated context-dependent problem and it is important not to tackle one aspect in isolation but develop adaptive strategies, such as social stories. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, we need to focus not just on the victims, but also on the bullies and bystanders. There <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01557.x/abstract">is evidence</a> that teaching pupils what to do if they witness bullying can help to protect victims, as children can learn to intervene, put pressure on bullies, or seek adult assistance. </p>
<p>Teachers with a good awareness of autism can be instrumental in promoting tolerance and encourage difference and individuality. It is <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08856257.2012.726019#.U62OYrHb7Io">also important to achieve a balance</a> between support and independence at school. </p>
<p>Too much adult support can prevent pupils with autism from having appropriate contact with peers. But insufficient support may lead to increased vulnerability to bullying, such as on the school bus or at break and lunchtime. Close contact and collaboration between home and school can also help build positive relationships. It is valued by parents who may be the first to spot the warning signs that their child is being bullied. </p>
<p>Tackling bullying cannot happen in a vacuum, and it is clear that multiple strategies are needed. If this can be achieved – as is the case in many proactive schools with a strong anti-bullying ethos – then the bullying of this potentially vulnerable group of young people can be prevented.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27087/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Judith Hebron has previously received funding from the Department for Education for the evaluation of Achievement for All. She is currently funded jointly by the Simon Research Fellowship at the University of Manchester and the Leverhulme Trust as an Early Career Research Fellow. </span></em></p>Bullying can affect anyone at any time, but young people with autism are especially vulnerable. The results can be devastating. Not being able to keep up with the teasing banter that often takes place…Judith Hebron, Research Fellow, Manchester Institute of Education, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.