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Bullying and Strategies to deal with bullying in New Zealand Schools

Melissa Letica, Emily White and Lucy Morris

+Bullying in New Zealand: The facts; and strategies to deal with it

throughout schools. Bullying in New Zealand is unbelievable. It can happen anywhere and to

anyone. It is extremely probable that a child you know is or has been bullied. There are an estimated 200 million children and youths being bullied around the world. With the internet now being an important part of ours and our children’s lives it makes it easier for people to bully as it is harder to track and involves less confrontation.

Bullying has many different side effects which include; suicide, depression, psychological and psychotic problems, anxiety, anger, drop in school performance, insecurity, lack of trust, etc. There are many effective ways to deal with it in New Zealand throughout different schools, and most schools have strict policies about bullying. However, it is still happening and with the rise of social media and cell phones, it is harder to detect and treat. This power point includes an outline of bullying and some strategies which could be used to prevent and deal with it at schools.

+What is Bullying? Bullying is something which doesn’t just happen to children at school but can

happen to adults, in the workplace, between friends, at home, or by teachers. It is important to ensure that we, as teachers, don’t become the bully;? because that does happen. Kidspot.co.nz defines bullying as when “a person or a group repeatedly and intentionally uses or abuse their power to intimidate, hurt, oppress or damage someone else.”

It is important to note that it is not a one off occurrence (remove?), it has to be a regular thing to be defined as bullying. At school it can occur anywhere, in the classroom, outside, in the hallways, during school, after school, in the bathrooms etc. This makes it hard to keep track of and difficult to identify. 88% of students will witness a bullying incident during their time at school and only 25% of parents believe bullying is a problem at school!

Boys bully both girls and boys but girls are more likely to just bully other girls by themselves or by forming a group. It is also common for older students to pick on the younger ones. However, bullying is not a problem which sorts itself out, and different strategies are better to use against different types of bullying which is why it is important to find what it right for the situation.

+Types of Bullying

There are three main types of bullying seen in Primary/Intermediate schools.Physical bullying; Emotional bullying; Verbal bullying; and now Cyber bullying.

Physical Bullying:Obviously involves unwanted physical contact between the

victim and the bully. It can involve things like; pushing, punching, kicking, tickling,

pranks, inappropriate touching, or use of weapons. It is probably

the easiest to identify and is more often between males.

Emotional Bullying:This is bullying which causes

damage to a person’s emotional well-being,

basically making them feel bad about themselves. It

includes things like; exclusion, intimidation,

spreading rumours or lies, humiliation, dirty looks etc. It is very sneaky and harder to identify. It is used more

commonly by females.

Verbal Bullying:This includes any type of verbal behaviour used to cause a person distress or ruin their reputation. This

includes; name calling, swearing, accusations,

insults, unwanted nicknames, rumours, gossip,

threats, teasing etc. It can be hard to identify and can

also be used alongside other forms of bullying.

+Cyber Bullying

Cyber Bullying is bullying predominantly through the internet or cell-phones. www.STOPcyberbullying.org describes it as; “when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones. It has to have a minor on both sides, or at least have been instigated by a minor against another minor.” I wonder why they limit it to teens?

It could be through social media, email, chat rooms, texting, blogs, calling etc. There will continue to be more and more ways it can happen as technology develops. It is also so anonymous that bullies can pose as other people and are much harder to track.

Cyber bullying is the hardest to identify and is thebiggest growing because of the advance of social media.

+Your First Reaction as a Teacher

Display an outward show of relief that the bullying is out in the open. An Auckland study discovered that only 20% of students would tell a teacher if they were being bullied. Let the student know (regardless of whether they are the victim or a bystander) that coming forward was the right thing to do.

Focus on the behaviour of the bully rather than the victim.

The short term goal of your reaction should be to put a stop to the immediate abuse. Ensure that the victim is safe and will not be the victim of any more bullying in the immediate future. Yes this is quite a problem

+Support the Victim

Working with the student’s peer group 80% of students are not actively involved in bullying at their

schools. This is a positive statistic as it shows that 8 out of 10 students are neither bullies nor victims of bullying. However, unless their help is specifically requested or they feel that they have a duty to act, they will not get involved in preventing the bullying.

The peer group should be made aware of the incident and the consequences it has on the victim

The serious potential for harm should be impressed upon the students. Making students aware of the harm that can be caused by bullying can ensure students are not involved in bullying in the future.

The student may want to be with their peer group immediately after the incident.

+Support the Victim

The victim should have access to a guaranteed bully-free environment. Some schools have a special room for quiet activities that students can use

to provide students with this environment. These rooms need to be adequately supervised to ensure the

environment remains safe. Staff and senior students can be used to monitor the classroom.

The victim needs to be made aware of supportive people in the school environment. Reliable peers, volunteers and school staff should be available to spend time with the victim.

Some schools offer confidence building courses for students who may have trouble re-integrating with their peer group. A major effect of bullying can be causing previously extroverted students to withdraw from classroom activities. With appropriate support, their confidence can be rejuvenated and they can positively engage with their peer group.

+Working with the Bully

Isolate the bully’s behaviour. Remove the bully from the environment. This protects the victim and

ensures the bully sees an immediate consequence of their behaviour. Ensure that the bully knows why they are being removed from the environment

Ask the bully to explain why they have been put in isolation. It may also be appropriate for them to write a letter to their parents explaining their behaviour and why they have been put in isolation. This is an important step for allowing the bully to take responsibility for

their actions, rather than just getting caught.

Some students may find it difficult to stop their aggressive behaviour. Positive social behaviour courses may be necessary. Child Youth and Family or the Police may need to be involved.

Peer mediation programmes can work well to prevent future bullying. Involving the student’s peer group can help bullies see the harm their actions can cause and show that it is not acceptable social behaviour.

+These strategies are great for teachers, but studies have found dramatic reductions in bullying of 20-80% when school wide strategies are used Two key messages from these studies are that:

1. “There is direct correlation between the time and quality of effort spent in developing a whole school policy and the reduction in the levels of bullying.”

2. “…the process of developing a common understanding of the problem is as important as any other factor.”

+Stages in Whole School No Bullying ApproachFrom the NZ Police No Bully website

Use a full staff meeting to raise awareness and knowledge of the issue. The anti-bullying initiative must be tied to the school’s philosophy as laid out in the charter. Emphasise the school’s obligation to provide a safe environment.

A brief presentation to the Board of Trustees about the nature of bullying will be useful to ensure that the subsequent policy will gain their support and acceptance.

Gather Information: Find out what similar schools have done. Survey staff to find out what existing programmes or initiatives in the

school complement an anti-bullying approach. What approach would best fit the current culture of the school?

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Develop some base-line data that will give some quantitative information on levels of bullying within your school.

Investigate staff, pupils and parents perception on bullying.

The development of a ‘common understanding’ of bullying and expressing this in a policy is the key to reducing bullying. It must be supported by clear guidelines on how to deal with cases of bullying.

Have parent / caregiver meetings. These will allow everyone to look at the issues, the nature of the behaviour and the consequence and impact of bullying on all participants, so everyone in the school and school community are clear on these.

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Provide pupils with the pamphlets, information and websites on bullying.

Some whole school No Bullying strategies which are available online: Kia Kaha – Police Youth Education Service Programme No Bully ? Reference to access this?

+References

http://www.kidspot.co.nz/article+2546+39+Definitions-of-bullying.htm

http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying

http://www.police.govt.nz/service/yes/nobully/guidelines_4schools.html

http://www.police.govt.nz/service/yes/nobully/bullying_info.pdf

http://www.police.govt.nz/service/yes/nobully/stop_bullying.pdf

http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/what_is_cyberbullying_exactly.html

http://www.webhealth.co.nz/articles/view/article/15/bullying/#types-of-bullying

http://blog.websafety.co.nz/2010/02/cyber-bullying-facts.html

http://www.youthstats.myd.govt.nz/indicator/safe/bullying-at-school/index.html