Bullying directly affects students’ ability to learn.

• According to the Center for Disease Control, students who are bullied are more likely to experience low self-esteem and isolation, perform poorly in school, have few friends in school, have a negative view of school, experience physical symptoms (such as headaches, stomachaches, or problems sleeping), and to experience mental health issues (such as depression, suicidal thoughts, and anxiety) (Center for Disease Control, Bullying Surveillance Among Youths, 2014).
• Bullying affects witnesses as well as targets. Witnesses are more likely to use tobacco, alcohol, or other drugs; have increased mental health problems; and miss or skip school (StopBullying.gov).
• Youth who bully others are at increased risk for substance use, academic problems, and experiencing violence later in adolescence and adulthood. Youth who bully others and are bullied themselves suffer the most serious consequences and are at greater risk for mental health and behavioral problems. (Center for Disease Control, 2017).

Bystanders can be powerful allies.

• Since student bystanders can often intervene most effectively, it’s important for schools to encourage bystander intervention by teaching skills and offering resources that support this behavior. Schools should also seek to ensure that bystanders are protected and students know not to put themselves in danger.

Bullying is not a “rite of passage” but a serious threat to student safety and well-being.

• Some say bullying makes children tougher and is not a serious problem, but the reality is that students who are bullied are more likely to report increased negative effects to their emotional and physical health.
• Areas of concern include:
  • Education – School avoidance, loss of academic achievement and increase in drop out rates
  • Health – Physical and emotional including stomachaches, headaches, sleeping issues, depression, fear or anxiety
  • Safety – Harm to self and others, including self-isolation, increased aggression, alienation, and retaliation.

Anyone can bully, and anyone can be bullied.

• Bullying is a behavior, not an identity. Labeling as student as a “bully” can have a detrimental effect on their future and often limits their ability to change their behavior (StopBullying.gov, 2016).
• Students can have multiple roles: they can be the one subjected to bullying and the one who bullies (StopBullying.gov, 2016 ). Strategies that focus on holding students accountable for their behavior – but also empower them to change that behavior – are more effective than punitive punishments and peer mediation in bullying situations.
• Any student can exhibit bullying behavior – male or female, popular or unpopular, students with good grades, and those who struggle academically. Teachers need to focus on a student’s behavior, not their profile, when determining if bullying occurred.

Bullying isn’t about resolving conflict; bullying is about control.

• In conflict, children self-monitor their behavior and generally stop when they realize they are hurting someone.
• When bullying, children continue their behavior when they realize it is hurting someone, and are satisfied by a feeling of power and control.

Effective bullying prevention efforts involve students, parents, teachers, and community members.

• A community-wide effort shows students that adults care what happens to them and that they are not alone.
• According to the (Center for Disease Control) , promising elements of bullying prevention programs include:
  • Multi-tiered systems of support, which includes universal programs or activities for all youth within the community or school; selective interventions for groups of youth at risk for being involved in bullying; and preventive interventions tailored for students already involved in bullying.
  • Multicomponent programs that address multiple aspects of bullying behavior and the environments that support it. Examples include examining school rules and using behavior management techniques and social emotional learning in the classroom and throughout the school to detect and provide consequences for bullying.
  • School-wide prevention activities that include improving the school climate, strengthening supervision of students, and having a school-wide anti-bullying policy.
  • Involving families and communities by helping caregivers learn how to talk about bullying and get involved with school-based prevention efforts.
  • Developing long-term school-wide approaches that strengthen youth’s social-emotional, communication, and problem-solving skills.
  • Focusing on program fidelity by forming an implementation team to make sure the programs are carried out exactly as they were designed.
• According to a recent meta-analysis (Lee, Kim, & Kim, 2015) , successful bullying prevention programs include the following
  • Training in emotional control (awareness of personal feelings and the feelings of others, self-regulation of impulses and actions)
  • Training in peer counseling (education and activities that empower students to help one during bullying situations)
  • Establishment of a school policy on bullying (schools regularly assessing the needs of their students, establishing and revising school bullying policies with the support of school administration, and promoting a school culture that does not tolerate bullying).
• Youths’ resilience is a protective factor in mitigating the negative effects of bullying. Resilience is one’s ability to spring back, rebound, and successfully cope with bullying victimization. Resilience is fostered with supportive environments, positive peer relationships, a sense of belonging, and self-efficacy (Hinduja & Patchin, 2017).
• Allowing students to be involved in bullying prevention efforts has a great impact. Students feel empowered by being directly involved in analyzing bullying issues, creating ideas to help solve the problem, and enact creative solutions. Student-led bullying prevention initiatives give students self-efficacy and a sense of agency with leadership (Shriberg et al., 2017).

References

Center for Disease Control, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (2017). Preventing bullying. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullying-factsheet508.pdf

Hinguja, S., & Patchin, J. W. (2017). Cultivating youth resilience to prevent bullying and cyberbullying victimization. Child Abuse & Neglect, 73, 51-62. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0145213417303411

Lee, S., Kim, C., & Kim, D. H. (2015). A meta-analysis of the effect of school-based anti-bullying programs. Journal of Child Health Care, 19, 136-153. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24092871/

Shriberg, D., Brooks, K., Jenkins, K., Immen, J., Sutter, C., & Cronin, K. (2017). Using Student Voice to Respond to Middle School Bullying: A Student Leadership Approach. School Psychology Forum, 11, 20-33. Retrieved from https://www.nasponline.org/publications/periodicals/spf/volume-11/volume-11-issue-1-(spring-2017)/using-student-voice-to-respond-to-middle-school-bullying-a-student-leadership-approach

Snapp, S. D., McGuire, J. K., Sinclair, K. O., Gabrion, K., & Russell, S. T. (2015). LGBTQ-inclusive curricula: Why supportive curricula matter. Sex Education, 15, 580-596. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14681811.2015.1042573?journalCode=csed20

StopBullying. (2016). Prevent bullying. Retrieved from https://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/index.html

Updated November 9, 2023