Essay on Bullying in Schools
School bullying can be defined as the situation in which one or more students (The Bullies) single out a child (victim) and intend in behavior intended to cause discomfort or harm the child. A bully will repeatedly target the same victim several times. Under all circumstances, bullies have an advantage over the victim as they possess more power. Compared to the victim, bullies usually have physically stronger with a large circle of friends or higher social standing. Bullying can inflict emotional distress, humiliation, and physical harm. More than 95% of learning institutions experience bullying globally. Bullying must be meet a specific rationale to be considered bullying. Such requirements include repetitiveness, recurrent imbalance of power, and provocation. Bullying can occur in schools, on campus, or the outskirts of school, but its setting must have been created within the school. Regardless of the position, all the stakeholders in a school context, such as parents, educators, children, and community members, are required to contribute to the prevention of bullying in schools. School bullying is increasingly becoming a social problem in modern society. Ideally, there are several types of school bullying attached to different causes. The effects of school bullying can be classified in psychological, economical, and academic dimensions.
Types of Bullying in Schools
The common types of bullying in a school setting include verbal, sexual, cyber, psychological, physical, and higher education bullying. Notably, victims in a learning context can experience bullying regardless of age. The aforementioned types of bullying are further classified as either direct or indirect bullying. Direct bullying is defined as an attack that is openly targeted to a victim. Direct bullying is either verbal or physical. Contrary, indirect bullying involves different forms of relational aggression that leads to social isolation through defaming one’s reputation and manipulating the conscience of others into falsehood. Indirect bullying is usually hard and subtle to detect in a school setting (Goodwin et al. 330). If undertaken by a group of bullies, direct and indirect bullying can be referred to as pack bullying. The different types of bullying can be defined either directly or indirectly relative to the implication to the victim.
Physical bullying occurs when there is unwanted physical contact between the victim and the bully. Physical contact can be hand to hand or tripping and throwing items at others that can cause physical harm. The second is emotional bullying. Emotional bullying can be defined as hurting others emotionally by negatively influencing their moods and psyche. The primary examples of emotional bullying include; belittling, spreading false information, and defamation. Verbal bullying can be defined as the usage of slanderous language or statements causing emotional distress to other people. Examples of verbal bullying include harassing, mocking, teasing, and threatening to cause harm. Finally, Cyberbullying is attached to the evolution of the internet and computers. The use of computers in bullying at schoolyards is on the surge. In most instances, schools experience difficulties in controlling cyberbullying as experiences are beyond the school fraternity.
The other common types of school bullying are sexual bullying and higher education bullying. Sexual bullying is either non-physical or physical, grounded on the gender or sexuality of the victim. In most instances, sexual bullying is undertaken by the male gender. The United States department of education reports an average of 60% of expulsions and suspensions from learning institutions attached to sexual bullying (Goodwin et al. 328). In most instances, the young ones are frames into tricks to share their nudes, after which there are forced to fulfill specific sexual demands at the expense of exposure. Higher education bullying occurs at the campus or college level. Around 95% of students have reported having been bullied at the college level. Higher education bullying results in depression and suicide in most cases.
Measures to Control Bullying
The main approaches in controlling bullying in school settings include the implementation of educative programs, creating a positive school climate, engaging parents, encouraging open communication and punishments. These techniques, however, vary depending on the learning level and the prevalence of bullying in the particular period. Education programs involve creating awareness to parents, students, and teachers regarding what constitutes bullying. Educative programs are instrumental in creating insight into the harmful nature of whichever kind of bullying. All the stakeholders within the school fraternity are enrolled in sessions of creating awareness on the signs of bullying and the most appropriate intervention criteria. The most common ways in educating on bullying include role-play, identification and reporting discussions, and other approaches to decline being involved in bullying. Nickerson(19) argued that educative programs are 62% effective in curbing the prevalence of bullying in learning institutions.
Secondly, schools can help in the prevention of bullying by promoting a positive school climate. Schools with a positive climate are presumed to have a healthy development, while the negative school climate results in a surge in bullying cases, unsafe feelings, victimization, and aggression. While the elements of positive school culture vary from norms relative to power, relationships, and feelings, it’s evident that a positive climate is a product of a conscious process that becomes self-reinforcing (Goodwin et al. 330). The main determinants of a positive climate include leadership and integrity in learning institutions. Therefore, the ability to have cognitive leaders is an advantage of coping with bullying in schools.
Third, schools should engage parents. Parents spend most of their time with children at the primary level. While there are many stakeholders involved in the lives of the children, parents play an essential role in understanding their behavior. Engaging parents in bullying scenarios means initiating communication on the progress of the children in terms of behavior and performance. Integration between parents and teachers is essential in providing consistent approaches that help yield a more productive and appropriate behavior (Nickerson 22). Parents can help their children recognize while being bullied by others. However, the approach is not viable in urban schools as parents experience difficulties establishing trust with schools.
Finally, schools should initiate open communication techniques. Open communication is essential in building rapport. Having open communication means that students can disclose their problems to teachers. Open communication helps the teachers gain more insight into existing bullies in the school (Nickerson 20). For instance, classroom meetings in grade 4 will enable teachers to obtain crucial information in enacting more controls to curb bullying in schools. Teachers are expected to listen carefully during the class meetings to avoid inflicting fear on the learners. Students should be assured of confidentiality and privacy of the information obtained as any disclosure might attract further bullying.
Effects of School Bullying
The effect of school bullying can be categorized in psychological and academic dimensions. Bullying results in poor performance in school. More than 70% of learners subjected to bullying ends up recording a decline in academic performance. The results are more severe at a young age. Bullying would result in fading of interest and participation of learners in school activities as it results in unexplained injuries linked to affecting concentration (Menesini and Christina 246). The impact of bullying on educational performance is increasingly becoming imminent. Bullying installs fear in learners from attending school regularly, thus affecting their consistency and concentration in class. Based on this explanation, it’s evident that bullied students will experience difficulties in achieving their academic goals. Moreover, bullying is linked with an unsafe learning environment that creates a negative climate of fear and insecurities and the perception that teachers do not care about the welfare of learners, thus decline in quality of education.
Secondly, bullying is associated with psychological problems. While bullying to individuals helps them enhance their personality and perceptions as they grow, it’s presumed that bullying can risk an individual developing an antisocial personality disorder linked to committing crimes. Bullying leads to depression, anxiety, and psychosomatic symptoms, which often leads to alcohol and substance abuse by the victims at a later stage in their lives. It’s argued that victims of depression feel free and open to share their experience with others, unlike in bullying, where the victims would choose to shy talking about the feeling in fear of being bullied again. In the short run, bystanders of the bullying experience may develop the fear, guiltiness, and sadness, and if the experience persists, they might get psychologically drained (Sampson). Therefore, the victims of bullying experiences struggle with insomnia, suicidal thoughts, health problems, and depression. Bullying does affect not only the students but also their classmates and family. Feeling powerless, parents and immediate family members might fall victim to depression and emotional distress. Some parents would invest more time in protecting their children, thus affecting them psychologically and economically.
Causes of Bullying
There are numerous causes of school bullying attached to religion, socioeconomic status, race, and gender. Understanding the reasons why students chose to bully their classmates is significant to teachers in combating bullying. The National Center for Educational Statistics report established that 25% of Blacks, 22% of Caucasians, 17% of Hispanics, and 9% of Asian students were bullied in 2017 (Divecha). Some of the students that bully others have higher levels of courage and confidence and can respond aggressively if threatened by the behavior. Students at the college level get bullied on sexual matters. For instance, the subscribers to LGBTQA sexual orientation get bullied based on their decision as gay or lesbians. Moreover, bullying in schools is caused by other factors attached to families. Students from abuse and divorced families are likely to bully others due to jealousy, anger, and despair.
From the above discussion, it’s evident that school bullying in whichever capacity is detrimental to human dignity. School bullying is increasingly becoming a social problem in modern society. Ideally, there are several types of school bullying attached to different causes. The effects of school bullying can be classified in psychological, economical, and academic dimensions. The primary forms of school form such as verbal, sexual, cyber, psychological, physical, and higher education bullying are categorized into direct and indirect bullying. The intervention strategies to curb bullying should involve all the stakeholders, such as parents, teachers, and students. The main approaches in controlling bullying in school settings include implementing educative programs, creating a positive school climate, engaging parents, and encouraging open communication and punishments.
Works Cited
Divecha, Diana. “What Are the Best Ways to Prevent Bullying in Schools?” Greater Good , https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_are_the_best_ways_to_prevent_bullyi ng_in_schools
Sampson, Rana. “Center for Problem-Oriented Policing.” Arizona State University, https://popcenter.asu.edu/content/bullying-schools-0
Menesini, Ersilia, and Christina Salmivalli. “Bullying in schools: the state of knowledge and effective interventions.” Psychology, health & medicine 22.sup1 (2017): 240-253.
Goodwin, John, et al. “Bullying in schools: an evaluation of the use of drama in bullying prevention.” Journal of Creativity in Mental Health 14.3 (2019): 329-342.
Nickerson, Amanda B. “Preventing and intervening with bullying in schools: A framework for evidence- based practice.” School Mental Health 11.1 (2019): 15-28.
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Bullying in school should not be tolerated
Readers call for a zero-tolerant approach to school bullying. other topics: uae security, hiv/ aids, cycling in the uae, emoji app.
March 07, 2015
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It is disturbing to hear of cases of violence among schoolchildren ( Boy, 6, hurt in school incident , March 6). The young boy appears to have been a victim of bullying.
Most bullies take advantage of the fact that their victims do not report what they go through. The teachers should have been alert.
Had the teachers been vigilant and had the management paid heed to the boy’s mother, the child would not have had to bear so much pain. I hope his eye isn’t damaged permanently. The boy who carried out the attack should be expelled for his behaviour.
Name withheld by request
My heart goes out to this young boy and his family. As a teacher of young boys myself, I see, on a daily basis, how mean and cruel they can be to one another. Any form of bullying or hitting or any disrespectful behaviour of any sort is not tolerated in my classroom.
Tesha Rector, Abu Dhabi
Security comes first for the UAE
With regard to the story about three British citizens being arrested in Fujairah on grounds of national security ( Three British plane spotters arrested in Fujairah , March 4), one simply has to understand where one is before one embarks on any stupidity. Plane spotting may be an innocent and enjoyable (to some) pastime, but many countries are security conscious and for very good reasons. Hopefully the three Britons will be proved innocent, be severely reprimanded and sent on their way.
Dave Pryce, Dubai
With hundreds of Europeans and North Americans joining extremist groups like ISIL, you cannot help but suspect such activities. Chances cannot be taken on security issues.
Also if something goes wrong, most people will criticise the country’s security. In this case, the suspects have just been taken into custody for questioning. Why do something like this, which is prohibited?
Mohammed Yusuf, Abu Dhabi
I am happy to know that the Government is taking all steps to keep the country safe.
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Time to talk about HIV/ Aids
I am happy to see the problem being discussed openly ( Society must support those with HIV/Aids , March 5). That's a step in the right direction. I wish Nasser Al Mazrouei finds happiness and has a long and healthy life. Majdel Musa, Dubai
Mr Al Mazrouei should be praised for not marrying without disclosing the fact that he is HIV positive (not a sufferer as indicated in the title).
Gordana Latinovic, Dubai
Sadly, HIV is everywhere. I hope he can find that special person. With proper precautions it should not be transmittable. Just look at retired American professional basketball player Magic Johnson – his wife is still HIV negative.
Maria Padilla, Dubai
Is there a place for cyclists here?
I am so sad to hear about cyclist deaths again and again ( Tributes to cyclists killed in accident, March 4). The mentality of drivers in UAE cannot cope with cyclists on the roads. There aren't enough cycle paths either, so please stop cycling and don't encourage cycling.
J Smith, Abu Dhabi
Emoji app needs to fix problems
The Emoji app is cute, but doesn't work properly ( Emoji app celebrates Emirati culture , March 5).
You can’t use it just as you would any other app, through the keyboard. You have to paste stickers into your message, which means you need to open the app, copy the sticker, open a message and paste. This is annoying.
I downloaded it. But after a while I went to the app store and got a refund.
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There are many factors worrying investors right now and triggering a rush out of stock markets. Here are four of the biggest:
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Ritu Vohora, investment director at fund manager M&G, says markets fear that US President Donald Trump’s spat with China will escalate into a full-blown global trade war, with both sides suffering. “The US economy is robust enough to absorb higher input costs now, but this may not be the case as tariffs escalate. However, with a host of factors hitting investor sentiment, this is becoming a stock picker’s market.”
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Essay on Bullying in Schools
Students are often asked to write an essay on Bullying in Schools in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.
Let’s take a look…
100 Words Essay on Bullying in Schools
Understanding bullying.
Bullying in schools is a serious issue. It involves repeated, unwanted, aggressive behavior. It can be physical, verbal, or social.
Effects of Bullying
Bullying harms students both mentally and physically. It can lead to low self-esteem, depression, and even thoughts of suicide.
Preventing Bullying
Schools can prevent bullying by fostering a safe environment. Encourage students to report bullying and provide support for victims.
Role of Students
As students, you can help by standing up against bullying. Be a friend, not a bystander.
250 Words Essay on Bullying in Schools
Introduction.
Bullying in schools is a pervasive issue that affects students’ academic performance and emotional well-being. It is a detrimental act, characterized by the intention to cause harm, repetition, and power imbalance between the bully and the victim.
Prevalence and Impacts
The prevalence of bullying is alarmingly high, with approximately one in three students worldwide reporting being bullied. The impacts are far-reaching, causing significant psychological distress, leading to depression, anxiety, and, in severe cases, self-harm and suicide.
The Role of the Internet
The advent of the internet has given rise to cyberbullying, exacerbating the issue. Cyberbullying allows perpetrators to hide behind screens, making it easier to inflict harm and harder for victims to escape.
Prevention Strategies
Preventing bullying requires a comprehensive approach. Schools should foster a culture of respect and inclusion, implement anti-bullying policies, and ensure their enforcement. Teachers and parents need to be educated about recognizing and addressing bullying.
Bullying in schools is a critical issue that requires collective effort to combat. By fostering an environment of respect and empathy, we can mitigate the impacts of bullying and build safer, more inclusive educational environments.
500 Words Essay on Bullying in Schools
The nature of bullying.
Bullying can take many forms, from physical aggression to verbal taunts, social exclusion, spreading rumors, and cyberbullying. The common thread is the intention to harm and the presence of a power imbalance, with the bully often being physically, socially, or psychologically dominant. Bullying can have severe and long-lasting impacts on the victims, including mental health issues, academic problems, and even suicidal ideation.
The Underlying Causes
The reasons why bullying occurs are multifaceted. Some scholars suggest it’s an expression of an innate human tendency for dominance and aggression. Others point to environmental factors such as family dynamics, school climate, and societal norms that tolerate or even endorse aggression. Bullying can also be a learned behavior, with bullies often having been victims of bullying themselves or having witnessed it in their surroundings.
The Role of Schools
Prevention and intervention strategies.
Addressing bullying requires comprehensive, evidence-based strategies. Schools should adopt a whole-school approach that involves students, staff, parents, and the wider community. This approach includes implementing clear anti-bullying policies, providing regular training for staff and students, fostering a positive school climate, and offering support services for victims.
Bystander intervention is also a promising strategy. Encouraging students to stand up against bullying, rather than passively witnessing it, can significantly reduce the prevalence of bullying. Furthermore, restorative justice approaches, where bullies are made to understand the harm they’ve caused and take responsibility for their actions, can be highly effective.
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Bullying: How to Prevent it and Help Children Who are Victims
Bullying is a fact of life in many schools, but it should be taken seriously because the consequences can be very serious. Students who are bullied can become violent, like the Columbine shooters, or suicidal . What is the difference between teasing and bullying, how is bullying linked to violence, and what can you do to prevent bullying and its harmful impact on children you care about?
What is Bullying?
Bullying is defined as unwanted aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance that is either repeated or a single event . [1]
Bullying can be:
- Verbal (teasing, name-calling, inappropriate sexual comments, taunting, threatening to cause harm)
- Social (leaving someone out on purpose, telling others not to be friends with someone, spreading rumors, embarrassing someone in public)
- Physical (hitting/kicking/pinching, spitting, tripping/pushing, taking or breaking someone’s things, making mean or rude hand gestures)
- Cyber bullying (happening via internet, text, or email) 1
Although the types of bullying vary, research has shown that psychological distress is similar in all of them. The main difference is that some types, such as cyber bullying,are harder to detect. [2]
How Common is Bullying?
In 2013, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System surveyed 13,583 high school (grades 9-12) students and found that:
- 20% of students nationwide experienced bullying,
- Females are bullied more often (24%) than males (16%),
- The most likely student to get bullied was a white female in the 9 th grade,
- Nationwide, 15% of students have been electronically (cyber) bullied and rates were also highest among 9 th grade, white females. [3]
Who Gets Bullied?
The typical child or a teen who is likely to get bullied is “observably vulnerable”, which means he or she may: [2]
- Have delayed puberty;
- Be gender non-conforming;
- Have a unique physical appearance;
- Be socially rejected and isolated.
A study by Hailee Dunn and her colleagues found that students, especially girls, who reported having engaged in sexual intercourse were more likely to report having been bullied at school or electronically. Students of both genders who reported both engaging in intercourse and being bullied had higher rates of depression and suicidal thoughts when compared to students who reported neither of these experiences. [4]
Who is a Bully?
The typical bully is usually psychologically not well adjusted and commonly has: [4]
- Low empathy;
- Problematic home life;
- Inability to handle emotions (emotional reactivity).
Researchers divide bullies into two types: those seeking status and those who go after more vulnerable victims. [5]
Bullies that are motivated by social status tend to target their friends and other more popular schoolmates. Those who target vulnerable victims are less popular themselves, are anxious or depressed, and are less likely to target their friends, instead targeting less popular schoolmates. Males are usually more likely to bully in physically aggressive ways, while females are more likely to use verbal, social, and cyber bullying. [2]
Bullying and Violence
One of the first studies to examine the link between bullying and violence asked whether it was the bully or the victim who was most likely to be dangerously violent by measuring four violence-related behaviors:
- Carrying a weapon in the last 30 days
- Carrying a weapon in school in the last 30 days
- Frequent fighting during the last year
- Sustaining an injury during the last year from a fight that required medical care.
The study, published in 2003, was based on more than 15,000 students who participated in the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, a nationally representative survey of youth in grades 6 through 10 in public, Catholic, and other private schools during the spring of 1998. The youths completed anonymous questionnaires during one class period. [6]
The results showed, that violence-related behaviors were more common in boys (ranging from 13%-27% among those who reported each behavior) than girls (ranging from 4%-11%).
While the study did not conclude that the victims of bullying were the kids most likely to be dangerous, it did find that victims are more likely than kids who have never been bullied to feel that violence is a solution to their problems. Kids who bully or are bullied are more likely to be involved in one or more of the four violence-related behaviors. The youths most likely to carry a weapon reported bullying others in or away from school or being bullied away from school. Boys and girls who bully fight more often and are more likely to get injured in a fight. This is also true for boys who are bullied away from school.
A child who bullies and is also a victim of bullying can be at even higher risk for certain violence-related behaviors. For example, youths who were sometimes bullied in and away from school, and who also bullied others away from school weekly, were 16 times more likely to carry a weapon.
The authors of the study concluded that bullying often occurs in conjunction with more serious aggressive and antisocial behavior, and therefore should not be considered a normal and accepted part of youth behavior , even though it is common. [6]
Other Consequences of Bullying
Besides violent related behavior, research has also shown that both the victims of bullying and the bullies bear emotional and behavioral consequences that result from bullying. For the victims of bullying, the consequences are also the signs that should alert parents to suspect that a child might be bullied:
- Feelings of loneliness
- Loss of interest in activities a child used to enjoy
- Changes in eating and sleeping patterns
- Lowered GPA or standardized test scores
- Lack of school participation
- High rates of absences/dropping out of school. 1
One of the most common and damaging effects of bullying is a common belief among the victims that bullying is their fault, which leads to self-blame and lowered self-esteem. [7]
Bullying also has long-term consequences for the bullies who are more likely to:
- Abuse alcohol and other drugs later in adolescence and adulthood
- Engage in early sexual activity
- Drop out of school
- Have criminal convictions/traffic citations as adults
- Be abusive towards family members as adults. [1]
What To Do about Bullying?
To prevent bullying, the goal is to change the conditions that make bullying possible. 2 This can be done by reducing the acceptability of bullying and making sure bullying doesn’t go undetected . When adults respond quickly and consistently to bullying, they convey the message that it is not acceptable. It is important to know that having just one friend can protect against the distress of bullying. [8] Other students witnessing the bullying are also important in stopping bullying, which suggests the importance to teach students to show compassion and discourage bullying. 2 In non-supportive environments, bullying is unable to thrive. Lastly, teachers, counselors,and family members need to ensure that children who are bullied know that it is not their fault. [8]
The school, community, and home all affect the behavior of the child, and for this reason bullying interventions should target all three of these environments. A family-school collaboration including parent-teacher conferences, newsletters and brochures for parents, group parent meetings and trainings together reduced the frequency of bullying by 20-23%. [9]
Parents should contact their child’s school counselor to ask about bullying programs and how to become more involved.
Tips for Parents to Prevent and Cope with Bullying:
- Help them to understand what bullying is so that they can identify it if they are being bullied or acting as bullies themselves.
- Give them tips about how to handle bullying, such as moving towards an adult (teacher, parent, or counselor) in bullying situations, saying “stop” in a direct and confident way, or using humor.
- Encourage them to help other children who are getting bullied by showing kindness both during the acts of bullying and comforting them after.
- Ask them about their feelings.
- Build their confidence by asking them what they like most about themselves.
- Let them know it is not their fault if they are being bullied.
- Learn your rights. Check your state’s legislation on bullying ( http://www.stopbullying.gov/laws/index.html ) 1
- Think through who else should be involved: Teacher, guidance counselor, friends parents, etc, and turn to them for help [10]
- Look into anti-bullying programs that can be suggested to your child’s school
- Refer your child to an anonymous bullying hotline if they feel they can’t talk to you or a counselor about it
- Attend workshops, events or trainings in your community or your child’s school.
- Exchange phone numbers with other parents so that you can all share information.
- Greet the bus driver so that they feel open to reporting any future problems to you.
- Read class newsletters, school flyers, and school websites and discuss with your child in order to stay up to date on events in your child’s life.
- Attend parent teacher conferences and “Back to School Nights” so that you build a relationship with your child’s teachers.
Resources for Parents:
- StopBullying.Gov provides information from various government agencies. It is a good tool for background information about bullying: http://www.stopbullying.gov/ .
- To look up your states legislation on bullying: http://www.stopbullying.gov/laws/index.html .
- Pacer’s National Bullying Prevention Center has helpful toolkits for parents, teachers, and students as well as for children with special needs who are getting bullied: http://www.pacer.org/bullying/ .
- Beyond Bullies has an online chat for bullied teens to provide support. It runs bystander and prevention workshops, teen leadership trainings, and a video competition to let bullied youth know they are not alone: http://beyondbullies.org/ .
- Stomp Out Bullying is an anti-bullying nonprofit that has a chat line, runs the “anti-bullying blue shirt campaign”, and runs many social media campaigns: http://www.stompoutbullying.org/ .
All articles are reviewed and approved by Dr. Diana Zuckerman and other senior staff.
- What is Bullying. (n.d.). Retrieved July 6, 2015, from http://www.stopbullying.gov/what-is-bullying/index.html
- Juvonen, J. & Graham, S. (2001). Bullying in Schools: The Power of Bullies and the Plight of Victims (English). Annual Review of Psychology (Print), 65159-185.
- Kann, L., Kinchen, S., Shanklin, S., & Flint, K. (2013, June 13). Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance- United States, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2015, from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/ss/ss6304.pdf?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=youth-risk-behavior-surveillance-united-states-2013-pdf
- Dunn, H. (2014). Association between Sexual Behaviors, Bullying Victimization and Suicidal Ideation in a National Sample of High School Students: Implications of a Sexual Double Standard. Women’s Health Issues, 24(5), 567-574.
- Faris, R., & Felmlee, D. (2014). Casualties of Social Combat: School Networks of Peer Victimization and Their Consequences. American Sociological Review, 79(2), 228-257. doi:10.1177/0003122414524573.
- Nansel TR, Overpeck MD, Haynie DL, Ruan WJ, Scheidt PC. Relationships Between Bullying and Violence Among U.S. Youth. Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine . 2003;157:348-353.
- Schacter, H. L., & Juvonen, J. (2015). The effects of school-level victimization on self-blame: Evidence for contextualized social cognitions. Developmental Psychology, 51(6), 841-847. doi:10.1037/dev0000016
- Hodges, E. E., Boivin, M., & Vitaro, F. (1999). The power of friendship: protection against an escalating cycle of peer victimization. Developmental Psychology, 35(1), 94-101.
- Kolbert, J. B., Schultz, D., & Crothers, L. M. (2014). Bullying Prevention and the Parent Involvement Model. Journal Of School Counseling, 12(7).
- Helping Your Child. (n.d.). Retrieved June 23, 2015, from http://www.pacer.org/bullying/resources/helping-your-child.asp
- How to Talk About Bullying. (n.d.). Retrieved July 6, 2015. http://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/talking-about-it/
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Bullying Should Be Kicked from School
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Published: Mar 14, 2024
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Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education
What Are the Best Ways to Prevent Bullying in Schools?
All 50 U.S. states require schools to have a bullying prevention policy.
But a policy, alone, is not enough. Despite the requirement, there’s been a slight uptick in all forms of bullying during the last three years. Bullying can look like experienced basketball players systematically intimidating novice players off the court, kids repeatedly stigmatizing immigrant classmates for their cultural differences, or a middle-school girl suddenly being insulted and excluded by her group of friends.
Bullying occurs everywhere, even in the highest-performing schools, and it is hurtful to everyone involved, from the targets of bullying to the witnesses—and even to bullies themselves. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, so it’s a good time to ask ourselves: What are the best practices for preventing bullying in schools? That’s a question I explored with my colleague Marc Brackett from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, in a recent paper, Rethinking School-Based Bullying Prevention Through the Lens of Social and Emotional Learning , that reviewed dozens of studies of real-world bullying prevention efforts.
As we discovered, not all approaches to bullying prevention are equally effective. Most bullying prevention programs focus on raising awareness of the problem and administering consequences. But programs that rely on punishment and zero tolerance have not been shown to be effective in the U.S.; and they often disproportionately target students of color. Programs like peer mediation that place responsibility on the children to work out conflicts can increase bullying. (Adult victims of abuse are never asked to “work it out” with their tormentor, and children have an additional legal right to protections due to their developmental status.) Bystander intervention, even among adults, only works for some people—extroverts, empaths, and people with higher social status and moral engagement. Many approaches that educators adopt have not been evaluated through research; instead, educators tend to select programs based on what their colleagues use.
We found two research-tested approaches that show the most promise for reducing bullying (along with other forms of aggression and conflict). They are a positive school climate, and social and emotional learning.
Building a positive school climate
School climate can be difficult to define, though possible to measure . It is the “felt sense” of being in a school, which can arise from a greeting, the way a problem is resolved, or how people work together; it is a school’s “heart and soul,” its “quality and character.” Schools with a positive climate foster healthy development, while a negative school climate is associated with higher rates of student bullying, aggression, victimization, and feeling unsafe.
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The elements of a positive climate may vary, but may often include norms about feelings and relationships, power and how it is expressed, and media consumption. Social norm engineering is a conscious process that builds a positive culture among student peers and school adults that becomes self-reinforcing. Like a healthy immune system, a positive school climate promotes optimal health and reduces the chances of dysfunction or disease.
Leadership is key to a positive climate. Is bullying minimized as a “normal rite of childhood,” or is it recognized as the harmful peer abuse that it is? Do leaders understand that uninterrupted, severe bullying can confer lifelong negative consequences on targets of bullies, bullies, and witnesses? Are school leaders committed to promoting all children’s positive psychological health, or do they over-rely on punishing misbehavior? Can they discern between typical developmental processes that need guidance versus bullying that needs assertive intervention? Are educators empathic to their students, and do they value children’s feelings?
Next, are teachers prepared to deal with bullying? Students consistently report that teachers miss most incidents of bullying and fail to help students when asked. A majority of teachers report that they feel unprepared to deal with classroom bullying. Some teachers bully students themselves , or show a lack of empathy toward children who are bullied. Teachers report that they receive little guidance in “classroom management,” and sometimes default to the disciplinary strategies they learned in their own families growing up.
However, reforming school climate should involve all stakeholders—students and parents, as well as the administrators and teachers—so a school’s specific issues can be addressed, and the flavor of local cultures retained. School climate assessments can be completed periodically to track the impact of improvements.
Advancing social and emotional learning
Social and emotional learning (SEL) is well known, and involves teaching skills of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsible decision making, and relationships management. (Full disclosure: Brackett and I are affiliated with the SEL program RULER .)
Evidence-based SEL approaches have been shown to deliver cost-effective, solid results. Numerous meta-analyses , research reviews , and individual studies of hundreds of thousands of K-12 students show that SEL improves emotional well-being, self-regulation, classroom relationships, and kind and helpful behavior among students. It reduces a range of problems like anxiety, emotional distress, and depression; reduces disruptive behaviors like conflicts, aggression, bullying, anger, and hostile attribution bias; and it improves academic achievement, creativity, and leadership.
A 2012 study of 36 first-grade teachers showed that when teachers were more emotionally supportive of students, children were less aggressive and had greater behavioral self-control, compared to the use of behavior management, which did not improve student self-control. One 2018 meta-analysis showed that developing emotional competence was protective against becoming a victim of bullying; social competence and academic performance were protective against becoming a bully; and positive peer interactions were protective against becoming a bully-victim (one who has been bullied and bullies others). A series of longitudinal studies showed positive effects into midlife (e.g., fewer divorces, less unemployment) and even cross-generational effects of early SEL. Compared to a matched control group, the children of the adults who participated in the Perry Preschool Project had less criminal involvement and higher educational and employment achievement. A cost-benefit analysis of six SEL programs found them to be good investments, with $11 saved for every $1 spent.
Teachers also benefit from SEL. Those with emotional and social skills training have higher job satisfaction and less burnout, show more positive emotions toward their students, manage their classrooms better, and use more strategies that cultivate creativity, choice, and autonomy in their students. Teachers report that they want more SEL support to cultivate their own emotional and social skills, and to better understand their students’ feelings. But few teacher training programs focus on growing the teachers’ emotion regulation skills.
Bullying at different age levels
SEL approaches should be developmentally wise , since what is salient and possible for children changes at different ages.
For example, preschoolers are expelled from school at the highest rates of all, but the neurological hardware for their self-control is only just developing. Only then are the connections between the emotion circuitry and the more thinking regions of the prefrontal cortex beginning to be myelinated (insulated for faster connectivity), something that will take until the mid 20s to complete. An SEL program like PATHS or RULER that teaches young children language for feelings, and strategies for thinking before acting, can develop better self-regulation.
Sometimes, adults confuse normal developmental processes with bullying. For example, children begin to reorganize their friendships midway through elementary school, something that can naturally create hurt feelings and interpersonal conflict. It should not be misconstrued as bullying, though, which involves intentional, repeated aggression within an imbalance of power. Normal development also includes experimenting with power, and these normal dynamics should be guided safely toward developing a healthy sense of agency, rather than a hurtful exertion of power over someone else.
Finally, the onset of puberty marks the beginning of heightened sensitivity to social relationships, an especially important time to cultivate skills for kinder, gentler relationships. Unfortunately, this is the period when bullying spikes the highest. And while some strategies work well for younger children (for example, advising them to “tell a trusted adult”), this option may fail with teens, and the breakpoint seems to be around the eighth grade. Older teens require approaches that are less didactic and leverage their need for autonomy, while affirming their values and search for meaning. Physiologically, the brain changes during puberty confer a second chance for recalibrating their stress regulation system. That opportunity should be constructively seized.
Approaches should also take into account individual differences between children. Even SEL programs can stumble here, over-relying on just one or two emotion regulation strategies, like breathing or mindfulness. But children vary in their temperaments, sensitivities, strengths, and vulnerabilities. The best SEL approaches guide students toward discovering strategies that work best for them—strategies that are emotion- and context-specific, personalized, and culturally responsive. This approach requires unconventional flexibility on the part of the educators.
And, finally, approaches work best if they are not standalone pedagogies or from kits that end up in the classroom closet at the end of the year. In order to be effective, skills should become fully embedded across the curricula and the entire day, in all settings, and implemented by all adults—in other words, infiltrating the ecosystem. Only approaches used and taught as intended are successful.
Schools can’t do this alone
Families matter, too. Bullying in schools sometimes arises from harsh parenting practices or sibling bullying at home.
Even parents’ workplaces matter. Adults experience bullying in their workplaces at about the same rate as children in schools, and it’s even found among teachers and in senior living communities . In other words, bullying is not just a childhood problem; it is a pervasive human problem. And children are not buffered from the wider social world—bullying of children who belong to groups targeted in the national political discourse has spiked on playgrounds nationwide.
Ultimately, we need a substantial shift in our mindsets about the importance of children and their feelings. Children are more likely to thrive when we nurture their humanity, and offer them language and strategies and values to help them identify, express, and, thus, regulate their feelings. When parents, teachers, and administrators gain new awareness into the complex roots of bullying and adopt new strategies for addressing it, schools can lead the way. The kids are counting on us.
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Join Greater Good Educators to build kinder, happier schools where everyone belongs.
About the Author
Diana Divecha
Diana Divecha, Ph.D. , is a developmental psychologist, an assistant clinical professor at the Yale Child Study Center and Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and on the advisory board of the Greater Good Science Center. Her blog is developmentalscience.com .
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Home / Essay Samples / Social Issues / Bullying / Bullying in Schools: An Argument for Zero Tolerance Policy
Bullying in Schools: An Argument for Zero Tolerance Policy
- Category: Social Issues , Sociology
- Topic: Bullying , Discrimination , Peer Pressure
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