Antibullying programs: Do we have it right yet?
Posted on December 8, 2009 by Canadian TeacherAntibullying programs: Do we
have it right yet?
By Dr. Carol Battaglio
Bullying has been around since
schools were first invented, and for
just as long teachers have exerted
valiant attempts to curb it. Yet,
despite these, sometimes gargan -
tuan efforts at prevention, incidents
of school bullying just won’t seem
to go away. Yes, we have had some
success: on the average, our anti -
bullying efforts have decreased
rates of bullying by about 50%. But,
it is troubling to note that some
schools that have applied compre -
hensive antibullying programs have
experienced increases in bullying of
up to 15%. Is something missing
from our antibullying strategies?
A retired drama teacher
recounted to me how he and his
friends in Grade 5 harassed an
unfortunate classmate whose only
fault was being 5’ 10,” big, soft, and
awkward. They used to tease, trip,
and shove this unfortunate “giant”
until he broke down in tears. The
teacher advised him he was big
enough to stand up for himself—say
stop, I don’t like that—a tactic that
only intensified the teasing. The
drama teacher still regrets his parti -
cipation in this hurtful behaviour,
and would like to be able to apolo -
gize, even these many years later.
Fortunately, this harassed,
embarrassed, and humiliated victim
did not find a weapon and return to
school to retaliate—perhaps to stab
a student, to shoot his classmates,
or maybe to burn the school down.
If he had, he would have been
labeled as a terrible bully and would
have been punished accordingly,
perhaps suspended permanently
from the school—unless he killed
himself, too. More likely, this
unfortunate boy became a chronic
absentee from school, his academ -
ics deteriorating due to his anxiety
and stress, until he quit school.
(Almost 30% of students who start
Grade 1 do not graduate.) Subse -
quently, throughout his adult life he
may have suffered underemploy -
ment, chronic depression, and have
anger management problems.
In an ideal world, the teacher
could have intervened on at least
three dimensions: First, individual
(self-identity and self acceptance);
second, belonging and connection
(group dynamics and cliques); and
third, respect for differences
(conformity vs. respect for unique -
ness as a part of school culture).
Currently, most antibullying pro -
grams are limited to positive
encouragement (such as lessons on
the virtues), and negative conse -
quences (such as zero tolerance
and suspensions), with some PR
attention to slogans of social
responsibility. Furthermore, the
schools antibullying attempts tend
to be focused on individual respon -
sibilities and social interaction. We
teach the virtues, courtesy in the
hallway, and fair play on the
playground—worthy enough topics.
But bullying is a process involving
needs for power and self-defense,
not a personality characteristic or a
learned behaviour.
If only there were evil people out
there insidiously committing evil
deeds and it was only necessary to
separate them from the rest of us and
destroy them.
But the line dividing good and evil
cuts through the heart of every
human being….
– Alexander Solzhenitsyn, 1982
Ask any group of adults if they
have ever been bullied at home,
school, or work, and about 66% will
admit it has happened to them. Ask
how many will admit to being the
bully, and the number will likely be
about 50%. Since a majority of
adults have experienced both being
bullied and being the bully, can we
simply consider bullying as part of
the human condition? Hopefully,
not! Bullying seems to be a role
people play in a given context—
bullied at school, a bully at home, or
vice versa. My research indicates
that bullying is not so much a
“learned behaviour” as it is a
response to a stressful, overwhelm -
ing situation. Yes, anger manage -
ment strategies and enforcing
appropriate consequences help, but
perhaps we also need to shift our
emphasis from fixing individuals
who misbehave toward looking at
what needs to change in the social
culture of the classroom and the
school. The school may be guilty of
committing the “fundamental
attribution error,” a classic axiom in
social psychology:
A failure to recognize the
importance of situational factors in
affecting behaviour, supported by the
inflated belief in the importance of
personality traits and dispositions in
affecting behaviour.
– Ross & Nisbett, 1991
Another error in our current
antibullying strategies may be the
emphasis on behaviour and conse -
quences—the external evidence of
conforming to rules—and a lack of
attention to issues of respect—the
internal engine that produces bully -
ing and aggression. I am referring
not simply to respectful behaviours,
but to a foundation of respect that
includes self-respect and respect for
others within a classroom and
school context that demonstrates
respect for uniqueness.
In the words of a tomboy, a
victim of bullying:
I want to encourage [teachers] to
just recognize that people have their
own experience, and…foster the
individuality, yet include similarities of
all of us, the basic fundamental
needs…such as to belong.
Individuals involved in victimiza -
tion are almost universally lacking
in self-respect. Students, aged
10–15, are struggling with
existential issues of self-identity.
When they are unsure of
themselves, others who are
different can represent a potential
threat they may feel a need to
defend against. Without selfacceptance
and self-respect, it is
difficult to respect others! Those
who bully may also lack selfrespect,
but many actually have
exaggerated self-esteem, especially
those involved in defending the
boundaries of tight (elite) cliques.
Bullying is often a game of status, a
process of settling the hierarchy in
the classroom. Self-acceptance and
self-respect are winning strategies
in this game.
Sometimes the academic context
of the classroom, dominated by the
need to enforce standards, can
become a force implying a demand
for conformity. If the teacher
exhibits a lack of respect for differ -
ences, it can become a model for
students to follow, and any student
who exhibits differences—whether
different learning styles (LD or
giftedness), early or late physical
maturation, gender differences
(tomboy or gentle male), disabilities
(speech, blindness), differences in
ethnicity or socio-economic status—
loses the respect of the cool group
(respected by the teacher), and in
the status game of bullying
becomes vulnerable to abuses.
Likewise, in a school context
where authoritarian structures are
dominant, the status quo can
become the “right” way, and any
deviation is likely to be interpreted
as pathological and problematical. If
conflict resolution and mediation
are not applied seriously and in a
timely manner so that conflict is
mitigated in the early stages, then
often the victim will be the one who
retaliates with passion—and the
one who bears the blame and the
punishment. As a result, the stu -
dents (who know the inside story)
may lose respect for school author -
ity processes, and proceed to take
the law into their own hands.
Despite all our efforts, bullying wins
again!
The antibullying programs that
emphasize authority-based strate -
gies (to teach good behaviour and
to search and destroy the offenders)
are worthwhile efforts, to be sure,
but are only providing a partial cure.
We need more than an official code
of conduct to make bullying
behaviours unacceptable in our
schools. We need a culture of
respect and acceptance for our -
selves, and for our relationships
with others, and one that is demon -
strated in the day-to-day operation
of the classroom and the school
culture—a challenge to consider as
we plan the coming school year.
Dr. Carol Battaglio is an elementary
school counsellor, Surrey School
District, B.C.
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