- A lack of warmth and involvement on the part of parents
- Overly permissive parenting (including a lack of limits for children’s behavior)
- A lack of supervision by parents
- Harsh, physical discipline
- Bullying incidences at home
Source: HRSA
Research shows that bullying can be a sign of other serious antisocial and/or violent behavior. Children who frequently bully their peers are more likely than others to:
- Get into frequent fights
- Be injured in a fight
- Vandalize or steal property
- Drink alcohol
- Smoke
- Be truant from school
- Drop out of school
- Carry a weapon
Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
There are many school-based bullying prevention programs. Although they vary in size and scope, the most promising programs incorporate the following characteristics:
- focus on creating a school-wide environment, or climate that discourages bullying,
- Surveys of students to assess the nature and extent of bullying behavior and attitudes toward bullying,
- Training to prepare staff to recognize and respond to bullying,
- Development of consistent rules against bullying,
- Review and enhancement of the school’s disciplinary code related to bullying behavior,
- Classroom activities to discuss issues related to bullying,
- Integration of bullying prevention themes across the curriculum,
- Individual and group work with children who have been bullied,
- Individual work with children who have bullied their peers,
- Involvement of parents in bullying prevention and intervention activities, and
- Use of teacher or staff groups to increase staff knowledge and motivation related to bullying.
Source: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
If you suspect your child is being bullied, remember to support your child, inform others and take action.
- First, focus on your child. Be supportive and gather information about the bullying. Tell your child you are concerned about him or her and ask questions.
- Contact your child’s teacher and/or principal. He or she will probably be in the best position to understand the relationships between your child and other peers at school. Ask the teacher to talk to other adults who interact with your child at school to see if they have observed students bullying your child.
- If you know your child is being bullied, take quick action. There is nothing worse than doing nothing, and bullying can have serious effects.
If, after talking with your child and staff at his or her school, you don’t believe your child is being bullied, be alert to other possible problems your child may be having. Share your concerns with a counselor at your child’s school.
Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
There are many signs that a child is being bullied. Some signs to look for:
- The child comes home with torn, damaged, or missing pieces of clothing, books or other belongings.
- The child has unexplained bruises, cuts or scratches.
- The child seems afraid of going to school, walking to and from school, riding the school bus or taking part in organized activities with peers.
- The child appears sad, moody, teary or depressed when he or she comes home.
- The child frequently appears anxious and/or suffers from low self-esteem.
Source: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
A bullying prevention and intervention coordinating team might include:
- an administrator
- a teacher from each grade
- a member of the non-teaching staff
- a school counselor or other school-based mental health professional
- a parent
The team should meet regularly to review findings from the school’s survey; plan specific bullying prevention activities; motivate staff, students, and parents; and ensure that the efforts continue over time.
- Provide training for school staff in bullying prevention. All administrators, faculty and staff at a school should be trained in bullying prevention and intervention. In-service training can help staff members to better understand the nature of bullying and its effects, how to respond if they observe bullying, and how to work with others at the school to help prevent bullying.
- Establish and enforce school rules and policies related to bullying. Developing simple, clear rules about bullying can help to ensure that students are aware of adults’ expectations that they not bully others and that they help students who are bullied. School rules and policies should be posted and discussed with students and parents. Appropriate positive and negative consequences should be developed.
- Increase adult supervision in “hot spots” for bullying. Bullying tends to thrive in locations where adults are not present or are not watchful. Adults should look for creative ways to increase adult presence in locations that students identify as “hot spots.”
- Intervene consistently and appropriately when you see bullying. Observed or suspected bullying should never be ignored by adults. All school staff should learn effective strategies to intervene on-the-spot to stop bullying. Staff members also should be designated to hold sensitive follow-up meetings with students who are bullied and (separately) with students who bully. Staff members should involve parents whenever possible.
- Devote some class time to bullying prevention. Students can benefit if teachers set aside a regular period of time (e.g., 20-30 minutes each week or every other week) to discuss bullying and improving peer relations. These meetings can help teachers to keep their fingers on the pulse of students’ concerns, allow time for discussions about bullying and the harms that it can cause, and provide tools for students to address bullying problems. Anti-bullying messages also can be incorporated throughout the school curriculum.
- Continue these efforts. There should be no “end date” for bullying prevention activities. Bullying prevention should be continued over time and woven into the fabric of the school environment.
Source: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
A review of bullying prevention programs and feedback from educators in the field led us to suggest 10 strategies that represent “best practice” in bullying prevention and intervention.
- Focus on the social environment of the school. In order to reduce bullying, it is important to change the social climate of the school and the social norms with regards to bullying. This requires the efforts of everyone in the school environment—teachers, administrators, counselors school nurses other non-teaching staff (such as bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers, and/or school librarians), parents, and students.
- Assess bullying at your school. Adults are not always very good at estimating the nature and prevalence of bullying at their school. As a result, it can be quite useful to administer an anonymous questionnaire to students about bullying. A number of bullying prevention programs listed in the Catalog of Resources include these measures.
- Obtain staff and parent buy-in and support for bullying prevention. Bullying prevention should not be the sole responsibility of any single individual at a school. To be most effective, bullying prevention efforts require buy-in from the majority of the staff and from parents. However, bullying prevention efforts should still begin even if immediate buy-in from all isn’t achievable. Usually, more and more supporters will join the effort once they see what it’s accomplishing.
- Form a group to coordinate the school’s bullying prevention activities. Bullying prevention efforts seem to work best if they are coordinated by a representative group from the school. This coordinating team might include:
- an administrator
- a teacher from each grade
- a member of the non-teaching staff
- a school counselor or other school-based mental health professional
- a parent
Source: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Hazing is when a group — like a club or a sorority — requires that others who want to join do certain things. Sometimes these things are silly and are not harmful, such as wearing crazy clothes or a lot of makeup. Other times, the people in charge of the group make the newcomers do dangerous and even life-threatening things, such as drinking too much alcohol.
Bullying and hazing are similar to each other in some ways, but are different in others.
| Bullying |
Hazing |
- Involves leaving someone out of a group
- Bullies usually act alone or in a small group
- Victims of bullying do not choose to be bullied
|
- Is a part of a process to join a group
- Hazing usually involves a whole team or club
- Victims of hazing have usually approached the team or club and asked to belong
|
At the middle and high school levels, hazing often occurs in sports teams, with current team members “initiating” new members. Many people think of hazing as a harmless part of growing up, as something that everyone goes through at some point, but hazing is harmful, both physically and emotionally. Physical wounds heal, but a victim of hazing can carry the emotional scars with them for life.
Common types of hazing include:
- Sleep deprivation and restrictions on personal hygiene
- Yelling, swearing, and insulting new members/rookies
- Being forced to wear embarrassing or humiliating clothing in public
- Being forced to eat vile substances or smearing of such on one’s skin
- Brandings
- Physical beatings
- Binge drinking and drinking games
- Sexual simulation and sexual assault
Source: Office on Women’s Health.
- Tell yourself that it is okay not to be the best at everything.
- Help out by doing chores around the house and volunteering in your community.
- Do things that you enjoy, or learn about new things you would like to try.
- Understand that there will be times when you will feel disappointed in yourself and other people. No one is perfect!
- If you are angry, try talking it over with an adult you trust (parents/guardians, relatives or a school counselor).
- Think positively about yourself and the things you can do. Think: “I will try!”
- If you still find that you are not feeling good about yourself, talk to your parents/guardian, a school counselor, or your doctor because you may be at risk for depression. (You can also ask the school nurse for help through tough times. Some schools offer counseling.) Learn more about depression and other health issues that can affect your mind.
Source: Office on Women’s Health.
Many young women who are bullied do not try to stop the bullies. This may be because they do not know many other teen girls are also bullied each year. Some teens are so afraid of losing their friends that they go along with what others say and do, even if it is mean and hurts themselves or other people.
So why do certain people get bullied? Why are they bullied more than others? Typically, bullies often pick on:
- People they are jealous of
- Girls who will not fight back
- People who seem “different” from themselves or their friends
- Teens who may be “richer” or “poorer” than the bully
- Girls who hit puberty earlier or later than others in the class
- People with a disability
Many times, young women want so badly to fit in with the popular crowd that they do not tell on the bullies. If you are being bullied, stand up for yourself!
Source: Office on Women’s Health
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