Saturday, April 21, 2012
For the bullies...
A lot of our discussion has centered on protecting students from bullies. But how can we help the bullies themselves? I would like to know more about successful interventions for students that exhibit this behavior. I haven't seen much that goes beyond the standards outlined in a basic Ed Psychology textbook.
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This is an excellent point. A lot of emphasis has been placed on the protecting the victims, but not as much on helping the bullies. I know when I was in school, the bullies would always just be forced to be remorseful and receive a slap on the wrist (maybe a day of detention). However, the bullies would just continue to bully. I always felt bullies bullied for deeper reasons and not just trying to be mean. Maybe some type of intervention with the school psychologist to find out their motives could help? Also, a group meeting with the teacher, bully, and their parents could help find the source of anger. Actions could then be placed once the source is determined.
ReplyDeleteI think you are exactly right. By simply punishing without any behavioral intervention, it is unlikely that the bully is going to do anything but continue to bully.
DeleteI think you'd probably learn a lot if you pulled a bully aside and spoke with him or her one-on-one. I agree with Joseph and KTG that a lot of bullies have deep issues that need to be addressed for their mental well-being. Through a thoughtful discussion, you could gain that student's respect, and possibly draw up a contract outlining expected behaviors and corresponding reinforcements or punishments. With the student's input while making this contract, he or she is likely to feel more valued, and may not need the bullying outlet anymore.
ReplyDeleteWithout further training, I'd be loathe to proceed very far with either the bully or the victim. I'd tend to want to rely on the school councilor/psychologist.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I'm talking here about teacher/student interaction after bullying has been identified and reported to the proper school or other authorities.
Teachers can get themselves in trouble or allow themselves to be placed in potentially compromising positions if they do not rather quickly report clear cases of bullying to the appropriate members of the administration - or in extreme cases, law-enforcement authorities.
Of course, one wants to create a nurturing, caring, supportive classroom environment in which students can feel it is safe to come to you with such problems. But it would be a mistake to think that you as a teacher have the appropriate training to proceed very far - unless you go get that training.
Yes, you can have thoughtful discussions with bullies or with victims. But you have to use judgment about those discussions.
It's probably pretty easy to have those discussions for borderline cases, where isolated statements are involved; perhaps the "bully" has not deliberately said x, or has limited reasoning/emotional skills or maybe has Autism/Asperger's and is somewhat clueless about social interactions.
That was my first thought as well. I really think that a teacher's job is to recognize the bullying and allow those with more experience and training try to address the issue more directly. Often parents fail to recognize, or refuse to see, the signs of bully, making it even more important for teachers to be available and aware.
DeleteLooking into it seems that the to biggest signs teachers should notice is a decrease in attendance for bully victims. When school becomes unbearable, threatening environment often times students will often fake sickness, or it may just manifest from the stress. This often coincides with a fall off of grades and interest in school.
Most bullies have a profile which stands out from the crowd, and perhaps that is the foremost thing for teachers to notice. If a student tries to differentiate themselves with aggression it should be seen as a red flag. They want to be seen to be the best and for that reason they elect to bring down anyone who might be better, have a greater standing in the community and who might be even more intelligent.
I agree that it definitely varies case-by-case, and I'm by no means advocating solving serious bully issues by sitting them down and talking to them. If it's really intense, then a school counselor absolutely needs to get involved as quickly as possible. However, if it's an isolated event, I don't think counseling is always necessary. Many students would probably be resistant to the idea of seeking professional help, especially if it's a minor incident that can be dealt with through a teacher-student interaction.
DeleteIf, during a conversation with a bullying student, you learn that this student has some deep issues beyond your training, it's certainly appropriate (and necessary) to get the counselor involved. However, I don't think this should often be the first response to every incident. You definitely have to use your good judgement (which ideally every teacher should have, though that's not always the case), to determine when this needs to be done.
If you goggle cyberbullying and PEAS, you will find an intervention plan that includes both the bully and the victim. Some things recommended for the bully include therapy, anger management, and direct discussion. It also mentions that the victim could receive counseling as well. There are a lot of different components of the "PEAS" program.
ReplyDeletethat is a great find! thank you!
DeleteI know a lot of schools are using interventions such as peer mediation to head off possible inflammatory encounters. Sue Limber of Clemson University argues that because bullying involves powerful children harassing those with less power, mediation approaches might even further victimize bullied children by assuming that they have the power, without adult intervention, to prevent the bullying. If the peer mediation turns into a situation in which the bully is able to harass the victim further while embarrassing the victim in front of the mediator, the harmful effects of bullying may be traumatic.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there is the idea that peer mediation could be tailored and applied in such a way as to provide a healthier and more complete solution to the problem of peer harassment. The holistic approach of peer mediation, in its attempts to solve the damaged relationship as well as to restore losses and discourage repeated offenses, could be perfectly utilized when peer harassment situations occur. An Ohio program, Winning Against Violent Environments (WAVE), is currently used in every one of Cleveland's 118 schools. A supervisor who oversaw 44 of the 1,712 mediations conducted in one year in Cleveland noted that one boy went to mediation six times before it dawned on her that the child was picking fights because he was actually listened to in mediation (the boy was made a mediator the following year).
The success of the peer mediation program as a solution to bullying depends on the success of the peer mediation program as a whole, which would necessitate the education and involvement of all school staff, as well as the careful selection of those students who would be most effective as mediators. If run successfully, peer mediation programs could become a vital part of the fight against bullying.
This sounds like a great program. It would be really great to implement it in the schools we will eventually be placed it, or scale it down to a classroom level. However, I think the latter would be much more difficult. I think we all agree that a schoolwide, consistent system with adequate resources if the best option to curb bullying behavior.
DeleteI like the sound of this program. I definitely understand how a student would pick fights just to be listened to in mediation. If we could listen to the students before they picked the fights....
DeleteI have encountered a student (student A) who was constantly bullying his classmates and even his teachers to the point everybody else in the classroom was afraid of him. He was the kind of aggressive students that want to be the "King" of the classroom, in which he was the most special one. There was one day a new student (student B) transferred to his class, who is also a big bully. Student A was outraged when he felt his authority was threatened by student B, so that his bullying focus moved to student B, at the same time he changed his attitude and tried to "protect" other students from being bullied by student B.
ReplyDeleteI feel this case pretty interesting that some bully crave for the feeling of being special.
That is really interesting how Student A went from being the bully to being the protector. Unfortunately it was at the cost of another bully..I am not sure what to think of the situation...How do we turn student B into a good guy? If student B became a protector, would Student A revert back to a bully? I don't think these questions have an answer at this point in time. Thanks for sharing this scenario!
ReplyDeleteThis http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/parents/howdoyouhandleacyberbully.html
ReplyDeleteOutlines how often times the bully doesn't see his or herself as a bully. Which makes sense. I think the internet creates a detachment where people often don't realize the tone or context of what they are saying.