Learn what commonly held beliefs about bullying are myths, unsupported by data. Understand the many factors that make bullying a complex problem. Appreciate the effects of bullying on the victims.

It's All About Power and Control

Bullying, whether it occurs in the schoolyard or online, is at its core about power and control.

—Snider & Borel, 2004, p. 76

The Myths

Let's take a look at some commonly held beliefs about bullying.

• Bullies have low self-esteem.
• Bullying occurs more frequently in schools in neighborhoods with a lower socioeconomic status.
• Girls don't bully as much as boys.
• Remarks about intelligence are the most frequent verbal insults.
• More bullying occurs in high school than in younger years.

Each one of the above statements is a myth that is not supported by data. Rather, data suggest it is more likely that

• Bullies do not generally suffer more from self-esteem or security issues than any other child. Craig and Pepler (2004) suggest bullying may be an attempt at leadership — albeit a negative one.
• There is no discernable difference between the number of bullying incidents and the socioeconomic status of either the neighborhood or school.
• Girls bully as much as boys — but in different ways.
• Homophobic remarks are the most common verbal insult.
• More students report being bullied in middle school than in either elementary or high school.

Evidence also shows that bullying is not something individuals grow out of. It appears that the patterns of bullying established in childhood and adolescence may be an indication of problematic future relationships (Craig & Pepler, 2004). It's these patterns that schools must work hard to break.

Nearly 60 percent of boys who were classified as bullies in grades 6 through 9 were convicted of at least one crime by the age of 24. (Selekman & Vessey, 2004, p. 247)

In Lessons 6 and 7, we'll take a look at some programs and strategies that help both bullies and victims break their established behavior patterns.

Bullying: Not Just a Kid Thing

Bullying: It's Complex

In Lesson 1, we indicated that bullying is a complex issue, as evidenced by the numerous definitions of bullying. What makes it complex? One reason is that it's difficult at times to identify exactly what constitutes bullying. For example, it may be hard for an educator to distinguish between teasing and bullying, particularly when friends or extremely competitive students appear to bully each other (Mishna, 2004).

Perception

Another area of difficulty is perception. Children will perceive a situation as hurtful, but adults will not (Mishna, 2004). When adults do not respond appropriately or validate the child's experiences, "what the children learn from the adults' handling of bullying incidents must be more frightening to them than the individual bullying incidents (Clark & Kiselica, 1997)" (Mishna, 2004, p. 242).

Legality

A third area concerns the legality of bullying. As we'll see in Lesson 5, bullying is not illegal. Therefore, school administrators believe they're unable to proceed until the situation escalates into a legally enforceable action, such as harassment. A recent CNN report illustrated this dilemma when it reported the story of two young boys with special needs, ages 9 and 10, who drew stick figures of themselves stabbing another student — one of their classmates. The boys were escorted out of the school in handcuffs, suspended, and charged with a felony.

Supervision

A final area of complexity concerns the actual event itself. In many cases, the students are nominally under adult supervision — for example, in a school cafeteria or on a playground — but the supervising adult is not in the immediate vicinity. The most common locations for bullying to occur include during travel to and from school, on the bus, in the cafeteria, in the halls, at the lockers, in the gym locker room, and on the playground (Selekman & Vessey, 2004) — in other words, areas where noise volume is high and many people are present.

It's this complexity that makes bullying so difficult both to define and to treat. The situation is exacerbated by the community that grows around the bullying. Numerous authors report on the many roles individuals play, but Dan Olweus's description is the most comprehensive. He identifies eight clearly definable roles:

1. The bully, who is actively involved and initiates the action.
2. The followers, who take an active role in the action but do not initiate anything.
3. The supporters, who do not take an active part but support the bullying.
4. The passive supporters, who like the bullying but do not display any visible support.
5. The disengaged onlookers, who watch but don't take a stand one way or the other.
6. The possible defenders, who are uncomfortable about the bullying but do nothing to stop the activity or to help the victim.
7. The defenders of the victim are those who, uncomfortable with the actions, actively try to help the victim.
8. The victim, who experiences the action. (2003, p. 13)

However, with each incident an individual's role may change. In one instance, someone may be the defender of the victim and in another a passive supporter. Several films, such as It's A Girl's World, by the National Canada Film Board, have been developed to help visually represent these shifting roles, and fictional stories, such as Jake Drake, Bully Buster and Inventing Elliott, describe these interchangeable interactions.

Bullying Does Not Happen in Isolation

What Are the Effects?

The plight of the victim cannot be overstated. Recent statistics from Flynt & Morton (2004) and McKinley (2004) reveal that about 15 percent of school absenteeism is attributed to fearful victims avoiding bullies.

Victims Avoid School

Bullying "keeps children from perceiving school as a safe environment. Unfortunately, many of these children are reluctant to request aid from school staff for fear of reprisals and because of inadequate protection" (Newman-Carlson & Horne, 2004, p. 260). For some victims, the easiest remedy is to change schools.

In my own family, a nephew did exactly that — changed schools. After being bullied for more than two years—photographed in the toilet, pushed down stairs, accosted on his way to and from school, called names, and so forth—and after numerous calls to the school did little to change the situation, my sister's family decided to transfer my nephew into a private school after he was granted a scholarship. The change for him has been dramatic. He is now in a school that allows him to develop his talents and skills. But not all victims' families have this option. For them, the problem continues day in and day out.

Effects on Victims' Health

Bullying affects the academic, social, emotional, and physical health of students. Misna (2004) reports that victims tend to be less accepted by peers and to experience more symptoms of depression. Physical symptoms are varied and may include headaches, upset stomachs, interrupted sleep patterns, weight changes, and the inability to concentrate. Although many youngsters suffer these symptoms in silence every day, other victims may react violently. According to the U.S. Secret Service's 2002 report, bullying plays a significant role in many school shootings (Ferrell-Smith, 2004).

Jason Lang was shot to death while another student was critically injured at W. R. Myers High School in Taber, Atlanta. The perpetrator in this case had seen himself as a target of bullies since he first entered elementary school and perhaps in response to the Columbine High School shooting that took place on April 20, 1999, where 14 people died, the gunman planned his shooting out of revenge even though he did not know his eventual victims. (Zuker, 2004, p. 14)

What Is Positive About These Incidents?

What Do We Know Now?

We've looked at several common misconceptions about bullying in this lesson; here's what the experts believe to be true about bullying:

• There is always an imbalance of power — physical, psychological, or social — between the bully and his victim.
• There is no relationship between increased reports of bullying and demographics.
• There are gender differences with respect to the type of bullying. Males use more physical bullying behavior, whereas females generally resort to socialization bullying behavior.
• Research findings show a correlation between parental aggression and bullying behaviors.
• Older youth who commit violent crimes are more likely to have been labeled as a bully in elementary school. (DiPasquale, 2004, p. 7)

Beyond Bullying
The line between bullying and other kinds of student behavior is sometimes unclear. However, many experts agree that the distinction is important: bullying is reprehensible, but other types of conflict are all right — necessary, even, to prepare children for lives that are certain to include at least a little discord.

In "Beyond Bullying," Amy Eckman writes about the need to distinguish good types of conflict resolution from bullying episodes.

Tonja Nansel, post-doctoral fellow at the NICHD notes that "one of the most effective [anti-bullying curriculum] components is simply getting teachers to intervene when they observe bullying happening. By not intervening, in essence they're passively saying that this is okay behavior." (p. 1)

Do you agree or disagree with Nansel's thoughts? Explain your response in the Learner Forum.

• National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
  This site provides injury-related publications designed for professional health practitioners, researchers, and consumers.
• Indicators of School Crime and Safety
  Designed to provide an annual snapshot of specific crime and safety indicators, this site covers topics such as victimization, fights, bullying, disorder, teacher injury, weapons, and student perceptions about safety.

View the references for this lesson.

Assessment Activity

In this lesson, we investigated some of the misconceptions about bullying. In Lesson 3, we'll discuss the types of bullying most commonly reported by each gender.

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