By Dr. David Childs, D.D., Ph.D.
Northern Kentucky University
Originally published April 18, 2019
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines bullying as “abuse and mistreatment of someone vulnerable by someone stronger or more powerful.” Furthermore, it can be “prone to or characterized by overbearing mistreatment and domination of others.” The Encyclopedia Britannica defines bullying as “intentional harm-doing or harassment that is directed toward vulnerable targets and typically repeated. Bullying encompasses a wide range of malicious aggressive behaviors, including physical violence, verbal mockery, threats, ostracism, and rumors spread either orally or by other means of communication, such as the Internet.”
Dan Olweus (A Norwegian researcher and psychologist) argues that “A person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself.” However some scholars challenge Olweus’ definition because a single act of violence or verbal abuse can cause considerable damage to a person, especially a child going through various stages of development. So therefore, some scholars argue that the incident does not necessarily have to be a repeated behavior in order for it to be bullying. They also go on to argue that “additionally, not all people engaged in this interaction can be categorized as pure bullies or pure victims; research has distinguished a third category of “bully-victims,” that is, young people who are both the bully and the victim. As a result, the website stopbullying.com defines school bullying as “unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time… In order to be considered bullying, the behavior must be aggressive and include an imbalance of power. Kids who bully use their power—such as physical strength, access to embarrassing information, or popularity—to control or harm others. Power imbalances can change over time and in different situations, even if they involve the same people.”
The first known use of the term bully was in 1742 according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. Therefore, the idea of bullying has been around for some time. It seems to primarily be associated with schools. In the 1970’s Olweus did significant research in Europe on bullying. Furthermore, the suicide of several victims in 1983 brought even more attention to the subject. In the 1990’s, due to increased school shootings and more suicides related to bullying, much media attention was given to the subject matter.
There has long been a culture in the US to blame individuals that are being bullied as being a part of the problem. That is, it is thought that the victims’ actions or existence somehow warrant or justify their being bullied. For example, in many late twentieth century films an awkward student that excels in academics but is not good in sports is often targeted, becoming a victim of school bullies. The idea is that if the victim would somehow adopt more socially acceptable behaviors and become more “cool” they would no longer be the recipient of the violence or teasing. Many schools today tend to be a breeding ground for bullying. This culture has taken on a sinister turn, as many of the school shootings have been directly connected to bullying. That is, some of the school shooters have retaliated against their oppressors by resorting to violent resolutions. On the other hand, some of the shooters have been actual bullies themselves. Perhaps they fit the category we have mentioned earlier “bully-victims.” The Encyclopedia Britannica also points out that “A U.S. national study published at the turn of the 21st century documented that bullying and other forms of aggression affected approximately 30 percent, or 5.7 million, middle- to high-school students in the then-current school term.”
In contemporary times bullying has become a hot button issue in the US because of the increase of school shootings and suicides that seem to be directly connected to the phenomenon. Fortunately, many schools and classrooms have adopted anti-bully curriculum, that is often implemented throughout the entire campus. The resources below were identified for educators, to assist them in creating sophisticated and meaningful curricula surrounding bullying.
Curriculum/Lesson Plans
There Are No Bullies Just Children Who Bully—And You Can Help Them
National Bully Prevention Center
30-60 Minute Lesson Plan: Middle and High School, Introduction to Dynamics of Bullying
Week Long Curriculum: Middle and High School, Starting the Discussion Toolkit
Evidence-Based Bullying Programs, Curricula and Practices
Bullying Prevention Program
Violence Prevention Works: Safer Schools, Safer Communities
Open Circle: Getting to the Heart of Learning
PeaceBuilders® Creating Safe, Positive Learning Environments
Safe Schools Ambassador Program
Teaching Students to Prevent Bullying- NEA
Embedding Bully Prevention in Core Curriculum
Bullying Prevention Unit: The Power to Create a Positive School Environment
Safe School
Bully Prevention in Positive Behavior
We are open to feedback and discussion. If you see any typos or grammatical errors please feel free to email the author and editor at the address below:
Dr. David Childs
childsd1@nku.edu
I really enjoyed this article, one thing that stood out to me is when you said many schools tend to be a breading ground of bullying. As a future educator this makes incredible sad because a school should foster a welcoming environment not be a breeding ground for such foul behavior. Knowing this and reading these statistics I will make sure classroom has a fostering environment. This was a great article and provided a lot of insight into how I can be a better educator!
In this entry we see how bullying both impacts the bully and the student being bullied. I think bullying is a serious issue that usually starts when a child is in school. I think bullying happens whether unwanted conduct happens to a student once or several times. I take this topic very seriously because I was bullied to a certain extent in school, and it is nothing you wish on a student or child. I think it is great that now we have bullying prevention programs in schools that cut down on bullying. However, it is still important that teachers are watching for this kind of behavior between students. If you see something happen once it is important to step in because you do not know how long this has been happening. When you see bullying happen it is also important to talk to both the bully and person being bullied. Something at home could be happening to make the bully act this way, it is important for us talk and understand their actions. It is also important for us to talk to the child being bullied to make sure they are okay; they can also speak with a counselor if that makes them more comfortable to follow next steps. Bullying is something that should be taken very seriously, especially in schools.
Bullying is such a deep topic that I feel isn’t talked much in the lower grades. I feel like you always hear it be talked about in middle and high school, but often looked over or censored in the lower levels. While reading the article about bullying, I looked into the “Bullying Prevention Unit” as well. This talked about second steps, which I have only seen in one of my placements, a kindergarten class. I think teachers need to use resources like this more to make the younger students aware. I feel like if we keep waiting to talk to students about bullying, it is going to continue to get worse. While I do understand the elementary age seems young, I feel this is where a lot of bullying begins.
I think that stopbullying.com’s definition of bullying is a great representation of how bullies are targeting their victims these days in school. I relate to that quote because I was bullied when I was in middle school. I was strong enough to tell the teachers what was going on, but she continued and it got worse. It started out with her just saying mean things about me. Then it progressed to her throwing erasers, pencils, and her trash at me. What finally got the teachers attention was when she poured a whole bottle of sweet tea in my hair during lunch. Overall, I relate to this article because I was a victim of school bullying, and I hate to hear that so many other victims decided that their only way out was through school shootings or suicide. My family and friends were what got me through my hard time and I’m thankful for them every day.
The first two paragraphs really stuck out to me. I have always struggled with the fact that bullying “had” to be “repeated” in order to be considered bullying. I am happy to know that even some scholars have argued this notion. This article is a wonderful place for teachers to find extra resources for their classrooms. In Kentucky, I know some schools have adopted certain curriculum. However, sometimes, this is not enough. We should always be on the lookout for behavior that is harmful to another student, and redirect that behavior.
I feel like as years have gone on, bullying has become more and more prevalent in schools. The talk of bullying has been becoming more and more frequent. This is good news so that bullying will not be swept under the rug. I read one of the lesson plans below that shows how to talk about bullying with your class. I want to use this so that bullying is brought to the front of our minds and not just casted aside. We would as a class talk about what bullying is and why it happens. I would want to let the students take charge of the conversation so that they feel like it is their ideas on what they can do to help. This will give them authority over these ideas. I want to make sure my students feel safe at school in every way possible.
It is so unfortunate to read this and firsthand see how much of a hot topic bullying is. It honestly breaks my heart and makes me feel not only for the victims of bullying, but those who are the bullies. We can infer that something had to trigger their instincts to bully others. There’s hope for these people/students though. In the link ‘There Are No Bullies Just Children Who Bully’, there is a section that explains what schools can do in order to help these students. One option I really want to implement as a future educator would be to have one or two teachers/staff teach a class with those who bully. This class could be so beneficial to students who struggle with bullying others.
After reading this article, the stats do not shock me. I was raised in a town not far from NKU (literally 25 minutes), and we had an anti-bully system. This is sad to say, but students laughed at that system. The system didn’t teach us anything at all. As high schoolers, we all know not to bully people, but us following though with that knowledge seems to be the problem. I saw bullying every single day of life. I was a bully and I got bullied. One person on this post commented that we need to define “what bullying is” and how we need to narrow it down. Be more specific with students, maybe let students share their experiences of how they were bullied, or when they were one in the past. I think by having conversations at very young age with your students can show a lot. Showing them kindness to all people, modeling what being respectful looks like, teaching them how people should respect them and their boundaries. Talking to them about internet safety, how to use kind words in person and online, etc. There is so much that a child can learn at a young age, and if we have the conversations with them maybe that could change how they view bullying and how it is a real problem inside and outside schools.
When I read that about 30%, or 5.2 million, students were impacted by bullying in just a school term, I was pretty shocked. That’s a higher number than I thought it was going to be. Students are given the stop bullying conversation every school year it seems like. While we all have a mental image for what bullying in schools can look like, it’s the bullying we see play out in the media that comes to mind first. The physical, and sometimes name calling, bullying. However, with this day and age, bullying is more common in online spaces. If it happens in person, it’s a little more hidden. Something I’ve noticed is that bullies these days will pretend to be nice to someone when they’re really making fun of them. It’s a sad thing to see the number of bullied kids rise every year. Solving the problem is a lot harder than even 5 years ago people thought it was going to be.
Bullying has a deep rooted history throughout time and perhaps the classification for “what bullying is” has been to narrow. Challenging establishment and ideas is what helps us as individuals grow and i believe challenging the idea that bullying has to be continuous act. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. Imagine if teachers had a straight line to the root of bullying. The ability to intervene from the start of what could turn into bullying. Some might call it overkill, I’d call it control. With 5.7 million students effected by bullying, I’d find it hard to imagine much resistance from the students to make the schools ultimately safer.