What is bullying? (return
to top)
Bullying is aggressive behavior that is intentional and that involves an
imbalance of power or strength. Often, it is repeated over time. Bullying can
take many forms, such as hitting, kicking, or shoving (physical bullying),
teasing or name-calling (verbal bullying), intimidation through gestures or
social exclusion (nonverbal bullying or emotional bullying), and sending
insulting messages by text messaging or e-mail (cyber bullying).
What is known about bullying among children with disabilities and special
needs? (return to top)
There is a small but growing amount of research literature on bullying among
children with disabilities and special needs. This research indicates that these
children may be at particular risk of being bullied by their peers. For example,
research tells us that:
Although little research has been conducted on the relation between
learning disabilities (LD) and bullying, available information indicates
that children with LD are at greater risk of being teased and physically
bullied (Martlew & Hodson, 1991; Mishna, 2003; Nabuzoka & Smith, 1993;
Thompson, Whitney, & Smith, 1994).
Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are more
likely than other children to be bullied. They also are somewhat more likely
than others to bully their peers (Unnever & Cornell, 2003).
Children with medical conditions that affect their appearance (e.g.,
cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and spina bifida) are more likely to be
victimized by peers. Frequently, these children report being called names
related to their disability (Dawkins, 1996).
Obesity also may place children at higher risk of being bullied. In a
study of children aged 11–16, researchers found that overweight and obese
girls (aged 11–16) and boys (aged 11–12) were more likely than normal-weight
peers to be teased or to be made fun of and to experience relational
bullying (e.g., to be socially excluded). Overweight and obese girls were
also more likely to be physically bullied (Janssen, Craig, Boyce, & Pickett,
2004).
Children with hemiplagia (paralysis of one side of their body) are more
likely than other children their age to be victimized by peers, to be rated
as less popular than their peers, and to have fewer friends than other
children (Yude, Goodman, & McConachie, 1998).
Children who have diabetes and who are dependent on insulin may be
especially vulnerable to peer bullying (Storch et al., 2004).
Children who stutter may be more likely than their peers to be bullied.
In one study, 83 percent of adults who had problems with stammering as
children said that they had been teased or bullied; 71 percent of those who
had been bullied said it happened at least once a week (Hugh-Jones & Smith,
1999).
How does bullying affect children?
(return to top)
Bullying can have serious consequences. Children and youth who are bullied are
more likely than other children to
Can bullying of my child be illegal?
(return to top)
Yes. Bullying behavior may cross the line to become “disability harassment,”
which is illegal under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title
II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. According to the U.S.
Department of Education, disability harassment is “intimidation or abusive
behavior toward a student based on disability that creates a hostile environment
by interfering with or denying a student’s participation in or receipt of
benefits, services, or opportunities in the institution’s program” (U.S.
Department of Education, 2000). This behavior can take different forms including
verbal harassment, physical threats, or threatening written statements. When a
school finds out that harassment may have occurred, staff must investigate the
incident(s) promptly and respond appropriately. Disability harassment can occur
in any location that is connected with school: in classrooms, in the cafeteria,
in hallways, on the playground or athletic fields, or on a school bus. It also
can occur during school-sponsored events (Education Law Center, 2002).
What can I do if I think my child is being bullied or is the victim of
disability harassment? (return to top)
Be supportive of your child and encourage him or her to describe who was
involved and how and where the bullying or harassment happened. Be sure to
tell your child that it is not his or her fault and that nobody deserves to
be bullied or harassed. Do not encourage your child to fight back. This may
make the problem much worse.
Usually children are able to identify when they are being bullied by
their peers. Sometimes, however, children with disabilities do not realize
they are being targeted. (They may, for example, believe that they have a
new friend, when in fact, this “friend” is making fun of them.) Ask your
child specific questions about his or her friendships and be alert to
possible signs of bullying—even if your child doesn’t label the behaviors as
bullying.
Talk with your child’s teacher immediately to see whether he or she can
help to resolve the problem quickly.
If the bullying or harassment is severe, or if the teacher doesn’t fix
the problem quickly, contact the principal and put your concerns in writing.
Explain what happened in detail and ask for a prompt response. Keep a
written record of all conversations and communications with the school.
Ask the school district to convene a meeting of the Individualized
Education Program (IEP) team or the Section 504 team, a group convened to
ensure that the school district is meeting the needs of its students with
disabilities. This meeting will allow you to explain what has been happening
and will let the team review your child’s IEP or 504 plan and make sure that
the school is taking steps to stop the harassment. If your child needs
counseling or other supportive services because of the harassment, discuss
this with the team.
As the U.S. Department of Education (2000) recognizes, “creating a
supportive school climate is the most important step in preventing
harassment." Work with the school to help establish a system-wide bullying
prevention.
How common is bullying?
(return to top)
Approximately 30 percent of all children and youth in grades 6 through 10 have
been bullied or have bullied other children “sometimes” or more often within a
semester, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical
Association (Nansel et al., 2001).
Effects of bullying (return
to top)
Bullying can have serious effects on children who are bullied. These children
are more likely than their peers to be depressed, lonely, and anxious; have low
self-esteem; feel unwell; have more migraine headaches; and think about suicide
(see Limber, 2002, for summary).
Children who bully (return
to top)
Children who bully tend to have average or above average self-esteem. Other
characteristics may include:
Children who bully are more likely than their peers to
Get into frequent fights,
Be injured in a fight,
Vandalize property,
Steal property,
Drink alcohol,
Smoke,
Be truant from school,
Drop out of school, and
Carry a weapon, (Nansel et al., 2001, 2003; Olweus, 1993).
Research has also shown that:
Children who bully are more likely to report that they own guns for
risky reasons, such as to gain respect or frighten others (Cunningham et
al., 2000); and
Boys who were identified as bullies in middle school were four times as
likely as their nonbullying peers to have more than one criminal conviction
by age 24 (Olweus, 1993).
What works in bullying prevention?
(return to top)
There are many school-based bullying prevention programs. Although they vary in
size and scope, the most promising programs incorporate the following
characteristics:
A 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.
Why does my school need a bullying prevention program?
(return to top)
Bullying among children is aggressive behavior that is intentional and
that involves an imbalance of power or strength.
Bullying can seriously affect the emotional, physical, and academic
well-being of children who are bullied.
Dealing with discipline problems related to bullying incidents can take
a good deal of administrators’ and educators’ time during a school day.
Bullying can contribute to a negative climate in schools.
Bullying is more prevalent than many adults suspect. Everyone in the
school environment will benefit from implementation of an effective bullying
prevention program. Before implementing any efforts to address bullying or
other violence at school, keep in mind that
Effective programs require strong administrative leadership and ongoing
commitment on the part of the adults in the school system.
Those programs that show the most promise are comprehensive in approach.
They involve the entire school community, including families, and can take
the forms of school-wide interventions, classroom activities, and individual
interventions.
Bullying prevention efforts should begin early—as children transition
into kindergarten—and continue throughout the children’s education.
Effective bullying prevention programs should have no “end date” but
should instead become part of the life of your school. Ongoing staff
development is important to sustain bullying prevention programs. Following
are suggested initial steps that school administrators can take to develop
an effective bullying prevention program in their schools.
How can you help a child or adolescent who is bullied?
(return to top)
Don’t do further damage by lending too much support in public. Kids are
concerned about what their peer group sees and knows. It may be more helpful
to lend your supportive words and gestures in private.
Spend time with the student. Learn about what’s been going on. Listen.
Get the facts (who, what, when, where, and how) and assess the student’s
feelings about the bullying. Is this the first time he or she has been hurt
by bullying, or is this something that’s been going on for a while?
Recognize that this discussion may be difficult for the student. Tell him or
her that you are sorry about what happened. Assure the student that it’s not
his or her fault.
Praise the student for their courage to discuss bullying incidents with
you. Explain how helpful they are being by providing this important
information, not only for themselves, but also for the rest of the students
and staff.
Ask the student what he or she needs to feel safe. Those who are bullied
may feel powerless, scared, and helpless. Give this student a voice. Follow
through and grant their requests, when possible. Emphasize the confidential
nature of your discussion and be clear about who will and will not be given
this information. Get additional facts about the incident(s) from other
adults or students, so the bullied student doesn’t feel that he or she could
be easily identified as the sole reporter of the abuse. Protect this student
in conversations with the student(s) who bully. Don’t reveal his or her
identity, if possible. Rather, explain that you’ve learned about the
bullying from a number of sources, including other adults.
Communicate with colleagues about the bullying incident. Other staff
members who have contact with the student who was bullied can also lend
support and assistance. Ask them to continue their observations to be sure
that the bullying has stopped. Also encourage them to communicate progress
or further incidents to all of the appropriate staff members.
Don’t force a meeting between the student who is bullied and the student
who bullied them. Such meetings can cause much further harm. Forced
apologies don’t help.
Provide as much information as you can about your “next steps”.
Information is helpful for the student who is bullied to regain a sense of
safety and control. Urge the student to report any further incidents of
bullying that involve the same or different students.
Encourage and support the student who is bullied in making friends. One
of the most important bullying prevention tools is helping each student at
school to have a good friend to be with and talk to.
Explore how the student’s parents may be of support to them. Many
children keep incidents of bullying to themselves and don’t tell their
parents. Explain that if their parents know, more support may be available.
Talk with parents, if appropriate, about your concerns.
Make a referral, if needed. Bullying can be traumatic, just as other
forms of abuse can be. Assess, or have another professional assess, how much
support and assistance this student may need. Talk with your school
counselor about a counseling or mental health referral. Err on the side of
offering more services, rather than fewer. Bullying is no longer viewed as a
rite of passage that all kids just have to endure. It is a form of abuse
that can cause psychological, physical, and academic problems for children
who are bullied.
Make sure you follow up with a student who has been bullied. Let the
student know that you are a resource for him or her and that you plan to
“check in” with them in two to three days and beyond.
Why is it important to assess bullying at your school?
(return to top)
Adults often are not very accurate in predicting the types and amount of
bullying among children and youth in school. It is important to ask students
about their experiences.
Getting an accurate picture of the prevalence of bullying at your school
may motivate your teachers, other staff members, parents, and students to
take action. If, for example, your teachers perceive that bullying is a rare
event at school, it may be difficult to motivate them to implement a
bullying prevention program. If, on the other hand, teachers see that
bullying affects many students at your school, they may be more inclined to
focus on bullying prevention.
Understanding bullying at your school can help you to plan strategies to
address the problem. For example, it is important to know where bullying
occurs at your school so that you can increase adult supervision in those
“hot spots.”
Assessing bullying at different points in time can help you to evaluate
your school’s progress in dealing with bullying.
What are good ways to assess bullying?
(return to top)
It is a good idea to have students (grades three and higher) complete a
written, anonymous questionnaire about their experiences of bullying, being
bullied, and observing bullying. Students are likely to feel more
comfortable reporting their bullying experiences if they don’t have to
include their name or other identifying information on the questionnaire.
Several bullying prevention programs include a student questionnaire as
part of their materials. Other questionnaires have been published in
research articles. Refer to the list of Bullying Prevention Programs
and the fact sheet on Research-Based Articles and Books on Bullying/Peer
Victimization for references to several questionnaires for students.
In addition to surveying students, consider inviting teachers, other
school staff, and parents to complete questionnaires about bullying at
school. Not only may it be helpful to assess adults’ perceptions of bullying
and ideas for bullying prevention in your school, it may also be instructive
to compare adults’ perceptions of bullying with those of your students.
Be sure to share summaries of data with students, parents, and school
personnel.
Tracking bullying incidents at your school
(return to top)
In addition to assessing the nature and prevalence of bullying at your school,
it’s also important to continue to document suspected and confirmed incidents of
bullying. This tracking will help ensure that children who are bullied receive
protection and support and that children who bully are held accountable for
their actions.
To track bullying incidents effectively, adults must be educated about
bullying. Offer training for all staff at school that will help them be more
aware of signs of bullying.
Develop a logical and timely reporting system that will inform school
personnel and parents of suspected and confirmed bullying incidents. No
single system will work for all schools.
Some schools have developed a triplicate incident report form for
bullying and other problem behaviors (one copy goes to the student’s
teacher, the second copy is filed in the office, and the third copy goes to
the student’s parents).
Other schools keep a log of bullying incidents in the main office.
Make sure that teachers and all school personnel (e.g., bus drivers,
school nurses, cafeteria workers, and custodial staff ) are familiar with
the school’s reporting procedures and understand their obligation to report
suspected or confirmed bullying.
In addition to filing written reports, encourage school personnel to
share their concerns verbally and in a timely way with colleagues (e.g., in
grade-level team meetings or one-on-one with other staff ). If, for example,
the third-period math teacher has observed bullying among two students, he
or she should make a written report and discuss the issue quickly with other
teachers and staff to make sure that the bullying doesn’t continue.
Consider tracking bullying using computer software programs. Many larger
school districts already have software programs to document critical
behavior incidents. New upgrades of these programs and customized data
fields can be used to track bullying incidents. Some schools may find the
cost of such computer programs prohibitive. Free computer programs (e.g.,
www.schoolcopsoftware.com) are available that may help you analyze and map
bullying and other problem behaviors that occur in and around your school.
Documentation of known or suspected bullying incidents is a critical
component of an effective bullying prevention effort. However, documentation
alone will not solve bullying problems at school. See the fact sheet “Steps
to Address Bullying at Your School: Tips for School Administrators” for
information about how you can implement bullying prevention programs in your
school.
