Title: Bullying among SchoolAged Youth: Examining Student and Teacher Perceptions
1Bullying among School-Aged Youth Examining
Student and Teacher Perceptions
- Kisha M. Haye, M.A.
- Courtney K. Miller, Ed.S.
- Susan M. Swearer, Ph.D.
- Rhonda Turner, M.A.
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- Paper presented at the annual meeting of the
National Association of School Psychologists,
Dallas, Texas, April, 2004
2Target Bullying Ecologically-Based Prevention
and Intervention for Schools
3Overview
- The definition, prevalence, and assessment of
bullying behaviors in school will be reviewed - A definition of school climate will be discussed
- Comparison of student and teacher attitudes
towards bullying and perceptions of school
climate will be examined - Role of the bystander and implications that these
students might have for prevention and
intervention will be discussed
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5Bullying and Peer Victimization
6Definition
- Students are being bullied when another student
or several other students - Say mean and hurtful things to them or make fun
of them. - Completely ignore or exclude them from their
group of friends or leave them out of things on
purpose. - Hit, kick, push, shove around, or lock them
inside a room.
7Definition (continued)
- Tell lies, spread false rumors about them or send
mean notes and try to make other students dislike
them. - And
- These things happen repeatedly.
- It is difficult for the student being bullied to
defend himself or herself.
8Therefore..
- Bullying is
- 1) negative, mean behavior that
- 2) occurs repeatedly (over time)
- 3) in a relationship that is characterized by an
imbalance of power or strength. - (Olweus, 1999)
9Our Survey Definition
- Bullying is anything from teasing, saying mean
things, writing mean notes, or leaving someone
out of a group, to physical attacks (hitting,
pushing, kicking) where one person or a group of
people picks on another person over and over
again. Kids who are bullied have a hard time
defending themselves.
10Prevalence Rates for Bullying
- According to Solberg and Olweus (2003), Two or
three times a month is an accurate indicator of
the prevalence of bullying and peer
victimization. - 10.1 (Solberg Olweus, 2003) to 37 of students
(Limber Small, 2000) report being bullied two
or three times a month - 8.4 (Nansel et al., 2001) to 34 (Stockdale,
Hangaduambo, Duys, Larson, Sarvela, 2002) of
students in the U.S. report being victimized at
least once per week.
11Prevalence Rates (continued)
- Worldwide rates range from 3 to 20 (Whitney
Smith, 1993) - 75 of adolescents report having been bullied at
some time during their school years (Hoover,
Oliver, Hazler, 1992)
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13Bully/Victim Continuum
- Bully
- Bully-victim
- Victim
- Bystander
- Not-involved
-
14The Bystander
- Bystanders are key to school climate.
- When bystanders take a stand against bullying
they help create an environment that is safer and
more conducive to learning. -
- (Tremlow, Peaceful Schools Project,
- study with Topeka schools, 2002)
15Role of Bystanders 80 of all participants
indicated that they had observed bullying
behavior in their school.
16Benefits of School-wide Assessment
- Accurate estimates of the prevalence of bullying
in a particular school. - Identification of the students who are most
likely to use bullying behaviors, or to be
victimized (or both), or onlooker behaviors
(bystanders). - Identification of students who are not involved
in the bully/victim continuum. - Information about school policies and practices
that might be encouraging or discouraging
bullying.
17School Climate
- School climate can be defined as the total
environmental quality within a school and is
multi-dimensional physical, social, culture,
milieu (Anderson, 1982). - Researchers have limited knowledge about the
effects of the school setting on bullying,
particularly how school climate affects victims
and bullies (Ma, 2001) as well as the social and
environmental factors that facilitate or inhibit
bullying (Nansel et al., 2001).
18School Climate (cont.)
- The construct of school climate is often
ill-defined and there is a limited number of
validated assessment measures for this construct. - For the purpose of this study, school climate is
defined as the positive and negative
relationships between students and teachers.
19Comprehensive Assessment Target Bullying
- Self-nomination Bully survey
- Peer nomination Inventory
- Teacher nomination Inventory
- Assessment of internalizing problems Depression
(CDI), Anxiety (MASC), Hopelessness, Locus of
Control, Aggression. - School records data Grades, GPA, Test Scores,
Office referrals, Absences, Suspensions - School climate measure
20Bully Attitudinal Scale
- 12-item scale measuring attitudes towards
bullying. - Items are rated on a five-point scale 1
Totally False to 5 Totally True - Scores range from 12 to 60 higher scores
indicate more pro-bullying attitudes
21School Social Climate Measure
- 13-item scale measuring aspects of school climate
hypothesized to be relevant to students
emotional and behavioral development. - Items are rated on a four-point scale 1
Totally False to 4 Totally True - Scores range from 13 to 52 higher scores
indicate more positive perceptions of school
climate.
22Participants Spring 2003
- Total 347 students 69 teachers
- School A
- 126 students (53 male 73 female)
- 13 teachers (2 male 11 female)
- School B
- 125 students (58 male 67 female)
- 28 teachers (10 male 18 female)
- School C
- 96 students (96 male)
- 28 teachers (18 male 10 female)
23Participants Racial Distribution
- School A
- Students 61 Caucasian, 9.5 Biracial, 7.9
African-American, 7.1 Asian, 5.6 Latino(a),
2.4 Middle Eastern, 2.4 Native American, and
0.8 Eastern European - Teachers 92 Caucasian and 8 Biracial
- School B
- Students 92 Caucasian, 2.4 Biracial, 2.4
African-American, 1.6 Latino(a), 0.8 Native
American, and 0.8 Eastern European - Teachers 92.8 Caucasian, 3.6
African-American, and 3.6 Eastern European - School C
- Students 89 Caucasian, 4 Biracial, 4
Latino(a), 2 African-American, and 1 Asian - Teachers 100 Caucasian
24Bully/Victim Status across Schools
25Bully/Victim Status
26Bully/Victim Status by School
27Student and Teacher Attitudes Towards Bullying
28Measuring Attitudes Towards Bullying
- A one-way analysis of variance was conducted to
evaluate the relationship between position
(student or teacher) and attitudes towards
bullying. - There was a significant difference between
student and teacher attitudes towards bullying
across the entire sample and across schools, with
students reporting more pro-bullying attitudes. - A one-way ANOVA was significant for all schools.
- School A F (1, 137) 5.066, p lt .05
- School B F (1, 151) 12.509, p lt .01
- School C F (1, 122) 30.862, p lt .01
29Support for Bullying
30Bully/Victim Status Differences in Attitudes
Towards Bullying
31Attitudes Towards Bullying Summary
- Bullies reported the most pro-bullying attitudes,
followed by bully-victims, not-involved students,
bystanders, and victims. - Bullies reported significantly different
attitudes towards bullying than victims,
bystanders, and not-involved students. - Bully-victims reported significantly different
attitudes towards bullying than bystanders and
victims.
32Attitudes Towards Bullying Summary (cont.)
- Teachers were less supportive of bullying
behaviors compared to students across schools. - Bullies and bully-victims (individuals who bully)
reported the most supportive attitudes towards
bullying, while victims and bystanders were the
least supportive.
33Perception
- Perceptions will vary from person to person
across the same situation. - We assign different meanings to what we perceive.
- Why will individuals observing or experiencing
the same situation perceive it differently?
34The Power of Perception
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36Therefore
- Individuals in the same environment may have a
different perception of the climate in that
environment. - This perception is likely to be affected by
current or past experiences within that
environment. - This leads to some of the difficulty in defining
and assessing school climate.
37Student and Teacher Perceptions of School
Climate Across Schools
38Bullying and Perceptions of School Environment
- A one-way analysis of variance was conducted to
evaluate the relationship between position
(student and teacher) and perception of school
climate. - The results were not consistent across schools.
- School A The ANOVA was not significant, F (1,
137) 14.902, p .479 - School B The ANOVA was significant, F (1, 151)
18.391, p lt .01 - School C The ANOVA was significant, F (1, 122)
8.953, p lt .01
39Perception of School Climate
40School Climate
- At School A there was overlap in the student and
teacher perceptions of school climate. - Possible reasons School A has participated in
the Target Bullying study since 1999. - At Schools B and C, students reported
significantly lower perceptions (more negative)
of their school climate compared to teachers.
41School Climate - Summary
- Students not involved and bystanders tended to
report more positive perceptions of school
climate compared to those students involved in
bullying (i.e., victims, bully-victims, and
bullies).
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43Global Summary
- Attitudes
- Educating students about bullying and modeling of
pro-social behaviors are important components to
include in prevention and intervention
strategies. - Schools should take an active approach towards
addressing bullying and peer victimization.
44Global Summary (cont.)
- School climate
- It is important to define school climate and
assess your school to determine the climate at
that point in time. - Student perceptions of school climate can be an
indicator of the effectiveness of school response
to bullying.
45Suggestions for Intervention
- Interventions delivered at the individual,
classroom and school levels need to be
coordinated - Conduct a school-wide assessment of bullying and
engage in data-based decision making. - Promote facts, not myths about bullying
- Dispel beliefs about the outcome of aggressive
behavior - Develop a student code of conduct
- Individualize counseling services across subtypes
of bully/victims - Target counseling services to address
internalizing problems such as depression and
anxiety
46Suggestions for Intervention
- Involve parents in the intervention process
- (for example, have parents volunteer as hallway
monitors) - Implement intervention strategies specific to
bully/victim subtypes - Intervene quickly
- Examine teacher responses to bullying
- Create an open-door policy for all students
- Take all reports seriously
- Accountability and evaluation for everyone
47Directions for Future Research
- Limitations of this study
- Psychometric properties of the Thoughts About
Your School (TAS) are still being tested - Bully/victim status was based on self-report only
- Small teacher sample
- Future Research
- Defining school climate in relation to bullying
- How individual schools address bullying
- Exploring student responses to bullying
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49Conclusion
- The goal of the Target Bullying
Ecologically-Based Prevention Intervention for
Schools Project is to use assessment data to
create state-of-the art intervention techniques
to address bullying and victimization in
school-aged youth. - Research is the key to developing an
empirically-guided program and to helping schools
determine which programs to use. - One size does not fit all!
50Lawrence Erlbaum Associates http//www.erlbaum.com
51Target Bullying Ecologically-Based Prevention
Intervention for Schools
- Susan M. Swearer, Ph.D.
- School Psychology Program
- 40 Teachers College Hall
- Lincoln, NE, 68588-0345
- (402) 472-1741
- sswearer_at_unlserve.unl.edu