Bullying and harassment on and off campus are serious issues for students, school personnel and overall school climate. To help local educational agencies address the issue, the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments convened a panel of experts from the U.S. Department of Education, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center and more for an Oct. 30 webinar.
The panel discussed what schools can do to support victims of bullying or harassment, bystanders who witness this behavior, and even students who are engaging in harassing or bullying behavior.
Research has linked bullying to detrimental impacts on mental health, substance use and suicide. Children who are bullied are more likely to experience depression and anxiety and decreased academic achievement. Kevin J. Vagi, a behavioral scientist at the CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Division of Violence Prevention, said that bullying is a common and widespread public health problem in the U.S. About one in five high school students reported being bullied on school property and one in six reported being electronically bullied last year, according to the CDC.
“Bullying is a developmental precursor to multiple forms of violence. Bullying prevention during childhood is at the foundational base of the overt developmental pathway for violent and delinquent behavior,” Vagi said. “Studies have shown that bullying can lead to physical fighting and serious forms of violence, including adult intimate partner violence, self-directed violence such as suicidal ideation, deliberate self-harm and suicide and delinquency. Bullying can also be a precursor for sexual violence and teen dating violence. This is known as the Bully-Sexual Violence Pathway, given their shared risk factors, for example, perceptions and actions related to social dominance, social sexual learning and alcohol use. As such, addressing bullying can help prevent multiple forms of community violence.”
Even students who simply witness bullying are more likely to have increased rates of substance use and mental health and attendance issues.
Bryan Williams, director of Safe Supportive Schools in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education at the U.S. Department of Education, said that identity-based harassment and bullying based on an aspect of the student’s identity — such as their race/ethnicity or sexual orientation — have even stronger associations with poor mental health and school functioning compared to general bullying and harassment. “Schools should be safe places for all students and it’s critical for all of us to prevent and address incidents of bullying harassment as they come up,” Williams said.
Catherine Bradshaw, senior associate dean for research and professor in the University of Virginia’s School of Education and Human Development, noted that LGBTQ youth in particular regularly report higher rates of bullying and harassment.
So, why aren’t students reporting these issues to adults on campus? “They’re more likely to go to a friend and an adult at home than they are to adults in the school environment, so we really need to try to bridge this gap,” Bradshaw said. “When we ask youth about this, we see 43 percent of youth are saying that they’re watching adults not responding adequately to bullying, 54 percent are saying that adults are not adequately responding to bullying, and 61 percent of youth are actually saying adults are making the bullying situation worse.”
Strategies for improvement
The Community Preventative Services Task Force (CPSTF), which makes evidence-based recommendations and findings about the effectiveness and economics of public health intervention approaches, has found that school-based anti-bullying interventions can lead to small but meaningful outcomes in reducing instances of bullying both online and in person, as well as improvements in anxiety, depression and student well-being.
“Bullying is preventable,” Vagi said. “There are many factors that may increase or decrease the risk for perpetrating or experiencing bullying. To prevent bullying, we must understand and address the factors that put people at risk or protect them from violence. Certain approaches, particularly universal school-based programs that strengthen youth’s skills and modify the physical and social environment have been shown to reduce violence and bullying or key risk behaviors.”
The CDC developed a Community Violence Prevention Resource for Action using evidence-based anti-violence strategies to help states and communities prevent violence before it starts and lessen the harm of violence that occurs. The three components of the resource address prevention strategies; implementation of policies, programs or practices; and the evidence for each approach in preventing community violence or the conditions or behaviors that increase risk for community violence.
Bradshaw emphasized the importance of teacher and student training in detecting and responding to bullying in a timely manner. Training can range from typical, classroom-style professional development to the use of simulators that provide teachers a safe space to practice detecting and responding to bullying, she said.
Meanwhile, weaving social-emotional learning (SEL) throughout the school day allows students to learn how to avoid situations that might escalate bullying or use strategies that provide an immediate sense of relief for them. SEL can also be used to address issues those who perpetuate the bullying may be struggling with.
“These are best addressed when we have training that is holistic, that is fostering positive relationships, and that is built into these multi-system approaches, rather than just a one-shot approach,” Bradshaw said. “In general, we also know that social-emotional learning is an effective strategy built into Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports.”
Judy French, coordinator for the California-based PACER National Bullying Prevention Center, noted that SEL efforts are crucial because students often receive “pretty poor” advice when it comes to conflict resolution from the adults in their lives, if they’re receiving any at all.
“When students learn to speak up for what they need, they’re better prepared, eventually, to solve their own problems and understand when a problem like bullying requires adult help,” French explained. “Whether it’s a disagreement with a friend or a serious situation like bullying, when kids have some measure of self-advocacy, it helps them know that they can create positive change in their world.”
A recording of the webinar, as well as links to the resources discussed, are available here. CSBA’s Safe Schools Toolkit also offers sections dedicated to supporting a positive school climate and addressing bullying and cyberbullying.