WHAT CAN SCHOOL TEACHERS DO TO MINIMIZE & CONTROL BULLYING IN SCHOOLS

Bullying is the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively to impose domination over others. The behaviour is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception, by the bully or by others, of an imbalance of social or physical power. Behaviours used to assert such domination can include verbal harassment or threat, physical assault or coercion, and such acts may be directed repeatedly towards particular targets. Justifications and rationalizations for such behaviour sometimes include differences of class, race, religion, gender, sexuality, appearance, behaviour, or ability. If bullying is done by a group, it is called mobbing. The target of bullying is sometimes referred to as a victim .

Bullying is also a form of violence common among children. Bullying can be found in schools, neighborhoods, and homes .Bullying is frequently misunderstood by adults as an unavoidable part of growing up and, as a result, often occurs in the presence of adults who fail to do anything about it. The focus of this article is about bullying at school and what can be done about it. Bullying affects a school and students in many ways. Bullying has a negative effect on the social environment of a school and creates an atmosphere of fear among students. Bullying also reduces students’ abilities to learn. A child who bullies is also more likely to engage in other negative behavior .More than 26 percent of  Indian school children said that they had been bullied by other students during a school term.  Researchers found that bullying occurred most frequently in sixth through eighth grades, with little variation between urban, suburban, town, and rural areas. Boys were both more likely to bully others and more likely to be victims of bullying than were girls. In addition, males were more likely to say they had been bullied physically while females more frequently said they were bullied verbally and psychologically .

So what can SCHOOL STAFF  do?

STRATEGIES FOR TEACHERS

Up to half of today’s children are victims of school bullying. Parents, educators, and students alike must work together to help stop bullying in their classrooms, playgrounds, and schools. The following strategies can help teachers and administrators to combat bullying in their schools.

Plan and Make Consequences VERY Clear

 An effective strategy for schools to reduce bullying is to have a policy outlining how teachers and school staff address the issue of bullying in the classroom and how incidents are dealt with after they have happened. All students need to be aware of the consequences of bullying.

Safeguard and Protect Student Honesty

Students feel safe reporting bullying when teachers, administrators, and other school personnel respect the anonymity of the victim or reporting students.

Create a clear Bullying Policy and Vision

An effective strategy to reduce bullying is to create a school-wide policy that defines bullying, outlines how teachers and school staff should address the issue of bullying in the classroom, and delineates how incidents are to be dealt with after they occur. All students need to be aware of the consequences of bullying. The school policy must clearly define all forms of bullying behaviour. Bullying behaviour can be classified under four main headings: Physical Bullying, Verbal Bullying, Relational Bullying, and Sexual Harassment .

 Many bullies try to pass off acts of aggression as roughhousing between friends, or just having fun. However, there is a difference between play and bullying. An episode of bullying has three identifying characteristics:  A power difference between the individual being bullied and the bully. A negative intent on the part of the bully to hurt, embarrass or humiliate the other. Repeated behaviour with others, with the same person or with the same person over time.

Inclusion and Discussion

Involve all members of a school community including pupils, parents, teachers, and non-teaching staff in the formation of the bullying policy. Provide a range of opportunities for pupils to talk about bullying.

Adopt effective strategies

Effective strategies MUST include No-blame approach: A step-by-step technique that allows early intervention because it does not require that anyone is proved to be at fault. A group of young people, which includes bystanders as well as possible bullies, is made aware of a victim’s distress and is asked to suggest solutions. This approach is particularly useful in dealing with group bullying and name-calling.

Peer/buddy -support efforts groups of students to take a stand against bullying behavior.

Quality Circle Teams to be made per class

Bring students, teachers, and school professionals to address the issue of bullying, explore the effect of bullying on the school atmosphere, and brainstorm solutions when problems arise.

The Power of Student Body

Mobilize the masses of students who are neither victims nor bullies to take action against bullying.

Students can take action in many different ways:  Refusing to watch bullying, reporting bullying incidents, initiating conflict resolution strategies, using distraction with either the bully or the victim.

Tina Olyai 

Director LAHS