Bullying
Bullying and Sexual Harassment in Schools
Several years ago, Barry Loukaitis, a junior high student in Moses Lake, Washington, walked into his algebra classroom carrying a high-powered rifle under a trenchcoat. He pointed the gun at a student sitting near the door and pulled the trigger. The boy died instantly. During the next 15 minutes, he shot two more classmates and his teacher. According to his teachers and fellow students, Barry Loukaitis had been a victim of chronic bullying.
Loukaitis's name was listed on the honor roll before he brought national attention to his small town. His classmates described him as a shy and serious loner, someone with few friends who was a much-used target for harassment. According to students, "his outsized feet, his gangly build, his studiousness, and his cowboy clothing" (Tizon, 1996) made him ripe for bullying.
Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center, said, "As we look at the profile of perpetrators, the majority were victims first. When spurned, rejected, or bullied, some adolescents resort to violence. They want to resolve their problems quickly and with a measure of finality that is oftentimes rather scary" (Timms, 1998).
Decreasing Social Violence
Many researchers agree that "decreasing social violence lies in the prevention of bullying behavior" (Fried and Fried, 1996). Across North America, violent crime has risen sharply over the past 40 years. Most of this violence is committed by young people (Craig and Peplar, 1996). This trend is sobering and sadly believable; half the households in the United States now contain firearms (Miller, 1996), some within a child's reach.
The Consequences of Bullying
The consequences of bullying are potentially crippling. Victims of prolonged bullying can find their dreams suffocated as day-to-day survival takes precedence over academic achievement.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs explains how a student's motivation can become sabotaged if she's having to deal with constant harassment at school. A student whose sense of safety is destroyed won't feel like he belongs, will have a diminished sense of self, and will be thwarted in reaching any goals.
Children's behavior usually falls somewhere on the spectrum between bully and victim; the majority have acted in both capacities. A small percentage are regularly engaged in bullying, either as oppressor or victim. One survey found that 5–15 percent of children are suffering harsh and repeated abuse at school (Olweus, 1993).
What Makes a Bully?
Bullies abuse power either physically, psychologically, or sexually. A bully's abuse is abrasive and wears down a victim's self-esteem. A child's distress about an attack fuels a bully's sense of importance and can act as a catalyst for future instances of abuse.
Parents, teachers, and caregivers can play a role in fostering and encouraging bullying. Rewarding aggression and using inconsistent, excessive force as a disciplinary measure can produce a child who responds to an accidental bump as an antagonistic act (Goleman, 1995).
A toddler with emotionally inept parents can grow into a child with "little opportunity…to claim the possibilities of the world as his own" (Goleman, 1995). He will probably be a more angry and destructive child than his peers, with little ability to trust adults. Not having one's emotional needs met as a child can be "more damaging than outright abuse" (Goleman, 1995).
The Power Differential
What distinguishes bullying from developmentally appropriate behavior? Normal quarreling or teasing happens between classmates of equal stature or popularity, and it's not prolonged. There is a power differential between a bully and a victim. They find enjoyment in continuously harassing the same few classmates, and they intend harm—a goal lacking among schoolchildren engaged in normal conflict. The sufferers feel isolated and unsupported (Fried and Fried, 1996).
Who Are Their Victims?
Every morning there are students who dread the approaching school day. Long-term effects on a child bombarded with insults and taunts can include diminished self-esteem, declining grades, dropping out of school, and depression. Research shows that victims of prolonged bullying will eventually become either withdrawn or aggressive; in extreme cases, suicidal or violently retaliative (Fried and Fried, 1996).
A child suffering from constant harassment might think his actions caused the bully to single him out. Often a child at the mercy of the playground bully will fail to report the abuse, fearing retaliation.
Passive and Provocative Targets
The downtrodden tend to fall into two categories: those who are provocative, and those who are passive. The passive victims are anxious, insecure, cry easily when attacked, and avoid confrontation. They may be smaller and weaker than their counterparts and always have trouble standing up to a bully (McNamara and McNamara, 1997).
The provocative victims account for a small number of bullied children. These students may have a learning disability or lack social skills that would allow them to interpret body language and facial expressions. Behaviors of these children "send messages that create uneasiness" (Goleman, 1995). Because of this cognitive deficit, provocative victims can tease and annoy their classmates until someone lashes out at them. Unfortunately, teachers can mistake this skill deficit solely for repeated misbehavior and often dislike these children.
The Bullying Environment
When students are allowed to abuse power and bully others, a climate develops similar to one in an abusive home. Again, consider Maslow's hierarchy of needs—it is paramount that children feel safe before they can learn. "Continual emotional distress can create deficits in a child's intellectual abilities, crippling the capacity to learn" (Goleman, 1995). Canadian researchers Wendy Craig and Debra Peplar (1996) wrote, "Bullying…is likely to interfere not only with children's academic development, but also with their social and personal development."
Schools are ultimately responsible for protecting children and culpable when they don't. Courts have handed down decisions awarding monetary damages to students bullied at school. In many of these cases, pleas for help fell on teachers' and administrators' deaf ears. In Washington State, Mark Iversen, a high school senior bullied and harassed daily since junior high and finally physically assaulted in a classroom, filed suit against the school district for failing to stop the abuse. The suit contends that the school took no action to stop the bullying because he is gay. His mother repeatedly spoke to administrators at the school, with no result. As he progressed through junior high and high school, his grades declined. At one point suicide seemed like a solution. He said, "I've been through a lot of pain, suffering, embarrassment. I don't want this to happen to any other kid" (Davila, 1997).
Intervention Efforts
Although the facts about bullying are chilling, intervention efforts offer hope. A high school in Oakland puts healthy relationships high on its list of priorities. Students have a "consulting teacher" that they check in with twice daily. If there are any conflicts between the students, even just a "verbal altercation," they have to work it out before going back to class. The result: Emiliano Zapata Street Academy's school climate actively promotes peace. One young person said, "Students will stop each other from fighting because we don't want anyone to mess up the good thing we have here" (Epstein, 1998).
How effective is an anti-bullying campaign? Norway's program decreased bullying by 50 percent in the intervention schools over a two-year period. This decrease was measured in physical bullying and in more covert behavior, like purposeful exclusion. The downward trend also occurred off school grounds, where students were unsupervised. Students had "more positive social relationships and a more positive attitude to schoolwork and school" (Olweus, 1993).
Sexual Harassment
One researcher calls sexual harassment the "older cousin to bullying" (Stein and Sjostrom, 1994). The American Association of University Women (AAUW) conducted a landmark survey of 1,632 students in Grades 8–11. An astonishing 85 percent of girls and 76 percent of boys reported experiencing some kind of harassment. The milder forms included looks, jokes, graffiti on bathroom walls, and comments about body parts. The more severe forms were physically intrusive: being grabbed or brushed up against in a sexual way. Thirty-one percent of girls experienced harassment "often," compared to only 18 percent of boys. Thirteen percent of girls and nine percent of boys reported being "forced to do something sexual at school other than kissing" (AAUW, 1993).
The inappropriate behavior had a more significant impact on the girls. A greater percentage of female students described feeling less confident, more self-conscious, shamed, and embarrassed. Young women can be so affected by harassment that their grades drop. In the AAUW survey, one in four girls said they stayed home from school or cut class because of sexual harassment (AAUW, 1993).
School Responsibility
As with bullying, schools are ultimately responsible for creating an environment free of sexual harassment. If school administrators fail to react swiftly in investigating claims of harassment and punishing those responsible, they can find themselves in the midst of a lawsuit. A seven-year-old girl in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, was subjected to "name calling and unwelcome touch" on the bus and at school. The U.S. Department of Education found that the girl's civil rights were violated because the district didn't respond "forcefully" enough to her claim. Even though the district "didn't admit any wrongdoing," they paid her $15,000 and agreed in a settlement with the federal government to be more aware of harassment and enforce against it in their schools (Fried and Fried, 1996).
There are several advantages to school sexual harassment policies. A policy establishes a common language for students and staff, detailing exact behaviors deemed to be sexually inappropriate. When students are educated in recognizing hurtful behavior, they are probably more apt to step in and stop it. With protocols in place to deal with sexual harassment, teachers can successfully support a disclosing student instead of unwittingly adding to her distress.
Flirting vs. Harassment
Students capable of distinguishing between teasing and bullying can tell the difference between flirting and sexual harassment (Stein and Sjostrom, 1994). Flirting is reciprocal, flattering, and boosts self-esteem; it isn't demeaning or one-sided, and doesn't result in feelings of powerlessness (Strauss, 1992).
One New York middle school teacher, acting independently, wrote his own curriculum to deal with the problem. Peter Miner developed a Sexual Respect curriculum and teaches his students "actions that alienate and hurt people are unworthy of people of intelligence and integrity" (Fried and Fried, 1996).
If these types of curricula become standard fare in North American schools, educators and staff will have concrete strategies for creating a climate of respect where every person's dignity is honored.
By Lisa Walls
Committee for Children
Recommended Reading for Adults and Children
For Adults
Fried, S., and Fried, P. (1996). Bullies and Victims: Helping Your Child Through the Schoolyard Battlefield. New York: M. Evans and Co., Inc.
Paley, V. (1992). You Can't Say You Can't Play. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
McNamara, B., and McNamara, F. (1997). Keys to Dealing with Bullies. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's.
For Children
Romain, T. (1997). Bullies Are a Pain in the Brain. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc.
Webster-Doyle, T. (1991). Why Is Everybody Always Picking on Me: A Guide to Handling Bullies. Middlebury, VT: Atrium Publishing.
References
American Association of University Women. (1993). Hostile Hallways: The AAUW Survey on Sexual Harassment in America's Schools. Harris/Scholastic Research.
Craig, W., and Peplar, D. (1996). "Understanding Bullying at School: What Can We Do About It?" In S. Miller, J. Brodine, and T. Miller (Eds.), Safe by Design (pp. 247–260). Seattle, WA: Committee for Children.
Davila, F. (1997, July 24). "Boy Bullied as Gay Sues Kent Schools." The Seattle Times Web Archive.
Epstein, K. (1998, March 4). "An Urban High School with No Violence." Education Week, p. 45.
Fried, S., and Fried, P. (1996). Bullies and Victims: Helping Your Child Through the Schoolyard Battlefield. New York: M. Evans and Co., Inc.
Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam.
McNamara, B., and McNamara, F. (1997). Keys to Dealing with Bullies. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's.
Miller, S. (1996). "Youth and Guns." In S. Miller, J. Brodine, and T. Miller (Eds.), Safe by Design (pp. 423–430). Seattle, WA: Committee for Children.
Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at School. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, Inc.
Stein, N., and Sjostrom, L. (1994). Flirting or Hurting? A Teacher's Guide on Student-to-Student Sexual Harassment in Schools. Washington, DC: National Education Association.
Strauss, S., with Espeland, P. (1992). Sexual Harassment and Teens: A Program for Positive Change. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc.
Timms, E. (1998, March 25). "Rural or Urban, Teens Look for Acceptance." The Seattle Times, p. A2.
Tizon, A. (1996, February 6). "Sharp Surge in Teen Violence Puzzles Town." The Seattle Times, pp. B1–B2.