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Cheyonna Edwards

GP Research Paper

XX March 2017

Anti-Bullying Strategies

In the brief article "Facts About School Uniforms, numerical data says that 44% of

parents have found that their kids are more focused on school instead of what they are wearing

(Facts About School Uniforms). Others have found that Cases of bullying and violence within

the school premises have also reduced because kids are not picked on due to the kind of clothes

they wear (11 Facts About Bullying). School uniforms have been one strategy used to support

school anti-bullying efforts. However, the lingering question is whether or not the anti-bullying

strategies used by schools are being successful. Bullying is a form of abuse that often happens in

the school setting and with todays technology, it is also happening online via the use of social

media. Parents and public school stakeholders expect to send children and teens to school

entrusting that they will be safe and free from bullying acts. Even though some people believe

that school anti-bullying programs are putting an end to bullying, it is getting worse and

intentional and holistic strategies are needed because requiring school uniforms do not

solve the issue and education alone does not prevent bullying.

Bullying affects children in many different ways, but can be hard to detect if the result is

an emotional response. According to the website Stop Bullying, bullying is defined as the

unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived

power imbalance. The behavior is repeated or has the potential to be repeated over time. Since

aggressive behavior and inequalities of power are commonplace in human groups, including
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peer groups in school, bullying will often be a temptation; although undesirable, it should not be

seen as pathological (Thompson and Smith). However, many factors may contribute to the

likelihood of bullying happening. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading

rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on

purpose. Bullying can occur online and offline. Online and offline bullying are often related. A

bullying relationship in school often extends to technology devices. Offline bullying is more

common among middle school students, whereas cyber-bullying is more common among high

school students. Youth involved in bullying whether they are the perpetrator or the victim

tend to have more social and academic problems than youth who are not involved, and are also

more likely to experience problems later in life (New Evidence on Bullying). Bullying is a form

of social interaction that is shaped by social norms of youths and adults as well schools and

broader society. The article New Evidence on Bullying notes that adults both parents and

school leaders have the ability to impact perceptions of and actions surrounding bullying.

Bystanders who witness bullying play a role. Their reactions help to determine whether bullying

is repeated or not. According to Hindawis "Bystander Position Taking in School Bullying

article, bystanders are more likely to ignore cyber-bullying compared to offline bullying.

Do you know repeated bullying at school is one of the main reasons why students fall for

depression and end up attempting suicide?One method used to reduce school bullying is

requiring students to wear school uniforms. Bullying can be controlled to a considerable level

through implementation of school uniform policy. Students who can not afford expensive or

designer clothing are often an easy target to bullying. There are some students who do not give

too much importance on their dressing and are careless towards what they should and should not

wear at school. Nerds, some may call them are also prime targets of bullying, which is often
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associated with a childs clothing. Now imagine a Richie Rich, a nerd and a son of a plumber all

dressed up in a school uniform. Does this necessarily mean the child is poor or in need and

should be bullied? Equality is the word that is coming to mind, right? That is exactly what

school uniforms hoped to achieve. This was to create a sense of equality and to prevent repeated

bullying at school. Uniforms were meant to play a vital role in reducing peer pressure and in

raising the level of acceptability. The goal was for students in uniforms to feel united and

connected. However, based on research, the implementation of school uniforms has not reduced

bullying. In actuality, school uniforms do not stop bullying and may actually increase violent

attacks. According to the Miami-Dade County Public Schools Office of Education Evaluation

and Management, fights in middle schools nearly doubled within one year of introduction

mandatory uniforms.

Another strategy used to stop and reduce bullying is education about bullying.

However, education does not prevent bullying in the school system holistic anti-bullying

strategies are needed. Yet again, school uniforms was the solution to this as well for the reason

that school uniforms were said to encourage students to focus more on their academic

performance. Before true education about bullying can even begin, the school must establish a

culture of tolerance, safety, and respect. Schools must communicate information about bullying

via staff meetings, assemblies, class and parent meetings, newsletters to families, school website,

and have the policy written in the student handbook. Without intentional strategies, education

alone does not work. Other reasons why the current practices do not work includes:

the zero tolerance theory backfires

avoiding social media is not a solution
we do not address bullying with real experts
we often forget that the bully and the bullied are both children
we neglect adult bullying
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Some school-based interventions are targeted at the whole school, or class; some at the behavior

of those doing the bullying; some at those who are victims; some at bystanders or likely

defenders. As noted by Anti-bullying strategies research conducted by Thompson and Smith,

strategies can be divided into three categories: 1) proactive strategies which can be used school-

wide and descrese the likelihood of bullying, 2) peer support, where students are responsible for

preventing and responding to bullying, and 3) reactive strategies, which targes the reactive

measures of what to do once bullying has occurred. Here are some researched approaches:

Proactive Strategies:
Whole school policy on bullying
Adult modeling of behavior
School councils
Systems that support parent involvement
Curricular materials/approaches
Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Peer Support Strategies:

Supportive friends
Peer mentoring and peer mediation
Bystander (defender) training
CyberMentors

Reactive Strategies:
Direct sanctions
Restorative Approaches
Method of Shared Concern
Support Group Method (Seven Steps approach)

There are many interventions and approaches used within schools, but schools must be

intentional and aggressive with approaching antibullying.

One way to begin the approach and to help school programs be more successful is by

focusing on the prevention of bullying at school. Schools will need to first, assess bullying at

their school. Schools could create an assessment and share it with the students to determine how
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often bullying occurs, how students and adults in the school intervene, and whether the current

strategies are working. Then the school must obtain buy-in or investment from everyone. They

could start by launching awareness programs and thus work to engage parents and youth. This

should include establishing a school safety committee or task force to plan, implement, and

evaluate the prevention program. The next step in this process would be to create policies and

rules that govern both online bullying and physical bullying. The whole school will have to work

towards a mission and code of conduct, thus building a safe environment. From here, the school

must provide continuous education. Then implement an anonymous reporting component

allowing those who are being bullied to have a safe way to express and share what they are

experiencing.

The anonymous reporting component could help end bullying. One of the biggest

problems with bullying is the fear of reporting the bullying. An anonymous reporting component

like Baltimores Text 2 Stop It program will allow students to anonymously report bullying

through a simple text message. The Text 2 Stop It is a program that allows students to report

bullying at their school by simply sending a text message. A similar program will help students

feel more comfortable sharing the information. This anti-bullying concept is not the first of its

kind, DoSomething.org Crisis Text Line offers a national, 24/7 anonymous text message hotline

for teenagers in need. Nonetheless, bullying and text message is continually affecting change and

make a difference on the lives of people everyday so why not merge these two to put an end to

bullying?

The advent of cyberbullying in the last decade poses new challenges for anti-bullying

interventions. Schools blocked the internet and preventing kids from spending too time on their

phones in school because of texting /bullying through social media or making pages or doing
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other to harm other. Kids are sending mean text messages, sending death thereats, and are using

social media as a way to bully. This proves that something must be done.

Although, all 50 states have anti-bullying laws that require schools to set policies to

prevent bullying, many people believe that more needs to be done. As a result, some people are

demanding more training for teachers and staff on how to recognize the signs of bullying. Even

though some people believe that school anti-bullying programs are putting an end to

bullying, it is getting worse and intentional and holistic strategies are needed because

requiring school uniforms do not solve the issue and education alone does not prevent

bullying. On the other hand, some people say that school uniforms, no phones, no social media

does are strategies that will prevent bullying. A common argument is that if kids have on the

same color they will not pick on anybody because they have on the same thing ,or get on there

phones and tell kids hey look go look what i post as long as kids are following rules and doing

ass followed they will get in there heads that's it's not ok to bully

school strategies that y'all have enforce does work for bullying.rather or not it increased or

decreased and more things are getting done and more work
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Works Cited

"11 Facts About Cyber Bullying." DoSomething.org | Volunteer for Social Change. N.p., n.d.

Web. 03 Mar. 2017. "11 Facts About Bullying." DoSomething.org | Volunteer for Social

Change. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2017

Anderson, Dave. "Top 10 Reasons School Uniforms Should Be Banned." Top 10 Lists |

ListLand.com. N.p., 07 Nov. 2016. Web. 03 Mar. 2017

Hindawi. "Bystander Position Taking in School Bullying: The Role of Positive Identity,

Self-Efficacy, and Self-Determination." The Scientific World Journal. Hindawi

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Publishing Corporation, 17 Nov. 2011. Web. 01 Mar. 2017.

"New Evidence on Bullying." Evidence Based Living. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2017

http://evidencebasedliving.human.cornell.edu/2015/06/30/new-evidence-on-bullying/

Thompson, Fran and Peter Smith. "Anti-bullying Strategies in Schools What Is Done and

What Works." BJEP Review :Anti-Bullying Strategies in Schools What Is Done and

What Works (n.d.): n. pag. University of London. Web.

http://www.bullyingandcyber.net/media/cms_page_media/55/Thompson-Smith2.pdf