Dealing with Bullying

and Harassment

Safety and security

Bullying and Harassment
Key messages

• profound long term impacts

• needs definition, clarification

• never OK

• everyone must challenge

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
Community prevalence, impact and
beliefs
• experienced by 1 in 3 people
• most common in workplace and schools
• far reaching effects
• women more susceptible to health effects
• 40% do not seek support
• observers too frightened or lack skills to intervene
• belief it can be reduced or eliminated
• need for greater tolerance of diversity
• low awareness of policy and legislation
Victorian Attitudes Towards Bullying, Research report September 2001
prepared for VicHealth

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment

“Together we do better”

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
In high schools

Bullying, which affects around 1 in 6

students
• affects learning outcomes
• is related to physical and emotional wellbeing
• increases the risk of depression
• 1 in 6 is about right if we specify reported bullying on
a weekly basis,
• forms of bullying: verbal, physical and indirect.

Rigby, K. (2001)
Bond, L. Et al (2001)
`

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

 Bullying and Harassment
• Figures about the incidence of bullying are not really meaningful unless we know the question
asked. 1 in 6 is about right if we specify reported bullying on a weekly basis.
• The rate differs according to age. In later secondary school it is much less than 1 in 6. There
are also big differences between schools.

• The 1 in 6 is an average based on a sample of over 38,000 Australian children aged 7 to 18.
It is also worth pointing out that many children who report being bullied also say that they are
not "bothered" by it.

• They could be experiencing not very severe bullying or wish to deny effects or are particularly
resilient. If we adjust the figure of 1 in 6 to take into account those who say they are not
bothered, we can say that on average 1 child in 10 is bullied weekly AND is bothered by it.

• Centre for Adolescent Health: Surveyed 2680 year 8 and 9 students across Victoria, twice
in year 8 and once in year 9.
• Fifty one percent reported being teased, having rumours spread about them, being deliberately
excluded or experiencing physical threats or violence. Up to 30% of all students with
symptoms of depression, was attributed to a history of victimisation (twice as many girls as
boys).

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment

Reported
bullying

Unreported
bullying

Hidden effects of bullying

stress anxiety depression low self-esteem

Keith Sullivan (2000) The Anti-Bullying Handbook University Press, NZ

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

 Bullying and Harassment
Bullybodies p 24
Activity
1. Draw body outline
ex 2. Brainstorm types of
g clu
n
hitti sio
n bullying - be specific
3. Circle 2 most common
Put 4. Underline 2 worst
downs
teasing
g
ir n
a
st s
o ur
r um

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
‘What is bullying?’
Activity
Acceptable Bullying and Criminal
behaviour harassment behaviour

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
Definition
• repetitive
• causes distress
(at the time and by threat of future attacks)
• power imbalance
• may be verbal, physical, social,
psychological
• effect on ‘victim’ and broader group is
important

“Schools should take time to understand what they mean

by bullying before rushing in with possibly inadequate
preventative policies and programs”

Ken Rigby

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
Beliefs
Activity
1. A normal part of growing up
2. Easy to pick who is a bully
3. Children bully due to low self esteem
4. Victims take bullying wherever they go
5. Intervention makes matters worse
6. Schools have to ‘get tough’ on bullies
7. Kids ‘don’t dob’ = won’t disclose
8. Solved through awareness raising and curriculum
Griffiths, C. 2000 Countering bullying in schools: Training Package 2000 Swan Edcuation District W.A.

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
Refining beliefs

..refining beliefs is not ..so easy as it

sounds. Each one of us becomes very
comfortable with the particular set of
beliefs that has got us where we are… it
is only a preparedness to ask really
difficult questions that allows us to
confront the possibility that …. ‘the
certain truths’ of yesterday become the
‘unquestioned myths’ of today.

Richard Bawden

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
Groups in bullying incidents
BYSTANDERS
POTENTIAL
VICTIMS

COLLABORATORS

TI MS
V IC
ARY
OND
THE INCIDENT
SE C

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
Five stages of bullying
1. Watching and waiting
2. Testing the waters
3. Something more substantial occurs
4. The bullying escalates
5. The bullying becomes fully established

These stages exist for

• bully
• victim
• bystander
Keith Sullivan (2000) The Anti-Bullying Handbook University Press, NZ

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
Diversity issues

• Bullying and harassment can be

• overt or covert
• particularly difficult for students in or from small
communities
• not reported if a cause of embarrassment, shame
• exacerbated by limited English
and the result of
• racism
• homophobia
• xenophobia (fear of the foreign)

• Secondary bullying is always an issue

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
Scenarios
What does/could happen? Activity
1. ‘clubs’ are being used to exclude kids
2. kids in class refuse to lend equipment to one
student in particular
3. student/staff member has had their car vandalised
several times outside their house
4. a student/staff member has received several photos
in mail with eyes scratched out
5. everyone coughs whenever a particular student
enters the room
6. students mime conversation in front of hearing
impaired student
7. student receives abusive text messages on mobile

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
Drop down menu – generating options
Activity
TASK OR GOAL: to deal effectively with scenario number ___

MENU OF OPTIONS

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
Degrees of severity
least
severe

serious
severe

informal shared concern

involve community

eg one off, eg put downs, eg continual group

thoughtless teasing jostling, rumours, harassment,
exclusion physical injury

Rigby, K (2001) Stop the Bullying: a Handbook for Schools ACER

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
What helps?

‘When schools promote belonging

and ensure high levels of
involvement between staff and
students, bullying is reduced.’

Andrew Fuller ‘Building Resilience’, Presentation at Australian Institute of

Management, March 2000

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
Human guinea pigs
Activity p 92
1. Groups of five or six
2. One resilient volunteer – guinea pig
(leaves room)
3. Rest of group chat about weekend
4. Re-enter guinea pig (four times)

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
Policy – what goes into it?
• statement of school’s stand against bullying
• definition (with examples)
• declaration of rights of all individuals and groups
to be:
• free of bullying
• provided with help and support if bullied

• responsibilities of school community to:

• abstain personally
• actively discourage bullying

• description of how the school will deal with

incidents
• evaluation written into the policy
• date and life of policy plus review date

Stop the Bullying: a Handbook for Schools Ken Rigby 2001

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment

Bullying and Harassment
Personal reflections
Activity

Me My workplace
• use curriculum activities • survey kids
• be vigilant • define together
• • review policy
• • agreement of acceptable
• behaviour between staff
• •
•
•

MindMatters Dealing with Bullying and Harassment