School Bullying Council

Public release date: 4-Aug-2012

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Contact: Audrey Hamilton
ahamilton@apa.org
407-685-5400
American Psychological Association

Online bullying is often an extension of in-person tactics, says bullying expert

ORLANDO, Fla. Traditional in-person bullying is far more common than cyberbullying among today’s youth and should be the primary focus of prevention programs, according to research findings presented at the American Psychological Association’s 120th Annual Convention.

“Claims by the media and researchers that cyberbullying has increased dramatically and is now the big school bullying problem are largely exaggerated,” said psychologist Dan Olweus, PhD, of the University of Bergen, Norway. “There is very little scientific support to show that cyberbullying has increased over the past five to six years, and this form of bullying is actually a less frequent phenomenon.”

APA presented Olweus at the convention with its 2012 Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy for his 40 years of research and intervention in the area of bullying among youth.

To demonstrate that cyberbullying is less frequent than “traditional” bullying, Olweus cited several large-scale studies he conducted, including one involving approximately 450,000 U.S. students in grades three to 12. In the latter, regular surveys were conducted in connection with the introduction of Olweus’s bullying prevention program in 1,349 schools from 2007 to 2010. Another study followed 9,000 students in grades four through 10 in 41 schools in Oslo, Norway, from 2006 to 2010.

In the U.S. sample, an average of 18 percent of students said they had been verbally bullied, while about 5 percent said they had been cyberbullied. About 10 percent said they had bullied others verbally and 3 percent said they had cyberbullied others. Similarly, in the Norwegian sample, 11 percent said they had been verbally bullied, 4 percent reported being the victim of cyberbullying, 4 percent said they had verbally bullied others and 1 percent said they had cyberbullied others.

Other analyses showed that 80 percent to 90 percent of cyberbullied students were also exposed to traditional forms of bullying — that is, they were bullied verbally, physically or in more indirect, relational ways, such as being the subject of false, mean rumors. Similarly, most cyberbullies also bullied in more traditional ways.

All students filled out the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire, which asks extensive questions about an individual’s experience with bullying, both as a victim and a perpetrator. The survey includes questions about the students’ experience with cyberbullying, which is defined as taking place via a mobile phone or the Internet.

“These results suggest that the new electronic media have actually created few ‘new’ victims and bullies,” Olweus said. “To be cyberbullied or to cyberbully other students seems to a large extent to be part of a general pattern of bullying where use of electronic media is only one possible form, and, in addition, a form with low prevalence.”

This is not to say that cyberbullying cannot be a problem in schools and outside of school, Olweus noted. Cyberbullied children, like targets of more traditional bullying, often suffer from depression, poor self-esteem, anxiety and even suicidal thoughts, he said.

“However, it is difficult to know to what extent these problems actually are a consequence of cyberbullying itself. As we’ve found, this is because the great majority of cyberbullied children and youth are also bullied in traditional ways, and it is well documented that victims of traditional bullying suffer from the bad treatment they receive,” he said. “Nonetheless, there are some forms of cyberbullying — such as having painful or embarrassing pictures or videos posted — which almost certainly have negative effects. It is therefore important also to take cyberbullying seriously both in research and prevention.”

Olweus recommends that schools and communities invest time and technical efforts in anonymously disclosing identified cases of cyberbullying and then communicating clearly and openly the results to the students. This strategy can substantially increase the perceived risk of disclosure and is likely to reduce further the already low prevalence of cyberbullying, he said.

“Given that traditional bullying is much more prevalent than cyberbullying, it is natural to recommend schools to direct most of their efforts to counteracting traditional bullying. I don’t want to trivialize or downplay cyberbullying but I definitely think it is necessary and beneficial to place cyberbullying in proper context and to have a more realistic picture of its prevalence and nature,” he said.

Presentation: “School Bullying: Development and Current Status,” Dan Olweus, PhD, Session 3279, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2 p.m., Room W304H, Orange County Convention Center

Dr. Olweus can be contacted at Olweus@uni.no or at +47-934-19-380.

The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world’s largest association of psychologists. APA’s membership includes more than 137,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological knowledge to benefit society and improve people’s lives.

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Bullies kill. Maybe not all of them. And maybe not on that specific day, when they’re busy inflicting mental or physical anguish on yet another helpless victim, but it can happen months and years later. Their actions can kill. We know that now, after years of study and a higher sensitivity to the cruel kids who unleash hell in kindergarten through high school — and even college. 

Victims of bullying often hide their pain or harm themselves as an outlet, sometimes going as far as committing suicide. Nadia Isle, a young girl from Georgia, is one victim who went to the extremes to end the taunting.

Since the first grade, Isle’s peers had tormented her about her ears sticking out more than the average person. As a result of the bullying, Isle withdrew and stopped socializing. She revealed to CNN’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta that the bullying “hurt so much.” Isle’s mother even looked into surgery, but the costs were too expensive.

When Isle’s mother discovered the charity Little Baby Face Foundation, she immediately contacted them and they flew her and Nadia to New York City. 

Little Baby Face is charity founded by the well-established plastic surgeon, Dr. Thomas Romo III and run wholly by donations. Don Moriarty, a board member, told MailOnline that Dr. Romo created the charity in order to “help transform the lives of children who were facially deformed.”

After an evaluation by a team of surgeons, Dr. Romo performed a four-hour surgery at the Manhattan Eye, Ear, Throat Institute of the Lenox Hill Hospital system.

During the four hours, he pinned her ears back, performed corrective work on her jawline to make it more pronounced, and fixed a deviated septum via a partial rhinoplasty. The estimated $40,000 surgery was paid for entirely by the foundation.

Some of the first words Nadia said after the operation were, “I look beautiful.”

The results are astonishing, if not extreme, for a girl of such a young age. Looking at the before photos, most agree that Nadia was never and ugly girl. Nadia was bullied for her protruding ears, yet reconstructive work was also performed on her jaw and nose. Why was so much work done on the rest of her face?

While Nadia is grateful to Little Baby Face, the message of the charity is disconcerting. By taking on Nadia’s case, were they, in a way, becoming another kind of bully? By performing the surgery, were they admitting that Nadia needed to “fix” her face in order to feel beautiful?

While Nadia was in New York, the charity did provide counseling, but perhaps that should have been a first step before taking the very big leap into surgery. While such a charity may have good intentions, it also sends out a bad message: plastic surgery is an answer to bullying.

If victims of bullying succumb to pressure and change their physical attributes, are they letting the bullies win? Or, do they win for regaining confidence?

It’s a tough argument and people have had reactions in all directions—some have called the charity a disgrace, while others believe it’s a worthwhile effort. Who wins in the battle of bullying or does it even matter?

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/health/mental-health/anxiety/bullying-victim-nadia-isle-gets-40000-free-plastic-surgery

A study of middle- and high school students discovered bullies are more likely to use substances such as cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana.

Additionally, bully-victims — youth who are both perpetrators and victims — were more likely to use substances than were victims and non-involved youth.

“Our findings suggest that one deviant behavior may be related to another,” said Kisha Radliff, Ph.D., lead author of the study.

“For example, youth who bully others might be more likely to also try substance use. The reverse could also be true in that youth who use substances might be more likely to bully others.”

The researchers didn’t find as strong a link between victims of bullying and substance use.

The study by Radliff and her Ohio State colleagues will appear in the April 2012 issue of the journal Addictive Behaviors.

The investigators reviewed data from a survey of 74,247 students enrolled in all public, private and Catholic middle and high schools in Franklin County, Ohio.

Among the 152 questions on the survey were eight that involved bullying, either as a victim or perpetrator. Students were asked specific questions about how often they told lies or spread false rumors about others, pushed people around to make them afraid, or left someone out of a group to hurt them. They were also asked how often they were the victims of such actions.

Survey questions also asked how often they used cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana. In this study, users were defined as those who reported use at least once a month.

Researchers discovered bullying behavior occurs more often in middle-school than high school while substance use was more prevalent among high school students.

About 30 percent of middle-school students were bullies, victims or bully-victims, compared to 23 percent of those in high school.

Fewer than 5 percent of middle-school youth used cigarettes, alcohol, or marijuana. But among high school students, about 32 percent reported alcohol use, 14 percent used cigarettes and 16 percent used marijuana.

A significant finding from the study was the association between substance use and bullying as substance use varied according to the amount of bullying.

For example, among middle-school students, only 1.6 percent of those not involved in bullying reported marijuana use. But 11.4 percent of bullies and 6.1 percent of bully-victims used the drug. Findings showed that 2.4 percent of victims were marijuana users.

Among high school students, 13.3 percent of those not involved in bullying were marijuana users – compared to 31.7 percent of bullies, 29.2 percent of bully-victims, and 16.6 percent of victims. Similar results were found for alcohol and cigarette use.

According to Radliff, statistical analysis suggested substance use was much higher than expected for bullies and bully-victims.

“That suggests there is a relationship between experimenting with substances and engaging in bullying behavior,” she said.

Radliff said these results may lead to ways anti-bullying initiatives can be improved.

“Many schools are mandating anti-bullying programs and policies, and we think they need to take this opportunity to address other forms of deviant behavior, such as substance use,” she said.

This might be especially important in middle school, where bullying is more prevalent, but substance use is still relatively rare.

“If we can intervene with bullies while they’re in middle school, we may be able to help them before they start experimenting with substance use,” she said.

Source: Ohio State University

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http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/03/06/substance-use-linked-to-bully-behavior/35608.html

MURFREESBORO — Rutherford County legislators say they will consider amending a law designed to stop “cyber bullying” if it is so broadly worded it harms free speech.

State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, told a recent audience of the 9.12 Project Rutherford County he asked the attorney general to determine whether the law infringes on free speech, according to a Tennessee Report video of the event.

He also said the Legislature asked state attorneys last session if his bill would violate the First Amendment.

“We were told it doesn’t. And I still stand to be corrected,” Ketron said. “If it does, we’ll change it, because that was not the intent. The intent was to keep these kids from destroying other kids’ lives.”

The ACLU of Tennessee, which plans to file a lawsuit against the legislation, contends Public Chapter 362 violates free speech and expression guaranteed by the First Amendment. Ketron’s legislation is set to take effect Friday.

The ACLU says the law would make it a crime to post any image online that causes “emotional distress” to a person. Even though it was intended to curb online harassment, the law is too broad and sets no definitions for offensive or disturbing speech or images, the ACLU’s statement says.

“This new law creates a chilling effect on expressive political, artistic, and otherwise lawful speech and also turns political activists, artists and others into criminals,” said Hedy Weinberg, ACLU-TN executive director, in the release. “In addition, anyone with an online presence, such as social media users, becomes vulnerable.”

At last week’s 9.12 Project gathering at Maple Street Grill in Murfreesboro, Ketron said he decided to sponsor the measure because he had seen TV reports about a Texas high school cheerleader who committed suicide after being bullied on Facebook by the mother of a friend who didn’t make the cheerleading squad.

Years ago, people would make scurrilous remarks about someone by writing on a bathroom wall, Ketron said, but today that same type of harassment is being done on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.

“It goes all over and they network, and now it’s Skyping that is occurring, and that’s why we thought we needed to address the issue of today of issues that didn’t exist five years ago,” Ketron said in the video. Skype is a software application that allows users to make Internet voice and video calls and chats.

Ketron said the law is one of only 20 in the state that requires an act to be intentional, meaning the “distress of the communications, images, etc., must be targeted at a specific victim or individual. The act of harassment must produce the intended distress from the victim that was targeted.”

State Rep. Joe Carr, R-Lascassas, who voted for the bill in an overwhelmingly bipartisan show of support, said he initially had concerns about broad wording in the bill but changed his mind after listening to Ketron and House sponsor Rep. Charles Curtiss, D-Sparta. Carr said he considered it to be an “anti-bullying bill in cyberspace,” not “anti-free speech.”

“If one of the unintended consequences is limiting free speech, we need to tighten it up,” Carr said.

The law requires proof to be shown that an individual intended to harm someone else, which is a high standard, Carr noted.

Just as free speech can’t be used as a defense to yell “fire” in a crowded theater, it shouldn’t be used to defend cyber-bullying, Carr said. He pointed out that Internet stalking can intend to harm someone while casual use of free speech on the Web typically causes no harm.

Former GOP congressional candidate Lou Ann Zelenik said she is worried the law, despite good intentions to protect children, opens the door for people to be sued and charged with a criminal offense for exercising free speech rights on the Internet.

The former Rutherford County Republican Party chairman said she has been the target of Internet blogs, but even if she didn’t like what they wrote, she doesn’t want to take away that right.

“That’s a freedom we share, as Americans, and that’s something I don’t want legislators concerning themselves with,” said Zelenik, who attended the 9.12 gathering.

Ketron told last week’s audience the Legislature removed a $2,500 fine for those under 18 and opted to require only 30 hours of community service.

“If you’re doing it and get caught doing it, and it’s specifically intended and targeted toward a person, I hope the judge makes you clean bathroom floors,” he said.

Ketron said he would wait on the attorney general’s opinion before taking further action, but noted, “let me assure you there was no intent from inside of me to remove anything that our country stands for that our forefathers brought to us.”

http://www.dnj.com/article/20110630/NEWS01/106300314

We knew her songwriting ammo had to come from somewhere and now Lady Gaga is telling all in her forthcoming MTV special ‘Lady Gaga: Inside On The Outside.’ Mother monster even reminisced about her own days of high school bullying — and one event in particular that left her feeling like literal rubbish.

After meeting up with some high school friends at a local pizzeria, Gaga, then Stefani Germanotta, found herself helpless and at the hands of her adolescent bullies.

“The boys picked me up and threw me in the trash can on the street, on the corner of my block while all the other girls from the school were leaving and could see me in the trash.”

The pop prodigy remembers fighting back the tears, not wanting her tormentors to see the way their bullying affected her.

“Everybody was laughing and I was even laughing. I had that nervous giggle … I remember even one of the girls looking at me like ‘are you about to cry? You’re pathetic.’ That’s what it felt like, you’re pathetic.”

But the future queen of pop was too embarrassed to tell anyone, even her parents, about the incident.

“It didn’t sink in with me how bullying affected me until later in my life. I knew that it affected me deeply but it wasn’t until a little bit later that I realized how much it affect me and how much it was still very present.”

But Gaga realized that it is with sharing her personal struggles with her fans and in turn hearing about their hardships that allowed her the cathartic experience she had been craving.

“I think it took me to get to know my fans and to see similar struggles in them to access that wound in myself,” she explained.

Tune into MTV’s ‘Lady Gaga: Inside On the Outside’ special on May 26 at 9/8c.

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http://www.popeater.com/2011/05/20/lady-gaga-mtv-bullies-interview/

Palmer – Staff photo by Michael S. Gordon – Palmer High School guidance counselor Frederick G. Dileone, right, and students who worked on anti-bullying video from left: Nicole C. Prosperi, Troy R. Remillard, Grant E. Farr, Joseph H. Roberts and Lily G. Ghrear.

PALMER – “If it’s mean, intervene.”

That’s the title and the key message of the latest anti-bullying video produced by a group from Palmer High School’s “Students as Technology Leaders” class with help from guidance counselor Frederick C. Dileone.

With more than 100 hits so far on YouTube, the students hope their message continues to spread, and that their video will encourage other teens to take a stand against bullying.

“The more people that see this, the better,” said sophomore Joseph H. Roberts.

Sophomore Grant E. Farr, freshmen Lily G. Ghrear and Troy R. Remillard, and junior Nicole Prosperi also worked on the three-month project, using a Flip video and still cameras to film life at Palmer High. Troy and Nicole were the actors in the 4-minute video, enduring staged “bullying” by their peers.

Acting was something new for Troy, but not Nicole, who is active in drama. The scenes depict what a bullying victim could experience – a garbage-filled locker, isolation in the cafeteria, hair pulling, a nasty text message, being thrown up against a wall.

The students said it was time consuming to piece together the footage, but Dileone said Joseph, who also was involved in last year’s video, “Bullying is a Worldwide Problem,” proved to be indispensable with his computer skills.

Word about the video is spreading in the Palmer High community, and Dileone hopes it will be shown to students in seventh- through ninth- grades. The younger grades typically have the most problems with bullying, he said, although the students agreed that they don’t think Palmer has as many issues with bullying as other school districts.

The district started the anti-bullying initiative before the death of Phoebe Prince in South Hadley. The freshman from Ireland hanged herself last year after intense bullying by a group of students, who were charged in connection with tormenting her. Their cases were resolved last week in court proceedings in Hampshire County.

Dileone said the Palmer High videos are part of superintendent Gerald A. Fournier’s commitment to anti-bullying efforts in the district. These efforts helped the district receive a grant for security cameras at the high school. They should be in place for next school year.

The first video highlighted the back stairwell, with ominous shots of it, where bullying was said to occur by the students. That will be one of the places the security cameras will be installed.

While the first video focused on the definitions of bullying, this video focused on the responsibility of the bystander, Dileone said. “We tried a different approach,” he said.

Lily said working on the project was a lot of fun, and that she learned a lot in the process. Dileone said they used statistics from the 2009 I-Safe Foundation about bullying, such as: 20 percent have been made fun of, 6 percent were threatened with violence, 4 percent had items stolen, 160,000 students miss school daily because of bullying, and 18 percent have had rumors spread about them.

The statistics are interspersed with scenes from Palmer High – Nicole cornered in the rest room, Troy being threatened with a volleyball.

The eighth-grade poster contest winners also were highlighted in the video. They included: Marilyn Mahan’s “No bulls, just peas!,” showing peas in a peace sign; Julia Waite’s “Why bully when you can be friends” showing a handshake; and Larissa Giard’s “Bullies are animals,” depicting a bull. They all received amazon.com gift certificates.

Viewers are told who they can turn to if they are being bullied – friends, teachers, staff, parents, guidance counselors, nurses.

And, it ends with the message: “How can you help someone today? Don’t be a bystander, intervene.”

Said Dileone, “It may not be seen by some students as a popular role to assume when responding to bullying, but Palmer High School is committed to changing that thought process.”

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/palmer_high_school_students_cr.html

CLEVELAND — About 400 Cleveland high school students argued the fictional case of a bullied student in this year’s ‘Mock Trial’ competition at the Justice Center Friday.

It’s the 15th year for the competition, and this time students from 11 high schools in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District were taking part.

They argued a case involving a bullied student who brought a weapon to school for self-defense. The theme was developed by Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Lauren C. Moore.

She talked to the students about one of the most important issues in their lives and at their schools.

“It is bullying. It is insensitivity. It is incivility to each other and we’ve got to stop it,” the judge said.

At the mock trial, teams from the various schools debated whether a fictional student who had been bullied should be convicted of bringing a knife to school to defend himself, should the bully attack him again.

Several Cleveland Municipal Court judges judged the competition, as did Jan Mohat, the mother of a 17-year-old Mentor High School student who took his own life in 2007 after being constantly bullied.

“He was so abused that, on the day he killed himself,” Jan Mohat told the students, ”the bully went up to him and said, ‘Eric why don’t you go home and shoot yourself, it’s not like anyone would care.’ And he did. And his sister found him.”

The students listened in silence to Mohat’s description of the abuse her son endured day after day before he ended his own life.

“People that bully, they need to look inside themselves and see what they are doing is wrong,” said John Hay High School sophomore Autumn Jefferson. ”That’s just a terrible thing to do.”

Glenville High School tenth grader Desmond Barrett agreed. He admitted to having been bullied since the fifth grade.

Barrett, who acted as an assistant prosecutor on one of the student teams at the competition, told WKYC, “I’m not going to lie to you. You try to deal with it, you try to shove it off, but you can’t. It’s a problem and you can face it sometimes, but sometimes you can’t.”

Barrett thoughtfully reflected on the story of Eric Mohat.

“That’s very sad and I don’t know how anybody could do through anything like that,” he said softly. “And I don’t think anybody should ever be bullied at any time in their life. My heart goes out to his famiy.”

The students who took part in the mock trial also signed an Anti-Bullying Pledge that encourages them, among other things, to report bullying immediately any time they see it.

Winners of the trial competition for 2011 were members of team Alpha, from the Cleveland School of the Arts.

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The Children studying in the schools located in Massachusetts have been facing major bullying problems. In a new study, it has been confirmed that more than one-fourth of the total middle school children and around 16% of the children in the High School are regularly bullied.

The federal report has caused major concerns for the authorities, parents and children. During the study, the health authorities in Massachusetts for the first time ever included questions regarding the problems faced by children because of bullying. The main conclusion of the study was that there are behavioral and health damages done to the child. The violence at home and constant bullying makes the child more violent and destructive.

The Governor, Deval Patrick has introduced a law. According to the law, the bullying in schools has to be reported and investigated. The schools will be required to follow strict procedures to stop the bullying in their premises.

The authorities at the schools in the Massachusetts have assured that they will make sure that the bullying in the schools is immediately stopped. They also confirmed that they will work with the government officials to invent new preventive procedures for bullying. Hopefully the changes in the law will provide the required relief from bullying for the children, parents and authorities.

http://topnews.us/content/238957-bullying-schools-causes-concern

Some students at a Halifax-area high school say they’re victims of a new type of cyberbullying involving lists of students circulated on smartphones.

Students at Auburn Drive High School in Cole Harbour, N.S., have been receiving lists of students’ names under such headings as the ‘Good Sex List’ and the ‘Dirty Girl List.’

Each list encourages recipients to add new names and then to forward it to others.

“I was on the Dirty Girl List. It was really stupid. They didn’t even spell my name right,” said Brook-Lynne Cote, a Grade 11 student at Auburn Drive High School.

“I know I’m not dirty. So if they’re going to put me on a list, it’s like, how childish can you get?”

Students said at least 10 different lists have been circulating on smartphones since the weekend and that they had been forwarded to high school students in metro Halifax.

Doug Hadley, a spokesman with the Halifax Regional School Board, said the content of at least one of the messages has been referred to the police.

An administrator at Auburn Drive High School sent out a telephone message to parents, asking for their help in dealing with the cyberbullying.

“Please discuss our concerns, that they may be a target in this inappropriate behaviour and/or unknowingly a participant in forwarding these messages to others,” said the message.

“We ask that students refrain from being involved in any forms of bullying, including cyberbullying.”

Machelle Thomas, a parent at Auburn Drive High School, said she was glad the school was taking action.

“Every school should be doing something, and parents — we just have to get together, we have to figure out something in this age of technology, what we can do to help our kids,” she said.

Some students said the lists could potentially be damaging to students’ self-esteem.

“It’s just stupid, there’s no need for it,” said Kristina Matthews.

“All kinds of people are hurting themselves because of bullying and they’re making these stupid lists about people.”

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/high-school-hit-cyberbullying-lists-20110406-184842-354.html

It started with Estero High School teens harassing a classmate they didn’t like — no reason; they just didn’t like her — on the Internet website known as Facebook.

Before senior readers in our area dismiss that as trivial, they ought to know that Facebook is a big deal. For a lot of young people, that is how they communicate.

It conveys status. It can also tear away at it.

The teens are accused of humiliating the outcast by posting filthy sexual images along with her photo.

They have been arrested and charged with stalking.

Now come four North Fort Myers teens who investigators say take a step closer to violence via Facebook. They are charged with posting messages that threaten to kill an Academy for the Arts high school classmate — for snitching on their friend who brought a gun to school.

Granted, kids sometimes do things without reflecting on the consequences, but this goes too far.

Because the messages are on the Internet, they are just as real as if they were on a billboard or if the young people were to declare something at a school assembly.

Words matter. So do images.

Parents and guardians who care about their young people would do well to have some talks about that.

Give law-enforcement officials credit. They aren’t looking at the rising tide of these incidents, shrugging their shoulders and walking away. They are staying involved. They are remaining vigilant. They are taking action.

Good for them.

Our community cannot give in to bullying — of any kind.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2011/feb/16/editorial-online-bullying-community-must-stand-aga/