Monday, October 3, 2022
October is National Bullying Prevention Month. While this provides us with a time to renew focus on bullying awareness and prevention efforts, it is essential that educators, parents, students, and other stakeholders work collaboratively and continuously to incorporate bullying prevention efforts into multi-tiered systems of support.
Bullying is an unacceptable yet widespread concern in schools both in Wisconsin and nationwide. According to the 2021 Wisconsin Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 18 percent of high school students reported that they were bullied on school property in the past year. Over 16 percent of high school students reported electronically bullying through texting or social media in the past year. Nationwide, approximately 1 in 5 students report that they have experienced bullying; this issue continues to be one that educators, parents, and students identify as significant. (See stopbullying.gov for more information).
In order to effectively prevent and respond to bullying, educators, parents, and students must have a clear understanding of the definition of bullying as well as the difference between peer conflict and bullying. “Bullying is 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”. Bullying can be physical (e.g. hitting, kicking), verbal (e.g. name-calling, threatening), or social/relational (e.g. purposeful exclusion, spreading rumors) and can occur in person or electronically (stopbullying.gov).
Peer conflict, on the other hand, is a “mutual disagreement between peers or peer groups… between people of equal power. It occurs occasionally, is unplanned, and does not result in serious harm. Those involved in peer conflict do not seek power or attention” (Sidorowicz and Hair 2009). Differentiating between the two is essential to intervening effectively. When students have equal power and there is no intent to harm, peer conflict resolution can be an effective strategy. However, when an imbalance of power is present and the behavior is repetitive and purposeful, resolution strategies are not effective and can cause additional harm and distress to the student being bullied. Conflict resolution approaches require that individuals are remorseful about harm they may have caused. When power and control are driving the actions of the person engaging in bullying behavior, there is no remorse or intention to resolve a problem.
The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has a variety of resources for educators to increase both their knowledge of bullying behavior and how to effectively respond to it. DPI’s Comprehensive Approach to Bullying Prevention webpage contains several resources including a Bullying Prevention Program Assessment Tool, which guides school teams through the nine components that are necessary to implement an effective bullying prevention initiative, as well as a Comprehensive Bullying Prevention Resource Map and a guide to implementing Bullying Prevention within a Multi-Level System of Support.
In addition, DPI’s Student Services, Prevention and Wellness Team (SSPW) has contracted with Dr. Chad Rose, an associate professor in the Department of Special Education at the University of Missouri, and the University of Missouri eMINTS National Center to provide a free, online bullying prevention training course for Wisconsin educators and Wisconsin out-of-school time programs. The five-module online bullying prevention training course can be completed by an individual in approximately two hours. The modules provide foundational knowledge of bullying prevention:
- Module 1: What is Bullying?
- Module 2: Predictive and Protective Factors Associated with School Bullying
- Module 3: Intervention for Bullying in Schools
- Module 4: Group and Individual Interventions and Federal Law Related to Bullying
- Module 5: Resources
Access to this course, which is designed to be completed individually, requires each user to have a separate license. To reserve licenses for this training, please complete the form linked below. Once you complete the form, you will receive an email with specific login information for the number of licenses requested.
Awareness and Prevention of School-Based Bullying Online Training
Coming Soon!
The Bullying Prevention Toolkit, developed in collaboration with Dr. Chad Rose and the University of Missouri Bully Prevention Lab, will provide expert guidance for districts around reporting and investigation procedures, as well as recommendations for integrating bullying prevention efforts into existing multi-tiered systems of support. The toolkit will also provide various templates ready for schools to use and resources for school-home communication, as well as tips for caregivers communicating with their children about bullying.
Dr. Rose will be joining Wisconsin in a webinar to introduce this new toolkit and walk participants through the forms and procedures. More information about the Bullying Prevention Toolkit and the webinar with Dr. Rose is coming soon! Please bookmark the Comprehensive Approach to Bullying Prevention webpage and check for updates on the webinar and the release date for the toolkit.
References
Sidorowicz, Kathleen, and Elizabeth C. Hair. 2009. “Assessing Peer Conflict and Aggressive Behaviors: A Guide for out-of-School Time Program Practitioners.” Child Trends. https://www.childtrends.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Peer-Conflict.pdf.
This item was submitted by Libby Strunz, School Mental Health Systems Education Consultant, and Jessica Frain, MSW, School Mental Health Consultant, Student Services/Prevention and Wellness, of the Wisconsin DPI.