Bye to bully ppt com255

BYE TO BULLYING: CULTIVATING THE RIGHT ENVIRONMENT TO NURTURE OUR CHILDREN

Done by: Denise Tan, Esther Chang & Vanessa Goh

What is Meant by Bullying?

• A student is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more students. (Olweus, 1993a, 1996 cited in Olweus 1997)

• It is a negative action when someone intentionally inflicts, or attempts to inflict, injury or discomfort upon another (Olweus, 1973b cited in Olweus 1997)

The Different Types of School Bullying 1) Verbal 2) Physical 3) Social 4) Psychological/Mental 5) Cyber

The Bullied: Common Characteristics Noted1) Having a different appearance (Erling & Hwang, 2004)  2) Small, weak & soft (Boulton & Underwood,1992) 3) Low self-esteem : Both genders considered themselves less attractive than others (Bjorkqvist etal., 1982) 4) Sensitive, more quiet, anxious and insecure        (Glew et al., 2000) 5) Often alone & without friends (Schwartz et al., 1993)

Why bullies bully: Some Common Characteristics

 • Lack of boundary setting

 • Insecurity

 • Searching for recognition

 • Lack of empathy

 (Information from www.whybulliesbully.com)

Why bullies bully (Interviews)

Interview with an ex-bully (R) • Started bullying during upper secondary• Bullied 2 secondary one students• Ordered them to buy food and run errands • Extorted money from the victims • Threatened and beat up the victims

Why did he bully? • Influenced by peer• Faced with family problems• Insecurities/Wanted a brave and tough front

Why bullies bully (Interviews) 

Interview with youth social worker, Rachel Loh •  Exert power, sense of control

            - Insecurities •  Family

           - Intimidated by parents           - Physical and/or verbal abusive • Friends

           - Peer pressure especially when they join gang               - Cover up insecurities

Purposes of the Campaign

1) UNICEF Convention of the Rights of a Child

• Article 28: Rights to Education• Article 29: Goals of Education

“It should encourage children to respect others, human rights and their own and other cultures. It should also help them learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people.”

Purposes of the Campaign

2) Prevention of potential bullies/criminals in the future (National Crime Prevention Council, US) 3) Prevent future workplace victimization - Victims at school are more at risk of workplace victimization (Smith et. al, 2003)  

What is the campaign all about?• Raise awareness amongst

secondary school teachers and parents about the current state of school bullying and the importance of bully-free environment

• Provide practical advice on how to deal with existing bullying cases and methods to prevent bullying

Two-pronged approach

1) Understanding bullying from the perspective of the VICTIMS

2) From the perspective of the BULLIES:  How do we prevent bullies from developing in schools and at home?

Why highlight secondary school bullying?• Bullying is most prevalent in

secondary schools

- 1 in 5 Primary School students get bullied- 1 in 4 Secondary School students get bullied (Singapore Children's Society as cited by Channel NewsAsia, 2009) • Adolescence is the period

where students are impressionable

Why involve both teachers and parents?- Teachers have direct contact with students most of the time - Parents continues to remain a significant protectoragainst emotional and behavioral problems in late adolescence and into adulthood (Needham, 2008; Stice et al., 2004 in Yeung & Leadbeater 2010)  - A need for both teachers and parents to work together(Yeung & Leadbeater 2010)

How to carry out this campaign

• Website • Exhibition during Meet-the-Parents

sessions • Training courses for teachers

Website

• Target Audience: Parents and Teachers  • Resources on how to prevent bullying,

identify bullying and other general information are available 24/7

 • Stories of bullying incidents in schools can

also be contributed in forums •  http://com255project.wordpress.com/

Meet-the-Parents in the first week of school

• Exhibition• Multi-lingual videos • Stories of the

bullies and the bullied.

• Promotional posters

• First week of school – set the year right by creating a good environment

Informational Booklets

• Booklets in 4 major languages of Singapore (English, Chinese, Malay an Tamil) that parents and teachers can bring home as reference

• Highlight the reasons why bullies bully• Practical advice for teachers to tailor classroom

activities where (Yeung and Leadbeater 2010):o Students develop supportive attitudes and

empathetic feelings o Teachers respond to victimizationo Teachers address conflicts immediately and

appropriately

Training Courses for Teachers

o 4 Basic Principles for Intervention Programmes (Olweus, 1997):

 environment with warmth, positive interest and involvement from adults

firm limits to unacceptable behaviour in cases of violations of rules, non-physical and non-hostile sanctions to be given

adults in schools and homes to act as authorities in some respects

o Scenarios for teachers to practise the 4 basic principles

Limitations of campaign

• May not be that helpful for parents who are less educated (not able to read well) or less engaged on the Internet

• Teachers may not be able to make the long-term commitment of receiving training for our Intervention Programme

References

• Bjorkqvist, K., Ekman, K., & Lagersopetz, K. (1982). Bullies and victims: Their ego picture, ideal ego picture and normative ego picture. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 23, 307-313. 

•  Boulton, M. J., & Underwood, K. (1992). Bully/victim problems among middle school children. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 62, 73-87.

•  Channel NewsAsia. (2009). Schools should build bully-free culture to curb problem of school-bullying. Retrieved April 6, 2010 from http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/434291/1/.html

 • Erling, A., & Hwang, P. (2004). Swedish 10-year-old children's

perceptions and experiences of bullying. Journal of School Violence, 3, 33-43.

 • Glew, G., Rivara, E, & Feudmer, C. (2000). Bullying:Children hurting

children. Pediatrics in Review, 21, 183-190 .

References

• Olweus, Dan. (1997). Bully/Victim Problem in School: Facts and Intervention. European Journal of Psychology of  Education, 12 (4), 495-510.

•  Singapore's Children Society. (2008). Bully-Free Campaign. Retrieved April 4, 2010 from http://bullyfreecampaign.sg/ 

•  • Yeung, Rachel and Bonnie Leadbeater. (2010). Adults Make a

Difference: The Protective Effects of Parent and and Teacher Emotional Support on Emotional and Behavioral Problems of Peer-Victimized Adolescents. Journal of Community Psychology, 38(1): 80-98

 • Smith, Peter K., Singer, Monika., Hoel, Helge. & Cooper, Cary. (2003).

Victimization in the school and worlpalce: Are there any link? British Journal of Psychology, 94, 175–188.

• Schwartz, D., Dodge, K. A,,& Coie,J. D. (1993).The emergence of chronic peer victimization in boys‘ play groups. Child Development, 64. 1755-1772.