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Group 1: Adam, Altynai, Sean, and Sterling

Page history last edited by aj265117@... 6 years ago

 

Confronting Bullying and Cyberbullying

 

 

Case Study #1: Toni’s Story: Living Beyond Being Bullied and Beaten (Middle School)

 

During my 7th grade year, I trusted a friend with one of my deepest secrets. I explained to this friend that I was a lesbian. At first, I felt great! After all, I finally had a friend who I could share this part of my life with. However, one day we had a discussion about it in a private message on Facebook. Come to find out her friends had gotten onto her Facebook, saw our conversation, and before I knew it, my conversation was forwarded to almost everyone we went to school with. I went into school the next day to see kids laughing at me while I walked by, to hear comments such as “Ew she’s gross!” or “Oh, look here comes the lesbo.”

In the following days, I decided to pretend to be sick so my Mom wouldn’t make me go to school. That plan eventually had to end after four days of not going to school.

When I got back, the situation had worsened. Not only did the whole 7th grade know but the entire 8th grade knew. There was no escape. My worst fear had happened! I had already made a big decision coming out to one person, but to be forced out to every single one of my classmates was unfathomable.

As time went on, I felt beaten down. I wished I didn’t have to go to school, and when I would get home, I would spend hours in my room crying. A thought I would often ponder was, “Maybe the pain would end if I killed myself. Maybe people would care then.”

There was no one I could turn to for support. My family was homophobic at the time, and the teachers stood by and witnessed me being bullied. Even after I told the guidance department and the principle multiple times, it did me no good. I had even been told by my guidance counselor, “Well, Toni, you should have expected this. If you didn’t want anyone to know you shouldn’t have told anyone.” It was that blame that finally silenced me. I began thinking it was my fault, and that I deserved everything that happened.

 

As things were getting progressively worse for me, I still didn’t know what was to come. One day I went to the gym locker room to change for gym class. As always, the teacher would leave us there to change by ourselves and have us line up after we changed. This day was different. These girls had started picking on me while I was in the locker room, and they began to push and hold me down as I tried to fight. One of the girls had a lighter. She took out the lighter, held it upside down and burned my arm with it. I’ve shared the picture with you of the scar that remains.

After they were done, I felt defeated. After that, I still kept silent. After all, I had been told what was done to me was my fault.

Throughout the rest of my school years, I was bullied, and I had very few friends to reach out to for support. I never went to prom, never joined any teams, even though I was great at softball.

I am now twenty-two years old, and I realize that what was happening to me was not my fault! It was the school’s job to protect me, but instead they blamed the victim. If the school had followed their anti-bullying policy and had kept a better watch on students, I believe I could have had a better childhood.

 

By sharing my story, I hope to empower some of you! It makes me cringe every time I hear someone committed suicide because of bullying. Everyone who is picked on has worth. I want say to those who have been bullied or are being bullied: You are not useless, you do not deserve hate, and most importantly, you deserve to be in a place where you feel safe. Hang in there! There is a way better life waiting for you just around the corner.”

(This case study is the word by word copy of the text of the author). 

 


Case Study #2: The Phoebe Prince Bullying Case (High School)

 

Phoebe Prince was 15-years-old when she became another senseless tragedy in the long history of bullycide victims. Her problems began when she emigrated from her native country of Ireland about a year before her death, and then had the unfortunate luck of catching the eye of a popular boy, whom she briefly dated. This apparently drew the ire and resentment of some of the other girls, who started bullying her relentlessly thereafter.

 

Being an immigrant to the U.S., she no doubt stood out from her peers. She had also been bullied in Ireland, and her mother (a teacher herself) had taken the initiative to inform the school ahead of time, letting them know about this bullying history and that she was very vulnerable to its effects. She went so far as to ask them to keep an eye out for this, since Phoebe would likely internalize its effects rather than talk out about it.

 

Much was made of the cyber bullying phoebe experienced, but Phoebe's mother says that in reality, cyberbullying was only a small fraction of what phoebe went through, and most of that occurred after her death. What she did experience was relentless bullying at and on her way to and from school. There was some physical bullying, but most of it was emotional: Calling phoebe names, spreading rumors about her, humiliating her, using peer exclusion, writing swear words or racial slurs next to her name in the library, and so forth.

 

One of the bullies shortly before her death was overheard saying, “Why doesn't someone just convince her (Phoebe) to kill herself?” In one of her final text messages, Phoebe ominously wrote about the hurt she felt over the fact that her former boyfriend seemed to be overtly supporting what was taking place: “I think Shawn condoning this is one of the final nails in the coffin...it would be much easier if he or one of them would just hand me a noose.”

 

In addition to talking with school staff during enrollment, Phoebe's mother twice complained to school staffers, but to no avail. On a Thursday, Phoebe was hounded by her bullies in the library, the cafeteria, and the hallways. Walking home from school that day, she had a can of Red Bull thrown at her from the window of a passing car. Unable to take any more, she went home and hung herself with the scarf she'd been given for Christmas. Phoebe's little sister was the one who found her body hanging in a stairwell. In one last sad twist of fate - ad a testament to the power of bullying to destroy a youth's outlook on life - her mother had booked her a flight to return to Ireland to take a break from the abuse. All she had to do was hold out another two weeks, but the bullying was just too destructive. Convinced her life was worthless; she decided to end it instead.

 

What made this case especially unsettling was the non-chalet attitude that Phoebe Prince's bullies took about her death. Not only did they not seem the least bit concerned with the possibility that they had driven this girl to suicide, but they actually continued the taunting post-mortem. After her death, some of Phoebe's former classmates set up a memorial Internet site for her. It was defaced with insults and slurs by Phoebe's bullies, who were intent on continuing to deface her name even after death. Rebecca Brouillard, another student who dared to talk on camera about Phoebe's bullying, was roughed up afterward by one of Phoebe's bullies. (Hampson, 2010; Wiseman, 2010)

 

Charges were pressed against several of Phoebe's bullies, including a statutory rape charge against her ex-boyfriend, but all would wind up receiving community service and a slap on the wrist. Three of the teens received probation and community service, 2 others faced only probation. (Heller, 2011) Of course, the greater price they'll have to pay is that which their conscience extols. For the rest of their lives, they'll have to live with the knowledge that they are murderers by proxy.

 

In a television interview later on, one of Phoebe's bullies would rather narcissistically complain about the taunting she was experiencing at a new school on account of the publicity over her role in the bullying of Phoebe Prince. With tearful eyes she talked about how she just wanted the other kids to leave her alone. A bit of poetic justice, some might say. But before we get too carried away in schadenfraude, we should remember that for as callous and monstrous as Phoebe's bullies may have appeared, they are still just kids who were engaging in behavior that millions of other youth engage in, and doing things that as a society we inadvertently promote. So it should give us no satisfaction to see them destroyed, too. It's only sad that this girl couldn't empathize with such pain beforehand. If she and Phoebe's other tormenters had understood the immense and unjustifiable injury that relentless bullying will bring, this whole tragedy would have been avoided in the first place.

(This case study is the word by word copy of the text of the author). 

 

 

Anti-Bullying Strategies

 

1. Show bullies that there is no room for such behavior in school by spreading the word via -

  • School newspaper

  • Radio

  • Boards in hallways

  • Lunchtime flash-mobs

  • Presentations school

 

2. Allow the bullied to seek help online -

Students who are bullied often fear seeking help in person because they assume they will not be understood or that bullying may even get worse because they appear weak. Many students give clues to others through online posts, so schools should use their own online platform on which students could send messages to a counselor about their struggles. This would open the door to communication with a bullied student so that they could begin receiving the care they need. Ideally the student would gain enough confidence in the process to meet with the counselor and pursue further action as necessary to ensure that the bullying stopped. Witnesses of bullying could also use the platform to fight bullying at school.

 

3. Awareness Workshops -

One good step to create a better anti-bullying climate in a school, is to have awareness workshops. Students need to know that cyberbullying is real form of bullying and is hurtful. Harassment, deception, flaming and hate speech need to be defined as types of cyber bullying. Students can talk with each other about personal experiences and read other cases where students were bullied. Small group discussions where students discuss and learn from each other should be a big part of these workshops. Students need to know that this type of community begins and ends with them, the students. Of course, it is the teachers’ responsibility to set the tone and facilitate a healthy climate, but students play a big part. Students respond best when it is their peers setting the expectations.

 

4. Be An Ally -

Another student-led method is the “Be an Ally” method. This is a method where students are taught from the first month of school that you are always a participant if bullying is happening and you know about it. Students can lead workshops, teaching students that you can either be a bully, a victim, a bystander or an ally. These terms are defined for the students and skits are performed for the students. Following the skits, the students are broken up into small groups to discuss the scenarios they have just witnessed in dramatic form.

 

5. Classroom Meetings

Classroom meetings provide a forum for students to talk about school-related issues beyond academics. These meetings can help teachers stay informed about what is going on at school and help students feel safe and supported. These meetings work best in classrooms where a culture of respect is already established. Classroom meetings are typically short and helf on a regular schedule. They can be held in a student's main classroom, home roo, or advisory period.

 

6.Restorative Approaches

This is a collective term for a range of flexible responses, ranging from informal conversations through to formal facilitated meetings. Restorative approaches work to resolve conflict and repair harm, encouraging those who have caused harm to acknowledge the impact of what they have done and make reparation. Schools were asked to give information on a range of restorative approaches ranging from problem-solving circles; restorative discussions; restorative reconnection meetings between staff and students; restorative thinking plans; mini-conferences; classroom conferences and full restorative conferences.

 

7. The No-blame or Support Group Method

In this method, the victim, or target, of the bullying, is interviewed and asked to draw a picture or write a poem about the effect bullying has had. A teacher will then hold a meeting with a group of students including the bullies, those who may have seen the incidents and others who are not directly involved. The teacher explains to the group how the victim is feeling and the group then offers suggestions to find a solution. Removing blame from the process allows the perpetrators to involve themselves in finding a solution without feeling threatened or defensive. Those who were bystanders are given a chance to see that by doing nothing, they were condoning the bullying.The group is encouraged to come up with practical problem-solving solutions and the responsibility for carrying out these ideas rests with the group. Each pupil in the group then carries out their own solution, so that a child who has been excluded from activities with other children may now have someone to play with and another may accompany him on other occasions to make sure there is no bullying. A week or so later the group reconvenes to discuss progress and what has been achieved. Records are sometime kept of the way this method is carried out, but not always.

 

 

Role of Teachers and School Policy in Confronting Bullying

 

1. Whole School approach -

'School Without Bullying' should be the School's policy, it cannot be one teacher initiative. It is important to have a team, or a club that will raise awareness, host meetings, training and sessions with students. 

 

2. Vigilant and Caring Teachers -

Teachers should be observant, vigilant and quick to identify and address instances of bullying in and out of the classroom by approaching the involved students, ensuring their safety, deescalating the situation and taking time to counsel them. Teachers should be careful to show care to the bullied and offer them the support they need to move forward, while also seeking to understand to root cause of the bully’s behaviors so as to address the deeper issue at the heart of their behaviors and bring about lasting and meaningful change. 

 

3. School Support -

School policy should support a teacher’s speedy response to instances of bullying by not penalizing a teacher for using class time to address an instance of bullying if it were to occur. School policy should also require training for teachers in methods of deescalation of conflict. 

 

4. Diversity Training -

Many teachers lack proper diversity training. Secondly, it is clear that students need another helpline or follow-up options when the designated channels for support fail them. Take for example a student named Toni, who, after coming out as lesbian and then being bullied, was told by their student counselor, "Well, Toni, you should have expected this. If you didn’t want anyone to know you shouldn’t have told anyone.” Here, Toni did the right thing. She informed her guidance counselor of her struggles. The counselor proceeded to blame the victim. School’s need to have an anti-bullying policy, and teachers need to be trained to follow the protocol. Next, it is the unfortunate case that even with proper training and well-articulated policy, there will be failures. Students need to be made aware of bypass channels and alternative options for reporting these instances. These alternative channels should not only be reserved for victims, but observers and witnesses.

 

5. Bullying Prevention Committee

Form a bullying prevention coordinating committee (a small group of energetic teachers, administrators, counselors, and other school staff who plan and monitor school activities.) This committee should develop schoolwide rules and sanctions against bullying, systems to reinforce prosocial behavior, and events to raise school and community awareness about bullying.

 

6. Increase Report of Bullying

Increase reporting of bullying. Assess the awareness and the scope of the bullying problems at school through student and staff surveys. To address the problem of students’ resistance to reporting bullying, some schools have set up a bully hotline. Some schools use a “bully box”: Students drop a note in the box to alert teachers and administrators to problem bullies. Others have developed student questionnaires to determine the nature and extent of bullying problems in school.

 

References

 

Advice on Your School's Anti-Bullying Policy. (2013). Retrieved from https://www.bullying.co.uk/advice-for-schools/advice-on-your-school-s-anti-bullying-policy/

 

Change Attitudes Toward Bullying: Be An Ally. (2018) Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/be-an-ally

 

Classroom Strategies. (2017, July 7) Retrieved from http://www.education.vic.gov.au/about/programs/bullystoppers/Pages/teachclassroom.aspx

 

Cyberbullying: What's Crossing the Line? (2018). Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/cyberbullying-or-teasing


Hampson, R. (2010, April 5). A watershed' case in school bullying? USA Today. Retrieved from https://www.politico.com/pdf/PPM130_usat_04052010.pdf

 

Heller, M. (2011, June). The uncertain life and premature death of Daniel Mendez. Orange Coast Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.orangecoast.com/features/uncertain-life-premature-death-daniel-mendez/

 

Schargel, F. (2014, January 23). Bullying: What School, Parents, and Students Can Do. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/franklin-schargel/bullying-what-schools-par_b_4103901.html

 

Successful Anti-bullying Strategies. (2016, November 14) Retrieved from http://my.optimus-education.com/successful-anti-bullying-strategies 

 

Toni’s Story: Living Beyond Being Bullied and Beaten. (2016, September). Retrieved from:  https://tylerclementi.org/tonis-story-bullied-and-beaten/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments (4)

Nichole said

at 8:45 pm on Mar 9, 2018

I like that Toni's case study focused on how staff and teachers might need diversity training. Betrayal by an authority due to lack of knowledge is particularly harmful to the student since it's technically a form of gas-lighting. And while both of these situations are bullying, many bullying situations are unclear and gas-lighting could be even more harmful in those cases.
I also like the focus on making bullying a priority. It can be difficult to discipline and stay on schedule. If you can't enforce discipline due to time constraints, the class will generally slide more and more out of control until situations like bullying develop.
Finally, the no-blame support group seems like it might work in some situations. But a victim might be particularly afraid of putting their emotions out for ridicule by using this method. I think a victim of bullying would have to really trust their teacher to be willing to use this method particularly with bullying moving to social media and outside of school.

Mike Daly said

at 1:54 pm on Mar 10, 2018

This is a very informative page and is clearly organized and easy to read and understand. The two case studies, while extremely harrowing, are useful for gaining an understanding of the devastating consequences of bullying. I agree that teachers should continually receive training so that help for victims is available and consistent. In regard to The No-Blame or Support Group Method, I agree with Nichole in the fact that this strategy, while having the potential to heal relationships, also has the potential to do even greater harm if it is not implemented and managed correctly. While most of the strategies you highlighted can be implemented by any teacher with some training, I think the No-Blame strategy needs to be implemented by a highly trained specialist.

Rebekah Ekekwe said

at 9:59 pm on Mar 10, 2018

I think the Be An Ally program is effective in making the students aware of the levels of bullying and the problems of just being a bystander. It allows them to navigate through real life situations and creates a support system for their fellow students. I think that sometimes kids fear that they are tattling when they are in these situations and they might feel more comfortable approaching the student leaders in their school. These "Be An Ally" students are leaders in their groups and they come from all different backgrounds. I think that it is important for students to be able to approach somebody that they are comfortable with and then these students can then be a middle man or a voice for the students who are too scared to come forward.

Conor said

at 12:20 am on Mar 11, 2018

"You are always a participant if bullying is happening and you know about it." This is a valuable thing to teach. Indifference among can really hinder any sort of positive outcome in a bullying case. The victim blaming on the part of FACULTY in Toni's case could have been avoided, and in both cases more people could have come out in defense of the bullied.

These are heart breaking case studies to read, but I think this group did a great job of coming up with effective anti-bullying strategies. Great work.

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