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IT LOOKS LIKE ANY PLAYGROUND...
CHILDREN ENJOYING THEMSELVES...
JOKING AROUND.
BUT A CLOSER LOOK REVEALS BULLYING IS OCCURRING....
RESEARCHERS USED A HIDDEN CAMERA TO VIDEOTAPE
THIS SCENE...
A GROUP OF BOYS TACKLES ANOTHER BOY TO THE GROUND...
THEY REPEATEDLY HIT AND KICK HIM...
HE IS IN PAIN BUT THEY DON'T LET HIM GET UP...
A BULLY EVEN PUTS
HIS FOOT ON THE CHEST OF THE BOY ON THE GROUND.
A GROUP OF GIRLS IS NEARBY BUT SEEMINGLY IGNORE THE
WHOLE EPISODE.
ACCORDING TO EXPERTS, BULLYING CONSISTS OF
REPEATED, AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIORS DIRECTED BY ONE OR
MORE CHILDREN AGAINST ANOTHER.
BULLYING OCCURS WHEN THERE IS AN IMBALANCE
OF POWER OR STRENGTH.
ACCORDING TO RECENT RESEARCH PUBLISHED IN THE JOURNAL OF
THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION,
30 PERCENT OF STUDENTS IN SIXTH THROUGH TENTH GRADE
HAVE BEEN BULLIED, BULLIED OTHERS
OR BOTH WITH SOME FREQUENCY WITHIN A SCHOOL TERM.
THIS REPRESENTS MORE THAN FIVE AND
A HALF MILLION YOUNG PEOPLE.
STAN DAVIS IS A SCHOOL COUNSELOR,
AUTHOR AND BULLYING PREVENTION PROGRAM EXPERT.
HE AND OTHER EXPERTS SAY BULLYING CAN BE REDUCED,
AND EVEN PREVENTED IN SOME CASES,
IF COUNSELING STRATEGIES THAT HAVE FORM AND STRUCTURE ARE
USED OVER TIME... WITH CONSISTENCY.
DAVIS HAS STUDENTS FILL OUT A "THINK ABOUT IT FORM" WHERE
THEY ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THEIR POSSIBLE BULLYING
BEHAVIORS.
THEN HE DISCUSSES THE ANSWERS WITH THEM.
THE PROCESS STRESSES SELF-REFLECTION,
HONESTY AND ACCOUNTABILITY...AS DAVIS AND
STUDENT SHOW US IN THIS RE-ENACTMENT...
YOU KNOW WHAT REALLY STRIKES ME GABRIELLA
IS YOU'RE REALY HALFWAY THERE...
YOU'RE HALFWAY TO TAKING SOME RESPONSIBILITY.
BECAUSE WITH THIS ISSUE OF HER LOSING FRIENDS,
YOU KIND OF TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT AND
THEN YOU TAKE IT BACK AT THE END.
HOW ABOUT WRITING THIS A LITTLE MORE POSITIVELY -
IN OTHER WORDS, YOU EITHER THINK YOU HURT HER
OR YOU THINK YOU DIDN'T.
TALKING WITH A KID ABOUT WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THEIR BEHAVIOR
OR HOW THEY COULD DO BETTER IS GOING TO HAVE VERY LITTLE
EFFECT UNLESS THAT KID KNOWS,
IF I CONTINUE ON WITH MY BULLYING BEHAVIOR,
CONSEQUENCES ARE GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME.
WE'VE GOT TO RECOGNIZE THAT, FOR MANY KIDS,
BULLYING IS A VERY REINFORCING,
VERY PLEASURABLE ACTIVITY AND JUST SAYING YOU SHOULDN'T DO
THAT HAS VERY LITTLE EFFECT IN COUNTER-WEIGHING THE
PLEASURE THESE KIDS TAKE IN HURTING OTHERS.
ONCE THERE'S A COST THOUGH, AND A PREDICTABLE COST TO
THAT BEHAVIOR, THEN KIDS ARE READY TO THINK ABOUT
THEIR ACTIONS AND WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THEIR ACTIONS.
IF THIS IS THE WHOLE STORY,
WOULD YOU BE SITTING HERE INSIDE AT LUNCH?
I DON'T KNOW...I GUESS NOT
WILL YOU GIVE IT
MORE THOUGHT, PLEASE?
I'M SURE THIS WAS PART OF IT.
EXPERTS SAY STUDENTS WHO ARE BULLIED ARE MORE LIKELY THAN
THEIR PEERS TO EXPERIENCE LOW SELF-ESTEEM,
DEPRESSION AND SUICIDAL THOUGHTS.
YOUNG PEOPLE OFTEN DO NOT REPORT BULLYING INCIDENTS
BECAUSE OF FEELINGS OF SHAME OR EMBARRASSMENT.
TED FEINBERG IS THE ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS.
HE AND HIS COLLEAGUES KNOW THE SYMPTOMS A BULLIED
STUDENT MAY EXHIBIT.
INITIALLY CHILDREN CAN BE ANXIOUS,
THEY CAN DEVELOP PSYCHOSOMATIC PATTERNS,
THEY DON'T WANT TO GO TO SCHOOL,
THEY HAVE A REDUCTION IN THEIR SCHOOL PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
BUT IF IT GOES ON FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME WE HAVE SEEN
ARE YOUNGSTERS AND ADOLESCENTS BECOMING SO DEPRESSED
SO UNHAPPY, SO FEELING THAT THERE IS A SENSE OF HOPELESSNESS
IN THEIR LIFE.
WE FIND THAT THERE ARE MANY YOUNGSTERS CONSIDER THINGS LIKE
SUICIDE AS A WAY OF COPING WITH THE PAIN AND DISCOMFORT.
HE SAYS THERE MAY BE SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES IF BULLYING
BEHAVIOR IS LEFT UNCHECKED.
WE KNOW THAT BULLIES IF WE LOOK AT THEM DOWN THE ROAD,
WE KNOW MANY YOUNGSTERS WHO ENGAGE IN BULLYING BEHAVIOR,
THEY HAVE A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF LIKELIHOOD OF BEING
INVOLVED WITH THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM BY THE TIME
THEY ARE 21.
IN TERMS OF WHAT IT DOES TO THE COMMUNITY.
I THINK IT IMPACTS ON A NUMBER OF LEVELS.
IT IMPACTS ON AN INDIVIDUAL LEVEL,
OBVIOUSLY WITH A PERSON WHO'S BEING BULLIED.
IT IMPACTS ON THE CLASSROOM LEVEL BECAUSE BULLYING BEHAVIOR
IS TYPICALLY OBSERVED BY OTHERS,
AND THERE'S A SPAN OF FOLKS WHO ARE BOTH INTERESTED
IN THE BULLYING AND REPULSED BY IT.
IT IMPACTS ON THE SCHOOL IN THAT
IT CHANGES THE COMPLEXION, THE TONE, THE FEEL, THE CULTURE IF
YOU WILL OF THE SCHOOL AND
IT INVARIABLY IMPACTS ON THE COMMUNITY IN THAT THE
COMMUNITY FEELS LESS SAFE, LESS SECURE AND LESS FOCUSED.
CURRENT RESEARCH WOULD SUGGEST THAT BULLIES HAVE
VERY STRONG SENSES OF SELF ESTEEM AND IDENTITY.
THEY DO LACK A SENSE OF EMPATHY,
THEY DO LACK A SENSE OF CONCERN...
BULLIES TEND TO GROW UP IN HOMES WHERE THERE IS
INCONSISTENT DISCIPLINE, WHICH MEANS THAT KIDS DON'T
LEARN THAT WHAT I DO IS THE CAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENS TO ME.
THEY LEARN THAT MY PARENTS' MOOD IS THE CAUSE OF WHAT
HAPPENS TO ME.
AND HOMES IN WHICH THERE IS RELATIVELY LITTLE POSITIVE
PARENT-CHILD INTERACTION.
EXPERTS AGREE THAT, IN ADDITION TO WORKING
INDIVIDUALLY WITH CHILDREN WHO BULLY AND WITH CHILDREN
WHO ARE BULLIED, MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS SHOULD
BE ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN EFFORTS TO PREVENT BULLYING.
THE MOST EFFECTIVE BULLYING PREVENTION EFFORTS ARE
COMPREHENSIVE AND ARE FOCUSED ON CHANGING THE SOCIAL NORMS
WITH RESPECT TO BULLYING.
COUNSELORS AND OTHER SCHOOL-BASED MENTAL HEALTH
PROFESSIONALS HAVE SOME REALLY KEY ROLES IN HELPING
SCHOOLS DEVELOP BULLYING PREVENTION PROGRAMS.
FIRST OF ALL, THEY'RE LIKELY TO BE THE MOST HIGHLY TRAINED
IN SPECIFYING AND BEING CLEAR ABOUT BEHAVIORAL DEFINITIONS
OF EXPECTATIONS.
SO THEY'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO HELP A SCHOOL DEFINE THOSE
EXPECTATIONS CLEARLY.
SECOND OF ALL, THEY MAY HAVE THE BEST UNDERSTANDING OF A
SCHOOL AS A SYSTEM.
SO THEY'LL BE ABLE TO LOOK AT THE SYSTEMATIC FACTORS THAT
MAY BE ENCOURAGING BULLYING OR THAT, ON THE OTHER HAND,
WOULD ENCOURAGE REPORTING AND CONSISTENCY.
AND THE THIRD IS THAT THEY'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO DO,
OR TRAIN OTHERS TO DO THE KIND OF COGNITIVE AND
BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS THAT I WAS MODELING BEFORE.
SO THEY'RE VERY IMPORTANT RESOURCES IN THE PROCESS.
ONE OF THESE THINGS WE TALK ABOUT IN OUR WORK WITH
COMMUNITIES THAT HAVE BEEN IMPACTED BY CRISIS OF VARYING
KINDS IS THE NOTION OF A CONSPIRACY OF
SILENCE AMONG YOUNGSTERS.
AND THAT RELATES TO NOT WANTING TO SNITCH
OR TATTLETALE OR REVEAL THE
INFORMATION OF BEHAVIOR THEY ARE EXPERIENCING.
PART OF WHAT WE THINK IS
PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT IS TO HELP CHILDREN
AND TEENAGERS REALIZE THAT THIS CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE
DOESN'T SERVE THEM WELL, DOESN'T SERVE THEIR FRIENDS
AND SIBLINGS WELL, DOES NOT SERVE THEIR COMMUNITY WELL.
BUT IMPLICIT IN THAT IS THE NOTION OF HAVING TO CREATE
WITHIN COMMUNITIES, WITHIN SCHOOLS A CULTURE AND A
CLIMATE THAT ENCOURAGES STUDENTS TO COME FORTH WITH
THIS INFORMATION SO THAT THE PROBLEM CAN BE REMEDIED.