Anne Gregory, Ph.D. Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey The school context and bullying

Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act NJ Law: “Harassment, intimidation, or bullying means any gesture, any written, verbal or physical act or any electronic communication, whether it is a single incident or a series of incidents, that is reasonably perceived as being motivated either by any actual or perceived characteristic…” Point 1: Note the emphasis on perception of one another, or ways of seeing each other, and perceptions of difference.

Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act The actual or perceived characteristics motivating the bullying include, “race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or a mental, physical, or sensory disability, or by any other distinguishing characteristic.” Point 2: Targeted groups of students. Notice the range of groups listed – this raises issues of diversity.

Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act “…Creates a hostile educational environment for the student by interfering with a student’s education or by severely or pervasively causing physical or emotional harm to the student.” Point 3: Hostile educational environment raises the issue of the broader school climate

Perceptions of difference (Point 1) Why do students who bully target certain characteristics in their peers? What influences how we see “difference”?

Factors influencing how we perceive others Perceiver (judging difference) Peer Norms, Bystander Effects, and School Climate Societal beliefs

Point 2: Targeted groups in school Who is most likely to be the target of harassment, intimidation, or bullying? Targeted for difference For example: - students with disabilities, - heavier students, - LGBT youth

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Youth* 72% reported hearing homophobic remarks at school 61% reported feeling unsafe at school 40% reported physical harassment because of sexual orientation 64% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed because of gender expression * From GLSEN’s 2009 Survey

LGBT youth in Middle vs. High school* More than 9 out of 10 LGBT middle school students (91%) said they experienced harassment at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation 59% experienced physical harassment and a startling 39% said they had been physically assaulted, nearly twice as many as in high school (about 20%). Half of LGBT middle school students (50%) had skipped at least one day of school in the past month because they felt unsafe. * From GLSEN’s 2007 survey

Reducing bullying and victimization We know that anti-bullying programs can help reduce certain behaviors. A recent meta-analysis of 44 evaluations of such programs from around the world showed programs can be effective. Across the programs, there was a decrease in bullying by 20-23% and victimization by 17-20% (Ttofi & Farrington, 2011). They found that programs with certain components were more likely to be successful. Components include: –Parent training, –Playground supervision, –A focus on classroom management. The breadth of the successful components suggests we need to think comprehensively about changing hostile educational environments.

Point 3: Hostile Educational Environment

(Cornell, Gregory, Huang, & Fan, 2011)

A Hostile Climate

Tracked the 9 th grade cohort for dropout 10 th grade 11 th grade 12 th grade (Cornell, Gregory, Huang, & Fan, 2011)

School Dropout Counts Associated with Levels of Bullying Climate and Failure Rates (Cornell, Gregory, Huang, & Fan, 2011)

School Dropout Counts Associated with Levels of Bullying Climate and Failure Rates (Cornell, Gregory, Huang, & Fan, 2011)

Dropout Counts Associated with Levels of Bullying Climate and Poverty Rates (Cornell, Gregory, Huang, & Fan, 2011)

Seeking help and support The majority of the cyber-bully victims and bystanders do not report incidents to adults (Li, 2006, Mishna et al., 2010) - Many feel adults at school would not be of help (Agatston, 2007) Some students may be less likely to seek adult support and help in school than other students. For instance, a study showed that…. –African American and Latino students were less likely to regard the adults at their school as supportive sources of help for a problem (Marsh & Cornell, 2001). Another study showed that… –African American students reported lower levels of fairness and teacher support compared to White students’ reports in their same schools (Thompson & Gregory, 2011).

From Hostile to Engaging, Inclusive Schools Culture of negative peer norms (bystanders passively or actively consenting to harassment)  to a cultural of prosocial norms Culture of exclusion for difference  Culture of inclusion and respect Culture of alienation from school staff  Culture of support and guidance Culture of fear of “snitching”  Culture of effective help-seeking with adults Culture of exclusion for rule-breaking  Culture of taking responsibility for actions, learning the impact on the community.