Facts and Myths about Boys, Girls, and Bullying Olweus Class Meeting 05/29/13

Opening Activity Today you will be taking a short, ungraded true/false quiz. Please take out a blank piece of paper and a pencil or pen. Write the numbers 1-8 down the left side of your paper. Get ready, get set……..QUIZ TIME!

Please write down true or false to these questions… 1.) Girls hardly ever bully – it’s just something that boys do. 2.) Girls bully much more often than boys do. 3.) For boys and girls, the most common type of bullying is verbal bullying. 4.) Relational bullying (using relationships to bully another person) is done by girls but hardly ever by boys. 5.) Boys are more likely than girls to be involved in physical bullying. 6.) Boys only bully other boys. They hardly ever bully girls. 7.) Girls are more likely than boys to tell teachers or a parent if they are being bullied. 8.) Most boys AND girls say that they feel sorry when they see a student being bullied at school.

Let’s see how much you know about bullying…. 1.) Girls hardly ever bully – it’s just something that boys do. False 2.) Girls bully much more often than boys do. False 3.) For boys and girls, the most common type of bullying is verbal bullying. True 4.) Relational bullying (using relationships to bully another person) is done by girls but hardly ever by boys. False 5.) Boys are more likely than girls to be involved in physical bullying. True 6.) Boys only bully other boys. They hardly ever bully girls. 7.) Girls are more likely than boys to tell teachers or a parent if they are being bullied. True 8.) Most boys AND girls say that they feel sorry when they see a student being bullied at school. - True

How did you do? Count up the number of questions you got right and wrong. Did anyone answer all the items correctly? If so, CONGRATS 

Discussion Questions Let’s review each of these statements and decide which of these are “myths” and which are “facts.”

Statements 1 and 2 6.6% (13) 11.5% (25) 9.2% (38) 7.3% 9.8% 8.6% 6-8th Grades Girls 6.6% (13) Boys 11.5% (25) Girls and Boys 9.2% (38) Girls (National Comparison) 7.3% Boys (National Comparison) 9.8% Girls and Boys (National Comparison) 8.6% 1.) Girls hardly ever bully – it’s just something that boys do. - False 2.) Girls bully much more often than boys do. – False According to the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire results, this is what you reported to the following question: “Percentage (and number) of girls and boys who have bullied another student(s) “2-3 times per month” or more in the past couple of months”:

Statements 3 - 5 3.) For boys and girls, the most common type of bullying is verbal bullying. True 4.) Relational bullying (using relationships to bully another person) is done by girls but hardly ever by boys. False 5.) Boys are more likely than girls to be involved in physical bullying. True According to the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire results, this is what you reported to the following question: “Ways of being bullied, for students who reported being bullied ‘2-3 times a month’ or more”:

Ways of Being Bullied – Questionnaire Results Why do you think there are differences between boys and girls in the areas of “rumors” and “exclusion” for the ways of being bullied? Note that these forms of bullying are also knows as “relational bullying”. Why do you think there are differences between boys and girls in the area of “racial” as another way of being bullied? Feel free to view the graph again to see your questionnaire results.

Statement 6 6.) Boys only bully other boys. They hardly ever bully girls. False Although boys are usually bullied by other boys, girls are bullied by both boys AND girls. The next slide shows our questionnaire results for the ways that bullied students are being bullied by others:

Statement 7 6 – 8th Grades Girls 40.0% (12) Boys 44.8% (13) 7.) Girls are more likely than boys to tell teachers or a parent if they are being bullied. – True According to the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire results, this is what you reported to the following question: “Percentage (and number) of bullied students who have told a teacher or another adult at school about the bullying”: 6 – 8th Grades Girls 40.0% (12) Boys 44.8% (13) Girls and Boys 42.4% (25)

Statement 7 (continued) According to the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire results, this is what you reported to the following question: “Percentage (and number) of bullied students who have told a parent/guardian about the bullying”: 6 – 8th Grades Girls 46.7% (14) Boys 48.3% Girls and Boys 47.5% (28)

Statement 8 6 – 8th Grades Girls 93.9% (184) Boys 76.6% (164) Girls and Boys 84.9% (348) Girls (National Comparison) 91.9% Boys (National Comparison) 77.7% Girls and Boys (National Comparison) 84.4% 8.) Most boys AND girls say that they feel sorry when they see a student being bullied at school. - True According to the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire results, this is what you reported to the following question: “Empathy with victims. Percentage (and number) of students who responded ‘feel a bit sorry’ or ‘feel sorry and want to help’ when they see a student being bullied at school.”

To review…. There are important similarities and differences in the attitudes and behaviors of boys and girls when it comes to bullying. In order to try to reduce bullying in our school, it is important to understand and pay attention to these. It also is important to understand how gender can be used to bully – such as by using gender-related put-downs. Let’s encourage each other not to use these, as they harm all of us. Does anyone have any other questions or comments? Please feel free to share them at this time.

Current Events Related to Bullying Recently in the news, the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, is coming under fire for remarks he made during an interview in May 2006. Mike Jeffries, CEO of A & F, made the following comment, “In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely,” he said. Here are some facts about Abercrombie & Fitch clothes: they do NOT make women’s clothing larger than a size 10, but they DO make guys clothing in sizes XL and XXL – why? Please click on the links below to see how people are responding to the comments made by Mike Jeffries: (right click and click “Open Link”) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VRJRy9rnfE&feature=player_embedded (The Ellen Show) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXQGoIAgssA (ABC News clip – Kirstie Alley)