Building a safer school climate for all students and staff remains one of the major focuses of the educators and stakeholders within the education sector. The need for a safe and crisis-free school environment not only serves the students, but also the teachers and visitors as well. Nevertheless, the crisis is an inevitable reality in the modern diverse school environment. Different problem/crisis hinders successful school performance by denying a safe learning environment for all students and teachers. The enactment of policies within schools helps in establishing procedures and rules for providing safety and approach in case of crisis. This paper discusses school social work policy regarding bullying as one of the major crisis n school settings in the modern days.
Problem identification
Bullying has remained a growing concern in United States schools. Not only does the problem negatively affect the victims, but also the bully and the bystanders. Bullying is related to different other problems which in the worst-case scenario have caused suicide and adulthood psychological problems such as drug abuse and violence. As students demand a haven both at home and school, problems related to bullying results in insecurity and violence in a school. Drawing from bullying statistics in the United States, there has been an increased need for teamwork in addressing the menace in American schools. According to the American psychological association, an estimated 40% to 75% of school-age children suffer a case of bullying at some point in their entire school period/career (Whitted & Dupper, 2005). Additionally, students from lower social-economic backgrounds together with students with different disabilities experience bullying more often than any other student. On the other hand, coupled with cyber bullying, the bullying in schools has become an issue of concern as more negative effects has been affiliated with the problem. According to research by Richmond (2018), the percentage of students experiencing bullying doubled between the years 2008 to 2017. 90% of cyber bullying reports have suffered offline bullying.
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Problem Description
In addition to being a widespread menace more so among the disadvantaged students such as a student of color, LGBT, disabled among others, the need to address the problem has been more important than before, not only to provide a positive learning environment for all but also to promote self-well-being of all students regardless of their identity. Bullying comes in different forms which entail; verbal, physical, social and cyber-bullying which are related to the use of the internet to threaten or harass an individual. In terms of the negative effects of bullying on victims, there is decreased academic performance, mental related problems such as loneliness, anxiety, and loss of interest in activities they were used to enjoy before. On the other hand, the bullies suffer from cases of drug abuse in their adolescent and adult life, drop out of school, have criminal records, become abusive to their partners or children as well as being on the wrong side with school administration. Bystanders on their side suffer mental related problems such as depression and anxiety, tend to miss school.
Bullying in schools negatively affects the entire school community. To the teachers who witness the bullying incidents may feel unsafe to work in such as school. This, in turn, impacts the overall school performance. According to Stefaniuk & Bridel (2018), there has been a strong association between suicide-related behaviors and bullying. However, this relationship is fueled by other factors, including violent behavior, depression, and substance abuse. Drawing from the identified negative effects related to bullying, it is, in turn, a dire need for a teamwork approach to provide a solution to the bullying in American schools to improve and make the school environment safer for all players in the education sector.
Background information
Over the years, different strategies have been devised to curb the menace related to bullying as well as its spread within schools. The use of a multifaceted approach to addressing bullying helps in devising a holistic plan. Some of the policies that have been deployed include; the teaching of the appropriate behaviors and also how to respond. This includes the teaching of expected behaviors whenever bullying is in play. This helps to ensure all key players within the school have the know-how on how and when bullying is active. Another strategy is through the provision of training and support, all year through to support both students and school staff. Monitoring, tracking bullying incidents as well as notifying parents has also been a major approach to ensuring bullies and bullying at large is well addressed. Over the years, different researches have been conducted to identify the causes, as well as a device suitable remedy to bullying problems. Li et al (2017) in their article identified that the major problem related to bullying is ignoring the fact that, bullying is real and can result in the mental and social wellbeing of students. Schools should, in turn, ensure they have active policies addressing bullying among its students. To provide support to schools in the fight against bullying each of the states in the US has a defined guideline of policies on how bullying ought to be addressed. This includes recognition of bullying in the criminal code of the states which may, in turn, result in application to juveniles.
Despite devising a multifaceted approach in addressing bullying, the crisis has continued to spread among different levels of education in the US. According to Shannon (2013), bullying in modern times calls for improved solution strategies like zero tolerance, administering punishment to suspension, adoption of conflict resolution models and group treatment of bullies doesn’t work towards giving a reliable and sustainable solution. Successful bullying approaches should address each of the different cases as well as utilizing and bringing together the different key players in school management. These include the state, parents, teachers, students among other players. Limber & Small (2003) in their article identified that bullying should no longer be let or teachers and parents to handle, as well as being not an indicator of failed parenting, but instead, every person should be concerned about the results it can impact in a school and society at large.
Key aspects/concerns to consider
It takes a community effort to prevent bullying crisis in schools (Limber & Small, 2003). Additionally, successful addressing of bullying requires other factors such as funding, research, a holistic policy, and program as well as the collaboration, dedication, and commitment of the principal players. Training of students and school staff towards fighting to a bully can be of great help in devising sustainable anti-bullying efforts over time. Evidence-based programs should be the go-to models when it comes to fighting against bullying. Different evaluated programs address bullying which is designed for use in schools. However, when adopting an evidence-based anti-bullying program, it is important to consider factors such as school demographics, capacity and available resources (staff, finances, experts such as psychologists, etc.) (Wallace, 2011). Other actors to consider include; student age, background details such as orphaned, color, etc., social well-being among others.
Comprehensive Policy ( Sample Anti-bullying Policy )
Policy Statement : our school stance on bullying is that bullying is not and will not be accepted under any given circumstances and the school will adopt a detailed approach to intimidation and bullying.
Step I: actions to prevent bullying. This stage entails all relevant strategies to curb bullying in the school setting. These include; provision of counseling for victims and bullies, reporting to relevant established authorities, deployment of key layers such parents and teachers in addressing the issue, etc.
Step II: Detecting bullying. This sector entails all changes in behavior that may be an indication of possible bullying taking place. For example Student unwillingness to resume school, being withdrawn and unusual quietness, failure to produce homework, poorly done classwork or copied work. Unexplained bruises, talking about runaway and suicide, reduced levels of self-confidence, frequent absence in class and school programs among many others.
Step III: Sharing concerns. These levels entail the encouragement among students to tell/report when bullying occurs to teachers, parents, housemasters, or any senior figure within the school set-up. Additionally, to the members of the community, i.e. the parents, clergy, etc. are expected by the school to report any bullying knowledge. A bystander case will be treated as a complicit in the act.
Step IV: Measures on how to address reported cases of bullying. In case a bullying case is reported, the teacher or senior student will step in and reassure the victims of their safety. He will inform relevant authorities and departments such as counseling. The victim is interviewed as well as the bully individually. The incident shall be recorded. Parents of both sides will be involved; the solution will be devised and agreed upon by all stakeholders involved. Finally, monitoring and progress shall be done.
Step V: Monitoring and recording of bullying incidents. All reported cases of bullying shall be recorded by the relevant teachers in charge of the official school bullying form, and keep or easier pattern monitoring. All teachers and selected professionals are permitted to access the bullying record files anytime they wish to. Despite how small bullying may be, the incident should be recorded.
Step VI: Addressing complaints. Parents and students should be encouraged to forward any compliant any time they feel their views and concerns on bullying and anti-bullying policy aren’t addressed as they should.
Step VII: Information, support, and helplines. This step includes all relevant personnel and their contact and their duties with reference to addressing the bullying issue. For example the discipline master office and contact, department heads, the principal and the deputy, children, legal center, advisory center for education, school security department among other key players within the school focused on ensuring safety for all students.
Step VII: Linkage to other policies related to bullying. This includes other related policies within the school focused on providing safety to students within the school environment. These include; whistle-blowing policy, health, and safety, safeguarding and ICT policy among others.
References
Li, Y., Chen, P. Y., Chen, F., & Chen, Y. (2017). Preventing School Bullying: Investigation of the Link between Anti-Bullying Strategies, Prevention Ownership, Prevention Climate, and Prevention Leadership. Applied Psychology: An International Review , 66 (4), 577–598.
Limber, S. P., & Small, M. A. (2003). State Laws and Policies to Address Bullying in Schools. School Psychology Review , 32 (3), 445–455.
Richmond, E. (2018). Parents Fear for Kids’ Safety in Schools Reaches Two-Decade High. U.S. News - The Report , C23–C25.
Shannon, C. S. (2013). Bullying in Recreation and Sport Settings: Exploring Risk Factors, Prevention Efforts, and Intervention Strategies. Journal of Park & Recreation Administration , 31 (1), 15–33.
Stefaniuk, L., & Bridel, W. (2018). Anti-Bullying Policies in Canadian Sport: An Absent Presence. Journal of Park & Recreation Administration , 36 (2), 160–176.
Wallace, J. A. (2011). Bullycide in American Schools: Forging a Comprehensive Legislative Solution. Indiana Law Journal , 86 (2), 735–761.
Whitted, K. S., & Dupper, D. R. (2005). Best Practices for Preventing or Reducing Bullying in Schools. Children & Schools , 27 (3), 167–175.
