What They said ... `Anti-bullying programs in schools and increased teacher involvement in the interests of individual children have made it harder to bully children at school' Psychologist and family counsellor, Mr Sergio Giurina
`We just can't keep on condoning criminal activity within the school ground when it's not condoned outside the school ground' Ms Margaret Gunter, a Ph.D. student in psychology at the University of New England in New South Wales'
There have been a number of surveys conducted over the last three years that have suggested that bullying within schools may be a more wide-spread problem than had previously been supposed.
At the same time, this increased awareness of the problem appears to have produced a number of programs and strategies designed to reduce the incidence of bullying.
These developments have helped to prompt discussion among mental health and other professional bodies as to whether schools are responding adequately to the problem of bullying.
Background
Some of those who study bullying within schools have maintained that it does not just involve physical abuse or threats of physical abuse.
Ms Margaret Gunter from the New South Wales University of New England conducted a study of 120 people, some 70 of whom claimed to have been bullied at school, while 50 said they were not.
Ms Gunter's analysis suggested that 35 per cent of bullying involved verbal abuse, harassment or ridicule; 21 per cent comments on physical appearance; 19 per cent social bullying, such as manipulation of friendships; 16 per cent physical abuse and 9 per cent actual or threatened damage to property.
There are those who have argued, however, that definitions of bullying such as that proposed by Ms Gunter are too wide.
Whatever definition is used, however, it is generally acknowledged that bullying is a wide-spread and significant problem and one which schools, families and the general community needs to address.
There are a number of Internet sites that look at aspects of the problem of school bullying.
The Australian Kids Help Line has useful, informative material on bullying. It supplies a clear definition of bullying, gives the results of national surveys on the incidence of bullying and offers advice on the importance of breaking the `code of secrecy' that allows bullying to continue. It suggests the importance of a whole community response to demonstrate that bullying is unacceptable.
This information can be found at http://203.37.145.243/info7/bully.htm
The Kids Help Line aims to offer support to all children with problems, including that of bullying. They can be reached on 1800 55 1800
The Health Department of Western Australia has prepared an Introductory Guide to Creating Violence Free Schools. It is intended for use by teachers and school administrators, however, it has some useful sections explaining children's rights, including the right to come to school without the fear of being mistreated by others. It has an extensive sources list which is likely to be of interest to teachers.
It can be found at http://www.public.health.wa.gov.au/_private/hp6300.htm
There are also a number of useful sources of information from outside Australia.
The Canadian parenting information and support group, Canadian Parents Online, has a sub section of its site dealing with bullying. This can be found at http://198.164.211.12/articles/feature86a.htm
Arguments suggesting that schools are doing sufficient to reduce bullying
Those who claim that schools are doing sufficient to reduce bullying note that all schools have codes of conduct which require students to treat each other with respect.
Those who defend the efforts being made by schools also note that they have disciplinary procedures in place that punish students who mistreat others.
It is noted that aggressive behaviour, fighting, intimidation and verbal abuse are regarded as significant misbehaviour in schools and would lead to students behaving in this way being punished.
It is also noted that most teachers regard offering advice and support to students as an important part of their job.
In secondary schools, where students have a larger number of teachers to deal with and so may not have as close a relationship with them, there are home groups set up. Students frequently have a pastoral care teacher to whom they can take their problems. Also many secondary schools, in particular, also have student welfare officers or chaplains who can advise students and help resolve personal problems.
It is also noted that a number of states' education departments and many individual schools have introduced special programs to help reduce bullying.
For example, in April, 1997, the NSW Government announced it was introducing a peer mediation program into its schools.
Under this program, students are trained to resolve disputes among themselves. These disputes include bullying, fighting and loss of property.
It is claimed that in the peer mediation program all students and teachers are taught a range of strategies to resolve and avoid conflict. Then a smaller group of students are taught to be mediators. They learn how to be neutral in discussions with other students who have a dispute and to help those students work through to a solution of their problem.
In 1995 Victoria introduced an anti-bullying program called Hands Off. This program focused on reducing bullying among children aged ten to 14.
A similar program called Being Me focuses on children aged five to nine. This program was introduced into schools in October, 1997, via a national mail-out to all Australian primary schools.
The Hands Off and Being Me programs involve parents as well as teachers and students. The developers of the programs claim that they aim to have schools and parents work together to develop positive relationships with children.
A psychologist and family counsellor, Mr Sergio Giurina, has claimed that peer support, anti-bullying programs in schools and increased teacher involvement in the interests of individual children have made it harder to bully children at school.
It is also maintained that the responsibility for addressing the problem of bullying does not just rest with schools. It has been claimed, for example, that students who are the victims of bullying must be prepared to let a teacher or someone else know that they are being mistreated.
According to this line of argument, schools are limited in what they are able to do to support bullied or harassed students if those students are not prepared to come forward and complain about mistreatment.
One study has indicted that only one in three children will tell someone of they have been bullied. Another study titled, What Children Tell Us About Bullying in Schools, suggests that 40 per cent of boys and 25 per cent of girls who are bullied weekly tell no one about it.
It has also been suggested that parents should notify the school when their children complain of being bullied.
The aim of some of the anti-bullying programs that have been introduced into schools is to encourage students and parents to recognise that they need to work together with schools and teachers if bullying behaviour is to be stopped.
Finally, it has been suggested, that though bullying in schools is a real and important problem, some commentators and others have exaggerated the extent of the problem and the likely effects it can have.
Dr Michael Epstein, honorary secretary of the Royal Australian College of Psychiatrists, has cast doubt on the reliability of surveys that ask adults to estimate the extent they were bullied as children. Dr Epstein suggests that surveys of this nature may produce exaggerated results.
Dr Epstein has also suggested that some studies have operated from too wide a definition of bullying, so that almost any unpleasant behaviour between children is termed bullying. Dr Epstein has suggested that this is inaccurate.
Dr Epstein has also suggested that it is possible to exaggerate the damaging effects that bullying can have. Dr Epstein has claimed that only about 1 per cent of the population develop schizophrenia and about 3 per cent suffer severe depression. The doctor suggests that even if there is a causal relationship between school bullying and psychological problems as an adult, that this effects very few people.
Arguments suggesting that schools are not doing enough to reduce bullying
There are those who claim that some schools and educational administrators have a tendency to minimise the importance of bullying and so do not do enough to address the problem.
Ms Margaret Gunter, a Ph.D. student in psychology at the University of New England in New South Wales, has claimed, `We just can't keep on condoning criminal activity within the school ground when it's not condoned outside the school ground. Things like assault, libel, threatening behaviour: they're not acceptable in society. There are criminal penalties for them. But inside the grounds it's accepted by many people.'
According to this line of argument, there is a tendency within some schools to give too much latitude to students who bully others.
There are also those who hold the view that more attention should be given to the harm bullying causes than to excusing those who inflict this distress on other people.
Ms Gunter maintains that school bullying can cause lasting harm to those who are the victims of it. She has claimed that victims of bullying are more vulnerable in later life to depression and post traumatic shock disorder.
Ms Gunter has also suggested that those who suffered either frequent or severe bullying were more prone to develop schizophrenia as adults.
It has also been suggested that being bullied can cause immediate harm to those who undergo this treatment.
Such harm can include depression, school failure, difficulties at home, withdrawing from social activities and risk taking.
It has also been suggested that those who are bullied may take time off school as a result. They may also present stress related symptoms such as headaches, dizziness and vomiting.
Professor George Patton from the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Royal Children's Hospital, has claimed, `Depressed kids are more likely to indulge in risky behaviour such as hurting themselves, substance abuse and smoking.'
Professor Patton has suggested that depressive symptoms include pervasive low mood, tiredness, not being able to sleep or concentrate, lack of confidence and not wanting to be with friends or family.
A 1997 South Australian study also suggested that students who were bullied were also more likely to have suicidal thoughts.
Associate Professor Michael Carr-Gregg, the head of the education and training unit at the Centre for Adolescent Health, has stated, `I personally regard this [bullying] as one of the single most important adolescent health issues.'
It has also been suggested that there is a tendency among some educators to under-estimate the extent of the problem.
Those who hold this view point to a number of recent studies which suggest that bullying is a wide-spread problem.
One of these is a survey recently conducted among 148 secondary school students in Sale, Victoria. The survey found that one third of the boys questioned were pushed, hit or punched at least once a week, while about 12 per cent of girls suffered this treatment.
It has also been noted that a recent survey of 2500 students conducted by the Centre for Adolescent Health found 54 per cent of year eight students had been bullied. The same survey suggested that one third of those bullied were mistreated daily.
In addition, it has been suggested that bullying involves more than just physical mistreatment or the threat of such treatment.
According to this line of argument, when a broader definition of bullying is applied the problem can be seen to be even more wide-spread.
Ms Margaret Gunter from the New South Wales University of New England conducted a study of 120 people, some 70 of whom claimed to have been bullied at school, while 50 said they were not.
Ms Gunter's analysis suggested that 35 per cent of bullying involved verbal abuse, harassment or ridicule; 21 per cent comments on physical appearance; 19 per cent social bullying, such as manipulation of friendships; 16 per cent physical abuse and 9 per cent actual or threatened damage to property.
Finally, it has been suggested , that some state governments are actually making bullying more likely to occur through the organisational changes they have required schools to make.
Lynne Holroyd, the senior writer with the Herald sun's Learn section, has claimed, `We need to ... resist pressures to make schools bigger, more competitive and less caring places ... Bullying ... rose when schools were forced to amalgamate after the closure of almost 200 Victorian schools several years ago.'
Further implications
It is probably reasonable to suggest that some schools deal with the problem of bullying more effectively than others. However that may be, there appears to be general agreement that bullying behaviour is unacceptable and that all students have a right to feel safe when they come to school.
One of the interesting results to emerge from recent work is the importance of breaking the circle of secrecy that frequently protects bullies and allows them to mistreat others.
It has been suggested that schools need to develop social climates that reject bullying and that encourage respect for individual differences and peer support.
As part of a solution to the problem, it is stressed that all students need to understand that they do not have to accept bullying as inevitable. The general advice given is that students who find themselves the victims of bullying seek out a trusted adult and tell them about the problem. Services such as Kids Help Line may also be useful in this regard.
Sources The Age
5/3/96 page 3 news item by Sian Watkins, `Half state's students are bullied, survey finds'
23/5/96 page 2 news item by Steve Dow, `School bullying link to suicide underplayed, says psychologist'
20/7/96 page 6 news item by Sally Heath, `How to beat school bullies'
30/7/96 page 9 (Education supplement) analysis by Roslyn Guy, `Beating the schoolyard bullies'
15/8/96 page 19 comment by Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, `Start early on bullying'
8/10/97 page 6 news item by Brett Foley, `Schools in scheme to give bullies the boot'
22/1/98 page 3 news item by Rachel Gibson, `Expert alert on school bullying'
The Australian
21/9/96 page 2 comment by Hugh Mackay, `Our free society should not tolerate the bully'
18/4/97 page 3 news item by Trudy Harris, `Bullying raises risk of suicide'
22/1/98 page 5 news item by Belinda Hickman, `Today's bullied child, tomorrow's depressed adult'
11/5/98 page 11 news item by Madeleine Coorey, `One in four pushed, punched'
The Herald Sun
5/3/96 page 21 news item by Cheryl Critchley, `School kit shows how to beat the class bully'
23/5/96 page 6 news item by Nicola Webber, `Action call on school bullies'
24/5/96 page 19 comment by Lynne Holroyd, `Bullies can be stopped'
1/4/97 page 13 news item by Michelle Pountney, `Bullying an epidemic'
23/9/97 page 16 news item by Michelle Pountney, `One in six are bullied at school'
8/10/97 page 21 news item by Helen Carter, `Bullies rule at school'
22/1/98 page 23 news item by Helen Carter, `Bullies leave adult scars'
1/5/98 page 10 news item by Genevieve Lally, `Taking a stand against bullies'
18/5/98 page 23 news item by Wendy Busfield, `Bullied out of school'
The Sydney Morning Herald
9/6/97 page 10 news item by Julie Delvecchio, `Playground peacemakers'
9/6/97 page 10 news item by Julie Delvecchio, `Lessons in art of conflict resolution'
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