Empowering all students to respond to bullying
In our Sonoma schools, we have clear and enforceable policies against bullying. However, both research and experience show that policies alone will not suffice. We have focused our anti-bullying efforts on educating and empowering peers to identify and respond to bullying. In this environment, the targeted student gains an ally and the intervening peer provides a role model for other students.
Traditionally, school staff members have been responsible for responding to bullying. Yet by middle school and high school, would-be bullies are adept at timing their aggressive behaviors so that adults are not aware of it.
At the same time, the advent of “cyber-bullying” has provided greater opportunities for harassment and potentially offers some level of anonymity to the harasser. When a bully uses social media to attack, the frequency and viciousness of those attacks may increase.
Even students who are targeted by bullies will often fail to discuss the situation with a parent, teacher or other trusted adult. These students feel that complaints will simply result in escalated behavior, or that the students will be viewed as “snitches.”
Rarely, however, does a bully act without knowledge of students other than the bully or the targeted individual. In fact, there are generally students who are aware of the problem but are reluctant to get involved, or they lack the skills to intervene effectively.
The best anti-bullying programs will recognize that adult awareness of bullying may occur only after an extended period of time. The key is to educate all students about the ways in which they can diminish the risk and intensity of bullying.
At the January meeting of the Board of Trustees, we heard from two students who are involved in the PLUS program at Sonoma Valley High School. PLUS, which stands for “Peer Leaders Uniting Students,” is a nationally recognized, research based program aimed at training students to improve school culture and climate by building a caring, inclusive community of students. At the School Board meeting, one PLUS participant stated, “Students trust students.”
At the middle school level, the District has implemented the Safe School Ambassadors program, which similarly trains students on how to recognize and respond to bullying. Here, too, these peer leaders provide important role models for all students, with the goal that many more of them will be willing to respond to bullying when they see it.
Because bullying involves an imbalance of power, when students come to the aid of a victim, the balance of power shifts. In some instances, a simple intervention might work. For example, students may say something like “Hey, that’s not cool.”
Students let individuals targeted by bullying know that there are others who disapprove of bullying behavior. In addition, peers may be able to reach out to the aggressor, recognizing that bullies in one situation may in fact be victims in another.
If peer-to-peer interventions are not working, a student “bystander” may be willing to speak to a teacher or administrator even when the victim is not. Once school employees know of a situation, they are able to respond rapidly and effectively to address it.
As more students become willing to speak up when they witness undesirable behavior, educators will have a greater ability to enforce the existing policies that impose consequences for bullying or cyber-bullying.
Finally, it is important for all adults to realize that they provide role models for students. If a child observes a parent engage in aggressive driving (“road rage”) or malicious gossip, that child may believe that aggression towards others is acceptable behavior in some circumstances.
Sonoma schools have policies and programs that effectively address bullying and cyber-bullying. As both students and adults take more responsibility for creating a culture where those things are not tolerated, there will be fewer instances where bullying rises to a level that requires formal intervention.
