Bully-Proofing Your Building with BIST

Today’s Objectives

Define Bullying

Define Participants: Bully, By-Stander, Victim

How To Respond

Create a system for reporting

Create lessons to teach students/parents about bullying

Zero Tolerance

Myth or Fact Quiz

Number 1-10

“T” for True “F” for False

Bully Statistics

Bullying affects approximately 5.7 million youth in the U.S.

British Study found that children exposed to chronic or severe bullying and harassment make them twice as likely to have delusions, hallucinations or other psychotic symptoms as pre-teens as those who have not been bullied. -Archives of General Psychiatry

In a national survey of students in grades 6-10, 13% reported bullying others, 11% reported being the target of bullies, and another 6% said that they bullied others and were bullied themselves

-National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center

Definition

A person who repeatedly inflicts physical, verbal, non-verbal and/or emotional abuse on another person. This behavior represents an imbalance of power.

4 Components of Bullying

Intentional

Harmful

Repetitive

Imbalance of Power

People involved

Victim

Bully

Bystander Identified how? Emotions experienced?

BULLY

Leader

• Popular

Manipulative/dominates

Persuasive

Craves attention

Blames others

Intends to harm

BY-STANDER

Follower

Caught in the middle

Passive

Fearful

Difficulty saying “NO”

Supporter of bully, cheers bully on

Isolates the victim/sets victim up to fail

VICTIM

Follower

Low self-esteem

Passive

Fearful, afraid of retaliation

Easy target, won’t stand up for self

Seen as week by peers

Insecure

Shameful

Behaviors typically witnessed

Verbal

Physical

Non-verbal

Cyber

Sexual

Potential Short Term Effects of Bullying

Potential Long Term Effects of BULLYING

SYSTEM TO REPORT BULLYING

Our School Does Not Tolerate Bullying!!!

Who should the student report to?

What information needs to be included in the report?

How soon should the report be made?

What should the student do after making the report?

How will adults follow up after the report is made?

When Bullying is ReportedIt is very difficult for a student to share that they are being hurt. As the adults, we need to recognize the courage it takes to report and address the situation with care.

Remain calm and empathic

Find a safe area to discuss the report.

Discuss the situation with one person at a time.

Do not lose your temper.

Do not make accusations

Students need to perceive that the adults are going to remain calm and supportive. It is essential that the student see adults as nurturing, helpful and caring

Listen and Validate the report

Adult statements

“I bet that was hard to tell me.”

“That must feel bad.”

“It takes a lot of courage to let me know.”

“I’m sure it is difficult to come to me.”

Allow the student to share his/her story and let him/her know you trust the information being shared.

Let the victim know that you will address the situation.

Adult statements:

“Can you trust me to take are of this?”

“I want you to know I believe you and will address it.”

When assuring the victim, be aware that investigating what happened can take a tremendous amount of time.

Be careful not to make a promise you can’t keep.

Do not be dismissive or doubtful.

Adult statements that may be hurtful:

“Stay away from her.”

“Are you telling me the truth?”

“What did you do first?”

“Are you sure it happened that way?”

“Why do you keep hanging out with that person?”

Many students do not report bullying for fear that nothing will be done, adults will not believe them and/or the problem will only get worse.

Identification

Create a list of kids who have had 3 or more incidences of hurtful behavior Where did the issues occur? What needs to be put into place to help the student be

successful?

Common Area Structure

Arrival

Hallways

Cafeteria

Dismissal

Teach greetings

How do we intervene?(speaking to our intentions)

School-based Strategies

Develop a no tolerance policy to hurtful behavior (It’s never okay to be hurtful / It’s never okay to be disruptive)

Identify areas of concern and provide adult supervision

Educate students regarding bullying behavior

Educate students regarding communication

Discuss and practice kindness

Provide the opportunity for students to practice contribution to others

Teach and provide students the opportunity to have a variety of friends

Community-building

Answer these questions: What makes a strong community? Currently, where are we in terms of being a strong

community? Write down three ways to build a strong community

Building Community through Class Meetings

KINDNESS

1. How can we be kind at school?

2. What is the impact on our classroom when kids are kind?

3. What do we say when someone is kind?

4. Compliments

• MANAGING IF YOU HAVE BEEN HURT

1. How do you typically respond when hurt?

2. If you are hurt, what will you say or do to keep from making the situation worse?

3. What will you do if hurtful behavior continues?

4. Compliments

Class Meeting Topics

WHAT TO DO IF YOU WITNESS BULLYING?

1. What can you do if you see someone being bullied?

2. What words can you use?

3. Who can you tell?

4. How can you support the victim?

5. Compliments

BUILDING COMMUNITY

1. What is a community?

2. Do we have a responsibility to each other?

3. How will we be responsible to one another?

4. Compliments

Resources

BIST Bully-Proofing Your Building Class Bully-Proofing Your Building With BIST Manual (bist.org)

Olweus (olweus.org)

National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center (safeyouth.org)

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Svs.

(samhsa.gov)

Personal Goal

I will intervene early by…

Contact Us

Behavior Intervention Support Team/ Ozanam BIST

Developed by Nancy Osterhaus

816.508.3652, BIST Office

www.bist.org