What Makes A Student Bully?
Bullying behaviour has often been linked to low self-esteem, family environment, social difficulties etc.
However, it has now been confirmed be that one of the reasons students bully is to help them climb the social ladder.
A study reported in the American Sociological Review - Feb 2011, shows that the more popular students become, the more inclined they are to bully other students, until they get to the top, that is.
The study followed approximately 3722 middle and high school students, the researchers mapped the student popularity based on their relationships and compared it to aggressive behaviour such as physical attacks, direct verbal harassment, or indirect bullying such as spreading rumours and exclusion.
From this the researchers found that the teenagers' propensity toward aggression rose along with their social status.
How did we ever get to this place where being a bully puts you up higher up in the social status - this literally tells us that this behaviour is condoned and even looked up to by other students.
It highlights the great need for the collective to stand and say no to bullying.
We need to work on changing students views of bullying - that it is no longer acceptable at school, online, or anywhere and if you do it you will not be applauded or looked up to or seen as a role model, but you will be questioned, stood up to and made to feel that you have done the wrong thing.
The non-violent majority of students need to be empowered.
They need to be able to stand up together and say no to bullying, as bystanders to step in and help the student or students that are the targets.
There is a lot of power here at present on the side of the bully and it is very difficult for one student to stand up and say no to bullying on their own.
In order to see change created and to see our students be able to stand up to bullying, rather than be passive, laugh or join in with what is happening, they will need the support and help from each other - they need to be able to do this together, and they will need serious support from their school to begin the process of creating this change.
It will not happen on its own and it will not happen overnight...
but we need to start creating a culture change amongst our young people.
So how can we do this...
well first of all there needs to be a big commitment from the school in having a living, working anti-bullying policy that is understood by all parents, students and staff.
There needs to be a strong stand from the school to say we are making a serious commitment to becoming a NO BULLY school and this is what we expect of our students.
Give them support, give them boundaries and have consequences.
This commitment needs to be ongoing and consistent.
Work with students and give them realistic strategies that they can use to help them step in and help when they see bullying happening, but also make them aware of when they need to seek adult help rather than stepping in themselves.
We need to teach students that as a group they can have a significant and positive impact on changing the culture of their school and play an active role in saying NO to bullying.
However, it has now been confirmed be that one of the reasons students bully is to help them climb the social ladder.
A study reported in the American Sociological Review - Feb 2011, shows that the more popular students become, the more inclined they are to bully other students, until they get to the top, that is.
The study followed approximately 3722 middle and high school students, the researchers mapped the student popularity based on their relationships and compared it to aggressive behaviour such as physical attacks, direct verbal harassment, or indirect bullying such as spreading rumours and exclusion.
From this the researchers found that the teenagers' propensity toward aggression rose along with their social status.
How did we ever get to this place where being a bully puts you up higher up in the social status - this literally tells us that this behaviour is condoned and even looked up to by other students.
It highlights the great need for the collective to stand and say no to bullying.
We need to work on changing students views of bullying - that it is no longer acceptable at school, online, or anywhere and if you do it you will not be applauded or looked up to or seen as a role model, but you will be questioned, stood up to and made to feel that you have done the wrong thing.
The non-violent majority of students need to be empowered.
They need to be able to stand up together and say no to bullying, as bystanders to step in and help the student or students that are the targets.
There is a lot of power here at present on the side of the bully and it is very difficult for one student to stand up and say no to bullying on their own.
In order to see change created and to see our students be able to stand up to bullying, rather than be passive, laugh or join in with what is happening, they will need the support and help from each other - they need to be able to do this together, and they will need serious support from their school to begin the process of creating this change.
It will not happen on its own and it will not happen overnight...
but we need to start creating a culture change amongst our young people.
So how can we do this...
well first of all there needs to be a big commitment from the school in having a living, working anti-bullying policy that is understood by all parents, students and staff.
There needs to be a strong stand from the school to say we are making a serious commitment to becoming a NO BULLY school and this is what we expect of our students.
Give them support, give them boundaries and have consequences.
This commitment needs to be ongoing and consistent.
Work with students and give them realistic strategies that they can use to help them step in and help when they see bullying happening, but also make them aware of when they need to seek adult help rather than stepping in themselves.
We need to teach students that as a group they can have a significant and positive impact on changing the culture of their school and play an active role in saying NO to bullying.
Source...