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Bullying and Strategies to
deal with bullying in New
Zealand Schools
Melissa Letica, Emily White and Lucy Morris
+ Bullying in New Zealand: The facts; and
strategies to deal with it throughout
schools.
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Bullying in New Zealand is unbelievable. It can happen anywhere and to
anyone. It is extremely probable that a child you know is or has been bullied.
There isare? an estimated 200 million children and youths being bullied
around the world. With the internet now being an important part of ours
and our children’s lives it makes it easier for people to bully as it is harder to
track and involves less confrontation.
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Bullying has many different side effects which include; suicide, depression,
psychological and psychotic problems, anxiety, anger, drop in school
performance, insecurity, lack of trust, etc. There are many effective ways to
deal with it in New Zealand throughout different schools, and most schools
have strict policies about bullying. However, it is still happening and with the
rise of social media and cell phones, it is harder to detect and treat. This
power point includes an outline of bullying and some strategies which could
be used to prevent and deal with it at schools.
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What is Bullying?
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Bullying is something which doesn’t just happen to children at school but
can happen to adults, in the workplace, between friends, at home, or by
teachers. It is important to ensure that we, as teachers, don’t become the
bully;? because that does happen. Kidspot.co.nz defines bullying as when “a
person or a group repeatedly and intentionally uses or abuse their power to
intimidate, hurt, oppress or damage someone else.”
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It is important to note that it is not a one off occurrence (remove?), it has to
be a regular thing to be defined as bullying. At school it can occur anywhere,
in the classroom, outside, in the hallways, during school, after school, in the
bathrooms etc. This makes it hard to keep track of and difficult to identify.
88% of students will witness a bullying incident during their time at school
and only 25% of parents believe bullying is a problem at school!
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Boys bully both girls and boys but girls are more likely to just bully other girls
by themselves or by forming a group. It is also common for older students to
pick on the younger ones. However, bullying is not a problem which sorts
itself out, and different strategies are better to use against different types of
bullying which is why it is important to find what it right for the situation.
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Types of Bullying
There are three main types of bullying seen in Primary/Intermediate schools.
Physical bullying; Emotional bullying; Verbal bullying; and now Cyber bullying.
Physical Bullying:
Emotional Bullying:
Verbal Bullying:
Obviously involves unwanted
This is bullying which causes
This includes any type of
physical contact between the
damage to a person’s
verbal behaviour used to
victim and the bully. It can
emotional well-being,
cause a person distress or
involve things like; pushing,
basically making them feel
ruin their reputation. This
punching, kicking, tickling,
bad about themselves. It
includes; name calling,
pranks, inappropriate touching,
includes things like;
swearing, accusations,
or use of weapons. It is probably
exclusion, intimidation,
insults, unwanted
the easiest to identify and is
spreading rumours or lies, nicknames, rumours, gossip,
more often between males.
humiliation, dirty looks etc.
threats, teasing etc. It can
It is very sneaky and harder be hard to identify and can
to identify. It is used more
also be used alongside
commonly by females.
other forms of bullying.
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Cyber Bullying
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Cyber Bullying is bullying predominantly through the internet or cellphones. www.STOPcyberbullying.org describes it as; “when a child, preteen
or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or
otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet,
interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones. It has to have a minor
on both sides, or at least have been instigated by a minor against another
minor.” I wonder why they limit it to teens?
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It could be through social media, email, chat rooms, texting, blogs, calling
etc. There will continue to be more and more ways it can happen as
technology develops. It is also so anonymous that bullies can pose as other
people
and
are
much
harder
to
track.
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Cyber bullying is the hardest to identify
biggest growing because of the advance of social media.
and
is
the
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Your First Reaction as a Teacher
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Display an outward show of relief that the bullying is out in the open.
An Auckland study discovered that only 20% of students would tell a
teacher if they were being bullied. Let the student know (regardless
of whether they are the victim or a bystander) that coming forward
was the right thing to do.
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Focus on the behaviour of the bully rather than the victim.
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The short term goal of your reaction should be to put a stop to the
immediate abuse. Ensure that the victim is safe and will not be the
victim of any more bullying in the immediate future. Yes this is quite
a problem
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Support the Victim
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Working with the student’s peer group
 80% of students are not actively involved in bullying at their
schools. This is a positive statistic as it shows that 8 out of 10
students are neither bullies nor victims of bullying. However,
unless their help is specifically requested or they feel that they
have a duty to act, they will not get involved in preventing the
bullying.
 The peer group should be made aware of the incident and the
consequences it has on the victim
 The serious potential for harm should be impressed upon the
students. Making students aware of the harm that can be caused
by bullying can ensure students are not involved in bullying in the
future.
 The student may want to be with their peer group immediately
after the incident.
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Support the Victim
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The victim should have access to a guaranteed bully-free environment.
 Some schools have a special room for quiet activities that students can
use to provide students with this environment.
 These rooms need to be adequately supervised to ensure the
environment remains safe. Staff and senior students can be used to
monitor the classroom.
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The victim needs to be made aware of supportive people in the school
environment. Reliable peers, volunteers and school staff should be available
to spend time with the victim.
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Some schools offer confidence building courses for students who may have
trouble re-integrating with their peer group. A major effect of bullying can
be causing previously extroverted students to withdraw from classroom
activities. With appropriate support, their confidence can be rejuvenated
and they can positively engage with their peer group.
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Working with the Bully
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Isolate the bully’s behaviour.
 Remove the bully from the environment. This protects the victim and
ensures the bully sees an immediate consequence of their behaviour.
Ensure that the bully knows why they are being removed from the
environment
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Ask the bully to explain why they have been put in isolation. It may also be
appropriate for them to write a letter to their parents explaining their
behaviour and why they have been put in isolation.
 This is an important step for allowing the bully to take responsibility for
their actions, rather than just getting caught.
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Some students may find it difficult to stop their aggressive behaviour.
Positive social behaviour courses may be necessary. Child Youth and Family
or the Police may need to be involved.
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Peer mediation programmes can work well to prevent future bullying.
Involving the student’s peer group can help bullies see the harm their
actions can cause and show that it is not acceptable social behaviour.
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These strategies are great for teachers,
but studies have found dramatic
reductions in bullying of 20-80% when
school wide strategies are used
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Two key messages from these studies are that:
1.
“There is direct correlation between the time and quality of effort
spent in developing a whole school policy and the reduction in
the levels of bullying.”
2.
“…the process of developing a common understanding of the
problem is as important as any other factor.”
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Stages in Whole School No Bullying
Approach
From the NZ Police No Bully website
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Use a full staff meeting to raise awareness and knowledge of the issue. The
anti-bullying initiative must be tied to the school’s philosophy as laid out in
the charter. Emphasise the school’s obligation to provide a safe environment.
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A brief presentation to the Board of Trustees about the nature of bullying
will be useful to ensure that the subsequent policy will gain their support
and acceptance.
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Gather Information:
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Find out what similar schools have done.
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Survey staff to find out what existing programmes or initiatives in the
school complement an anti-bullying approach.
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What approach would best fit the current culture of the school?
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Develop some base-line data that will give some quantitative
information on levels of bullying within your school.
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Investigate staff, pupils and parents perception on bullying.
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The development of a ‘common understanding’ of bullying and
expressing this in a policy is the key to reducing bullying. It must be
supported by clear guidelines on how to deal with cases of bullying.
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Have parent / caregiver meetings. These will allow everyone to look
at the issues, the nature of the behaviour and the consequence and
impact of bullying on all participants, so everyone in the school and
school community are clear on these.
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Provide pupils with the pamphlets, information and websites on
bullying.
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Some whole school No Bullying strategies which are available online:
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Kia Kaha – Police Youth Education Service Programme
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No Bully ? Reference to access this?
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References
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http://www.kidspot.co.nz/article+2546+39+Definitions-of-bullying.htm
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http://www.dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-cyber-bullying
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http://www.police.govt.nz/service/yes/nobully/guidelines_4schools.html
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http://www.police.govt.nz/service/yes/nobully/bullying_info.pdf
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http://www.police.govt.nz/service/yes/nobully/stop_bullying.pdf
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http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/what_is_cyberbullying_exactly.html
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http://www.webhealth.co.nz/articles/view/article/15/bullying/#types-of-bullying
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http://blog.websafety.co.nz/2010/02/cyber-bullying-facts.html
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http://www.youthstats.myd.govt.nz/indicator/safe/bullying-at-school/index.html