Bullying in Canada - Books, Studies, Resources
From Public Safety Canada
Bullying in Canada
National Strategy on Community Safety and Crime Prevention
- What is Bullying?
- How Widespread Is Bullying?
- Who are the Bullies?
- Who are the Victims?
- What Role Do Peers Play?
- What Role Does the Family Play?
- What Role Does the School Play?
- What Role Does Broader Society Play?
- What Can We Do To Reduce Bullying?
- Conclusion
- References
Canadians are concerned with the level of violence in today's society, the safety of their communities, and the welfare of their children. As we know, too many children are victims of violence and aggression in the schoolyard, the playground and elsewhere. Some studies indicate that violent behaviour of young people is increasing, that the violence is directed at other young people, and that the violence is committed by younger people than was the case in the past. To prevent youth violence and reduce the rate of violent crime, research indicates that focusing on the early signs of antisocial behaviour is effective. Bullying is one phenomenon that contributes to the development of such behaviour patterns.
Bullying is a serious problem for those who engage in it, for its victims, and for the communities in which it takes place. It is not a normal part of growing up. It can make children feel frightened, sick, lonely and unhappy. Unfortunately, these childhood bullies are also more likely to develop anti-social behaviours (Farrington, 1993). Studies indicate that 30% to 40% of children with aggression problems grow up to have problems with violence as adults (Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick).
Bullying changes its form with age:
- Younger children's playground bullying often involves pushing,
shoving, name calling teasing and isolation;
- Teenage bullying may begin to include sexual harassment, gang
attacks, dating violence; and
- Adult bullying may become assaults, marital violence, child abuse, workplace harassment, and senior abuse (Public Legal Education and Information Service of New Brunswick).
For victims, repeated bullying can cause psychological distress and many related difficulties (Besag, 1989; Olweus, 1993). The impact of bullying extends beyond the bully and victim to the peer group, school, and community as a whole. It is important to stop bullying at a young age and strive to create a safe and peaceful environment for everyone.
With an understanding of factors related to bullying, we can design prevention and intervention efforts that decrease bullying and increase the likelihood that teachers, parents and other children will intervene when it does occur.
The Government of Canada's National Strategy on Community Safety and Crime Prevention was launched in 1998 to help Canadians deal with the difficult problems of crime and victimization. The National Strategy is built on the common sense principle that the surest way to reduce crime is to focus on the factors that put individuals at risk-factors such as family violence, school problems, and drug abuse - preventing crime before it starts. By providing tools, knowledge, and support, communities are able to address their unique issues of crime and victimization. In its work with communities, the National Strategy has placed a particular emphasis on children, youth, women, and Aboriginal people.
The National Strategy endeavours to intervene early in the lives of our young people, addressing issues of antisocial behaviour before they become more serious problems. Building resiliency and healthy environments for children and youth today will reap benefits far into the future. The Strategy supports communities and schools - working with students, parents, educators, and practitioners, and others in developing, and sharing, grass-roots initiatives to combat bullying.
What is Bullying?
Bullying is the assertion of power through aggression. Bullies acquire power over their victims physically, emotionally and socially. This can be done in many ways: by physical size and strength, by status within the peer group, by knowing the victim's weaknesses or by recruiting support from other children, as in group bullying. Emotional and social bullying may perhaps be the most frequent and harmful forms. Bullying can be physical or verbal. It can be direct (face-to-face) or indirect (gossip or exclusion) (Olweus, 1991). With repeated bullying, the bully's dominance over the victim is established and the victim becomes increasingly distressed and fearful.
How Widespread Is Bullying?
A 1997 survey of Canadians revealed that 6% of children admitted bullying others "more than once or twice" over a six-week span and 15% of children reported that they had been victimized at the same rate (Pepler, et al.). Researchers' observations of children on playgrounds and in classrooms confirm that bullying occurs frequently: once every 7 minutes on the playground and once every 25 minutes in class (Craig and Pepler, 1997). To understand the problem of bullying, we must consider the characteristics of everyone involved in the bullying scenario: the bully, the victim and the bystander. We must also examine the social contexts in which bullying occurs, such as the family, peer group, school, and community.
Who are the Bullies?
Children bully in many different ways-there is not a single type of bully. The following characteristics have been identified primarily through research on boys who bully.
- Gender: Both boys and girls are involved in bullying
as either bullies, victims or bystanders at
approximately the same rate, although each gender
expresses bullying in different ways. More boys report
their bullying than girls; boys report more physical
forms of bullying, while girls report indirect forms of
bullying, such as gossiping and excluding (Craig and
Pepler, 1997)
- Age: Ages 4-10, aggression is mainly confined to
same-sex peers, whereas ages 11-18 expand their
aggression to involve opposite-sex peers as well. In
addition, 11 to 12-year-old students reported bullying
others more than did younger or older student groups
(Pepler, et al.).
- Temperament: Bullies tend to be hyperactive,
disruptive, and impulsive (Lowenstein, 1978; Olweus,
1987).
- Aggression: Bullies are generally aggressive toward
their peers, teachers, parents, and siblings, and others
(Olweus, 1991). Bullies tend to be assertive and easily
provoked. They are attracted to situations with
aggressive content and have positive attitudes about
aggression (Stephenson and Smith, 1989).
- Physical Strength: Boys who bully are physically
stronger and have a need to dominate others (Olweus,
1987).
- Lack of Empathy: Bullies have little empathy for their victims and show little or no remorse for bullying (Olweus, 1987).
Who are the Victims?
Children become victimized for many different reasons - there is not a single victim type. For some children, the following characteristics are present before bullying occurs; for others, they develop as a result of bullying.
Gender: Boys and girls are equally likely to report being victimized (Charach et al., 1995; Pepler et al., 1977).
Age: Victimization decreases across grade levels: 26% of children in Grades 1-3 report victimization compared to 15% in Grades 4-6 and 12% in Grades 7-8 (Pepler et al.). Children in lower grades are more likely to be victims of older bullies, whereas children in higher grades are more likely to be victims of same-age bullies. Younger students experience more direct bullying, whereas older students experience more indirect bullying (Olweus, 1993).
Temperament: Victimized children have a tendency to be anxious and withdrawn. There is more evidence of this among preschool children than among school-aged children.
Physical Appearance: Research has not supported the popular stereotype that victims have unusual physical traits (Olweus, 1991).
Self-Esteem: Victims often report low self-esteem, likely because of repeated exposure to victimization (Besag, 1989).
Depression: Both boys and girls who are victimized report symptoms of depression, such as sadness, and loss of interest in activities (Slee, 1995; Craig, 1997).
Anxiety: Boys and girls who are victims report symptoms of anxiety, such as tension, fears and worries (Neary and Joseph, 1994; Slee, 1995).
What Role Do Peers Play?
Bullying usually involves more than the bully and victim-85% of bullying episodes occur in the context of a peer group (Atlas and Pepler, 1997; Craig and Pepler, 1997). Although 83% of students indicate that watching bullying makes them feel uncomfortable (Pepler et al., 1997), observations indicate that peers assume many roles in the bullying episode: joining in, cheering, passively watching and occasionally intervening.
- Peers tend to give positive attention to the bully,
rather than the victim. Their reinforcement of the bully
may serve to maintain the bully's power over the victim
and within the peer group. The bully may also affect the
peers who are watching.
- Peers who watch bullying may become excited and more
likely to join in.
- Compared to girls, boys are more likely to be
actively drawn into bullying episodes (Craig and Pepler,
1997; Salmivalli et al., 1996).
- In playground observations, peers intervened in
significantly more episodes than did adults: 11% of
episodes versus 4% (Craig and Pepler, 1997).
What Role Does the Family Play?
Children's behaviour patterns are first established at home. It is important that parents create a home environment that discourages bullying behaviour and supports children who are victimized.
- Bullies often come from homes that are neglectful,
hostile and that use harsh punishment (Olweus, 1993).
Bullying may be learned by observing conflict between
parents. Care needs to be taken by parents so that they
do not model bullying for their children.
- Fighting amongst siblings to solve problems can
inadvertently support bullying when it is accepted as a
normal part of growing up.
- Victims often keep their problems a secret because
they feel that they should handle bullying themselves.
Often they worry about the bully's revenge or other
children's disapproval, and/or they think adults can do
little to help them (Garfalo et al., 1987; Olweus,
1991).
- When they are courageous enough to tell, victims talk more often to parents than to teachers. As their children's most important advocates, parents must support their victimized children by working with the school to ensure their children's safety.
What Role Does the School Play?
Schools play an important role in shaping children's development. As with families, schools must strike a balance between clear, consistent discipline and warm, supportive relationships.
- Principals: Principals set the tone for their
schools. Bullying is reduced if the principal is
committed to addressing bullying (Charach et al., 1995).
Strategies used by principals include: consistent and
formative consequences for bullies; an open-door policy
for victims, with empathetic responses to their
concerns; and working together with teachers on
classroom management, and strategies for troubled
children.
- Student-Staff Relations: Bullying is less
prevalent in schools where there are supportive
relations among school staff, warm relations between
staff and students, shared decision-making among staff
and students, and where the adults do not model bullying
for the students (Olweus, 1987).
- School Policy: They key to reducing bullying
in schools is a clear policy regarding bullying with
consistently applied consequences (Olweus, 1991).
- School Organization: Schools which emphasize
academic success without respecting children's
individual strengths and weaknesses tend to have more
bullying (Tattum, 1982).
- Playground Supervision: Students report that the majority of bullying occurs on the playground (Olweus, 1991; Pepler et al., 1997). Bullying occurs where there is little supervision or when large groups of children engage in rough-and-tumble play or competitive sports (Murphy et al., 1983).
What Role Does Broader Society Play?
Bullying problems may reflect Canada's cultural tolerance of aggression. Much of this tolerance is created through the popular media, including television, movies, music and video games. The consistent message presented by these media is that aggression is an effective solution to social problems. Aggressive children are more likely than non-aggressive children to be drawn to and imitate media violence (Huesmann et al., 1984).
Because Canada is culturally diverse, children may be bullied due to their race or ethnicity. Within schools, anti-racism and anti-sexism initiatives are often considered together with anti-bullying programs to promote positive social behaviour.
As children enter adolescence, bullying declines somewhat and sexual harassment, both between boys and girls and within same-gender groups, increases. Unwanted sexual harassment, including comments, looks, gestures, and name-calling, is reported by 48% of 12-year-old children (McMaster et al., 1997). Although equal numbers of boys and girls report experiencing this form of bullying, more boys than girls acknowledge that they have sexually harassed other students.
What Can We Do To Reduce Bullying?
To be effective, bullying interventions must focus beyond the aggressive child and the victim to include peers, school staff, parents and the broader community. Although there are substantial differences among schools, comprehensive anti-bullying initiatives can help reduce occurrences of bullying (Olweus, 1991; Pepler et al., 1996). The central feature of the intervention must be a clearly stated code of behaviour, such as respect for one another, and enforced by consistent and supportive follow-through. It takes considerable time to bring about both attitudinal and behavioural changes among the staff, students, and parents in the school community. The following sections provide a brief overview of components of an anti-bullying program.
- School Staff: Motivation and support from the
school staff are essential. All school staff should be
included in educational sessions. Staff, together with
parent and student representatives, should be
responsible for updating the code of behaviour and its
consequences. Teachers' attitudes are reflected in their
behaviour. When adults recognize the problem of bullying
and their central role in reducing it, they supervise
actively and intervene to stop bullying.
- Parents: Parent meetings and newsletters
should inform parents about the problems of bullying.
Parents should talk to their children about bullying and
be aware of signs of potential victimization.
Communication between parents and the school is
essential, as parents are often the first to know that
their children are being victimized.
- Peers: Peers play a critical role in
bullying. Interventions must aim to change attitudes,
behaviours and norms around bullying for all children in
a school. Under teachers' guidance, students can
recognize the problem of bullying and their potential
contributions. With teachers' support, they can develop
strategies for intervening themselves, or seeking adult
assistance to stop bullying. Promoting attitudes in the
peer group which support empathy for the victim and
condemn aggression will reduce bullying.
- Bullies and Victims: Children involved as bullies or victims require individual attention. Talks with bullies should emphasize that bullying is not acceptable and point out the consequences established in the code of behaviour. If a group of children is involved in bullying, the bully and bystanders are made to understand their role and responsibility. Talks with victims encourage them to speak up and confirm the school's intention to ensure that they are protected from further harassment. Talks with parents inform them of their children's difficulties and enlist their cooperation in disciplining bullying behaviour and/or monitoring for further occurrences of bullying or victimization.
Conclusion
This review is not a comprehensive description of all factors related to bullying and victimization, but it does attempt to capture those most frequently addressed in the literature. Children involved in bullying, whether as bullies or victims, may have negative attitudes, poor social skills and emotional difficulties which begin at home. These problems are transferred to the school and peer contexts, where they may be reinforced. The development of antisocial behaviour problems depends on the interaction of individual characteristics and exposure to risk factors at critical developmental periods.
The National Strategy on Community Safety and Crime Prevention supports community initiatives that strive to create better opportunities for children. High-quality and consistent nurturing, combined with a secure, physically and emotionally safe environment through childhood will improve each child's prospects of success in life and make it less likely that they will later be victimized or become offenders. Programs that teach children resilience, empathy and social skills can help protect children from negative experiences.
Interventions for the issue of bullying should extend to all those involved: bullies, victims, peers, school staff, parents, and the broader community. We all have a role to play in declaring bullying is not a rite of passage for Canadian children.
This fact sheet was developed by the National Strategy on Community Safety and Crime Prevention in cooperation with Debra J. Pepler of the LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution and Department of Psychology, York University, and Wendy M. Craig of the Department of Psychology, Queen's University.
References
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