Bystander Activated:Using Technology to Fight Bullying

Presented at the MSCA Fall Conference 2015by Ed Draper & Julie Janzow

Counselors from Central Jr. High School Cape Girardeau, MO

General Bullying Statistics

❏ One out of every 4 students reports being bullied during the school year (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2015)

❏ 64% of children who are bullied did NOT report it (Petrosina, Guckenburg, DeVoe and Hanson, 2010).

❏ More than half (57%) of bullying situations STOP when a peer intervenes on behalf of the student who is being bullied (Hawkins, Pepler and Craig, 2001).

❏ School based bullying prevention programs help decrease bullying by 25% (McCallion & Feder, 2013).

❏ Students that experience bullying are at increased risk for depression, anxiety, difficulty with sleep and poor school adjustment (Center for Disease Control, 2012)

❏ Students who bully others are at an increased risk of substance abuse, academic difficulties, and violence in later adolescence and adulthood (Center for Disease Control, 2012)

❏ Youth victimized by peers are 2.4 times more likely to report suicidal ideation and 3.3 times more likely to report a suicide attempt (Espelage & Holt, 2013).

Effects of bullying

The Bystander➔ If students believe they can make a

difference, they are more likely to act (Thornberg et al, 2012)

➔ Students experiencing bullying report that allying and supportive actions from peers were most helpful actions from bystanders (examples include: helping student, talking to student, spending time with student or helping get away from bully) (Davis & Nixon, 2010)

➔ Students who experience bullying think that peer actions are more helpful than self or educator actions (Davis & Nixon, 2010).

Interventions❖ Bullied youth report that

actions in which support from others was accessed, a more positive difference was made (Davis & Nixon, 2010)

❖ The list of most helpful things an educator can do included: listen to student, check in with them afterwards, & give student advice (Davis & Nixon, 2010).

❖ The list of most harmful things an educator can do include: tell student to solve problem themselves, tell them to ignore what is going on, and tell student to stop tattling (Davis & Nixon, 2010).

CJHS demographics❖public/city school

❖grade levels: 7 & 8

❖Size: 604❖61% free/reduced lunch

❖1:1 district (2nd yr)

❖ethnic makeup ➢56% Caucasian ➢44% Minority

Addressing Our Student NeedsPrograms in place at Central Jr. High School to educate students about bullying:

Year 2 implementation of PBIS.Model guidance lessons at both the 7th and 8th grade level.

Building-wide technology lessons (1:1 district)- responsibilities/safety while using social media

Weekly reminders via intercom about respect, being kind, social media (cyberbullying).

Addressing Bullying at CJHS

Procedures already in place when bullying is suspected/reported:Meet with the students involved

Investigate allegations Issue consequences

Phone call home Parent meeting

Teacher/Staff notification and/or schedule adjustments Involvement of SRO

Recommendations for district counseling/prevention programs

Common Bullying Issues in CounselingSome of the most common issues that we hear at our building when meeting with students about bullying situations at the middle/junior high grade level include:

1. “This is happening, but I do not want you to talk to the other student because I am afraid it will get worse.” (We also hear this sometimes from parents.)

2. “I do not want to be a snitch.”

3. There is pressure/embarassment to be seen in the guidance offices.

As a result of these issues we believe that we do not see all issues/concerns that we are trained to help our students with on a daily basis. With that said, we felt the need to increase the amount of ways students can communicate their concerns without feeling the pressure of being called a “snitch” or a fear of retaliation.

Our New DirectionOne way to increase the ways that students are able to communicate with us is through the Anonymous Bullying Application.

The Anonymous Bullying Application is something that we created at Central Junior High in the fall 2014 and piloted during the first semester to address the previously discussed concerns.

One of the great things about this resource is that it is simply a Google form that is never closed. In other words we are not re-creating the wheel, just pumping a little air in the tires.

This application empowers students to express their feelings or concerns about themselves or others in a pressure/fear free way. It helps create super active bystanders.

Presentation to students EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!We presented the Anonymous Bullying Application in our Model Guidance classes and frequently remind students of it each time we go into classes. Some of the main points that we bring up when presenting this application are:

1. How fortunate the students are to have something like this available.

2. It is available in all places where the internet can be accessed (We also talk about this to parents as well.)

3. We make sure that they understand the seriousness of this tool, so that it is not used as a joke.

4. We also make sure that they know that we follow up with every single report. The more students that see us follow up, the more confident they become in making reports.

Creating the form*full length snagit video (10.52) begins at ‘how to setup a gmail account’*

Responses spreadsheet★Each building in our district has a person(s) responsible for checking and addressing the form responses.

Gaining district wide support

★ At monthly district counselor meeting, we shared our idea and discussed the bullying application.

★ Special services director set up meeting with superintendents and principals for district sharing.

★ Presentation was made at next board meeting.

★ Tech was brought in to create district banner for websites, copying and sharing of bullying application for each school building and to set up a bullying hotline phone number.

★ District wide rollout of Bullying App occurred Feb 1st, 2015

The Anonymous Bullying Application

Results 2014-15 school year

Resolutions

❏ Resolutions for 2014-15 were not recorded until after the district wide roll out in February. Beginning 2015-16 school year, the resolutions column for spreadsheet was added immediately for tracking of outcomes of reports.

❏ As of Nov 2nd, 2015, we have already received 31 bullying reports at CJHS.

❏ The bullying app continues to be a positive tool in the fight against bullying behaviors at CJHS.

Thank YouWe would like to thank the following individuals who have been instrumental in assisting us with the Anonymous Bullying Form:Carla Fee and Alan Bruns Central Jr. High Principals: for giving us the freedom and support to pilot ideas that improve our student environment and school climate.

Deena Ring Special Services Director for Cape Public: for encouraging us to share our idea and setting up the initial meeting to present the Anonymous Bullying Form to counselors, administrators and staff in the district.

Technology department in our district who created the banner and icon for the bullying application, as well as ensuring every student with a school device has access to the form.

Dr. Jim Welker & Dr. Neil Glass Cape Public School superintendents who set up initial meeting with school board members and pushed the application to go district wide.

ResourcesCenter for Disease Control, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (2012). Understanding bullying. Retrieved from: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullyingfactsheet2012-a.pdf.

Davis, S., & Nixon, C. (2010). The youth voice research project: Victimization and strategies. Retrieved from: http://njbullying.org/documents/YVPMarch2010.pdf.

Espelage, D. L., & Holt, M. K. (2013). Suicidal ideation and school bullying experiences after controlling for depression and delinquency. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53. Retrieved from: http://www.ncdsv.org/images/JAH_Suicidal-ideation-and-school-bullying_7-2013.pdf.

Hawkins, D. L., Pepler, D. J., & Craig, W. M. (2001). Naturalistic observations of peer interventions in bullying. Social Development, 10(4), 512-527. Retrieved from: http://bullylab.com/Portals/0/Naturalistic%20observations%20of%20peer%20interventions%20in%20bullying.pdf.McCallion, G., & Feder, J. (2013). Student bullying: Overview of research, federal initiatives, and legal issues. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved from: http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43254.pdf.

ResourcesPetrosino, A., Guckenburg, S., DeVoe, J., & Hanson, T. Institute of Education Sciences, (2010). What characteristics of bullying, bullying victims, and schools are associated with increased reporting of bullying to school officials? Washington, D.C.: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Retrieved from: http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs/regions/northeast/pdf/REL_2010092_sum.pdf.

Thornberg, T., Tenenbaum, L., Varjas, K., Meyers, J., Jungert, T., & Vanegas, G. (2012). Bystander motivation in bullying incidents: To intervene or not to intervene? Western Journal of Emergency Medicine , 8(3), 247-252. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3415829/.

US Department of Education, National Center for Educational Statistics (2015) . Student Reports of Bullying and Cyberbullying: Results from the 2013 School Crime Supplement to the National Victimization Survey. Retrieved from:http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2015056.

Additional Website Resources

www.capetigers.com (Cape Public School district home page)www.cyfernetsearch.org/resource/research-spotlight-bullys-bystanderwww.google.com (gmail and Google drive) www.jotform.com/ (free online form builder)www.pacer.org/bullying/about/media-kit/stats.aspwww.standtogether.us/Stand_Together.htm

QUESTIONS?