Scott Ross & Celeste Rossetto Dickey

University of Oregon

Educational and Community Supports

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Bullying – The Facts

• The National School Safety Center (NSSC) called bullying the most enduring and underrated problem in U.S. schools. (Beale, 2001)

• Up to 86 % of elementary school students report being harassed and bullied at school each year.

(Smith & Sprague, 2000)

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Bullying – The Facts

Of boys considered to have serious bullying problems between 6th and 9th grades:

• 60% had a least one criminal conviction,

and

• 40% had three or more arrests - by age

24.(Olweus, 1991; Committee for Children, 2001)

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Past AttemptsOutcomes less than ideal

Maintenance a major issue

The role of bystanders not

addressed

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Goals

• Define a set of core features for Bully Prevention

• Define how to embed Bully Prevention into existing School-wide Expectations.

• Provide current update from one research effort.

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Main Ideas

• “Bullying” is aggression, harassment, threats or intimidation when one person has greater status, control, power than the other.

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Main Ideas

• Bullying behavior typically becomes more likely because the “victims” or “bystanders” provide rewards for bullying behaviors.– Social attention– Social recognition– Social status

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Challenges for Schools

Although common and frequent,

most bullying and harassment

behaviors are exhibited outside

of adult supervision.

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Big Idea

• All “bully proofing” skills are more effective if the school has first established a set of school-wide behavioral expectations.

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Primary Prevention:School-/Classroom-Wide Systems for

All Students,Staff, & Settings

Secondary Prevention:Specialized Group

Systems for Students with At-Risk Behavior

Tertiary Prevention:Specialized

IndividualizedSystems for Students

with High-Risk Behavior

~80% of Students

~15%

~5%

CONTINUUM OFSCHOOL-WIDE

INSTRUCTIONAL & POSITIVE BEHAVIOR

SUPPORT

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Creating Effective Learning

Environments• Create environments that are:

– Predictable– Consistent– Positive– Safe

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An Approach

• What does NOT work• Identifying the “bully” and excluding him/her from school• Pretending that Bullying Behavior is the “fault” of the

student/family/victim.

• What does work• Define, teach and reward school-wide behavior expectations.• Teach all children to identify and label inappropriate behavior.

– Not respectful, not responsible., not safe

• Teach all students a “stop signal” to give when they experience problem behavior.

– What to do if you experience problem behavior (victim, recipient)– What to do if you see someone else in a problem situation (bystander)

• Teach all students what to do if someone delivers the “stop signal”

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Do not focus on “Bullying”

• Focus on appropriate behavior.– What is the behavior you want– “Responsible”– No mention of Bullying

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Teaching Social Responsibility

• Teach school-wide expectations first– Be respectful– Be responsible– Be safe

• Focus on “non-structured” settings• Cafeteria, Gym, Playground, Hallway, Bus Area

• Use same teaching format• If someone directs problem behavior toward you.• If you see others receive problem behavior• If someone tells you to “stop”

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Embedding Bully-Prevention: One Example

• Bully Prevention in Positive Behavior Support

• Current status of research effort

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Acknowledgements

• Rob Horner, Ph.D

• Bruce Stiller, Ph.D

• Jeff Sprague, Ph.D

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Caveats

• Be sure to have PBS systems in place first!

• BP-PBS is a Yellow Zone Intervention: Some kids may still need additional support

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Delivering Bully Prevention in Positive Behavior Support

• Problem Behaviors in:– Basketball, Four square, In between

• Why do kids do it?– The candle and the glass

• A clear, simple, and easy to remember 3 step response:

Stop, Walk, Talk

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Teach the “Stop Signal”

• If someone is directing problem behavior to you, or someone else, tell them to “stop.”

• How do you deliver the “stop signal” if you are feeling intimidated, harassed, bullied?

• How do you deliver the “stop signal” if you see someone else being harassed, teased, bullied?

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Teach “walk away”

• How do we walk away so that the perpetrator gets the idea?

• Remind students that most socially initiated problem behavior is maintained by peer attention.– Victim behavior inadvertently maintains taunt,

tease, intimidate, harassment behavior.– Build social reward for “walking away”

• Do not reward inappropriate behavior.

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Teach “getting help”

• Report problems to adults– Where is the line between tattling, and

reporting?• Did you request, “stop”• Did you walk away?

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Teaching a Reply

• Eventually, every student will be told to stop. When this happens, they should do the following things– Stop what they are doing – Take a deep breath– Go about their day (no big deal)

• These steps should be followed even when they don’t agree with the “stop”

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Let’s Try Some…

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How Adults RespondWhen any problem behavior is reported, adults follow a

specific response:1. Reinforce the student for reporting the problem behavior (i.e.

"I'm glad you told me.")

2. Ask who, what, when and where.

3. Ensure the student’s safety. • Is the bullying still happening?• Is the reporting child at risk?• Fear of revenge?• What does the student need to feel safe?• What is the severity of the situation

4. "Did you tell the student to stop?" (If yes, praise the student for using an appropriate response)

5. "Did you walk away from the problem behavior?" (If yes, praise student for using appropriate response)

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When the child did it right…Adults initiate the following interaction with the

Perpetrator:

1."Did ______ tell you to stop?"» If yes: "How did you respond?" Follow with step

2» If no: Practice the 3 step response.

2."Did ______ walk away?"» If yes: "How did you respond?" Follow with step

3» If no: Practice the 3 step response.

3. Practice the 3 step response.» The amount of practice depends on the severity

and frequency of problem behavior

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Checking in

• For chronic victims of bullying or harassment– At the beginning of recess, 1 adult should

check in with the student and remind them about how to respond to problem behavior.

– At the end of recess, check in again, ask about how it went, and reward them for their efforts.

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Checking in

• For chronic perpetrators of bullying or harassment– At the beginning of recess, check in with the

student and remind them about how to reply if another student uses the 3 step response with them.

– At the end of recess, check in again, ask about how it went, and reward them for their efforts.

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Some Data on Problem Behavior During Recess: Pilot Study

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Composite Peer

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Probability of Recipient Response following Problem Behavior

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100

stop walk positive negative no response

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Baseline Phase

Intervention Phase

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Probability of Bystander Response following Problem Behavior

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stop walk positive negative no response

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Intervention Phase

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Harassment; Bullying; Fighting;

Aggression I ncidents

2005-2006 2006-2007

Edgewood Pre and Post Bully Proofing Intervention Data

Series1

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Contact Information

• Scott Ross– sross@uoregon.edu

• Celeste Rossetto Dickey– cdickey@uoregon.edu