School Bullying: Prevention & Early Intervention. Ms Tan Bee Joo

Transcription

1 School Bullying: Prevention & Early Intervention Ms Tan Bee Joo

2 Effects on the Victims Serious injuries and even death (Smith & Ananiadou, 2003; Colvin, Tobin, Beard, Hagan & Sprague, 1998; Poon & Sua, 2005; Owyong, 2005)

3 Effects on the Victims Cry not for her death, for she has no regrets. Weep not for her soul, for she is in a better place written in the diary of a victim of bullying who took her own life. (The New Paper, 25 September 2005)

4

5 Effects on the Bullies The Cycle of Violence Often grow up to become perpetrators of violence (such as domestic violence, child abuse, sexual assault) (Brendtro &Long; Garrity et al.; Hoover & Oliver; Walker, Colvin & Ramsey, cited in Colvin, Tobin, Beard, Hagan & Sprague, 1998)

6 Prevalence of School Bullying

7 Prevalence of School Bullying United Kingdom 10% in primary schools & 4% in secondary schools (Whitney & Smith, 1993) Australia 20% in primary schools & 16% in secondary schools (Rigby, 2007) Singapore 21% in primary schools & 25% in secondary schools (Koh & Tan, 2008)

8 Definition of Bullying

9 Definition of Bullying Generally, bullying is a situation where a powerful bully intentionally harms a vulnerable and isolated victim through repeated hurtful behaviours that can result in damaging consequences. (Fried & Fried, as cited in Colvin, Tobin, Beard, Hagan, & Sprague, 1998)

10 Bullying in Singapore Schools

11 Respondents Boys 395 (50.3%) Primary Schools Girls Total (49.7%) (100%) Secondary Schools Boys Girls Total 256 (49.9%) 257 (50.1%) 513 (100%)

12 Victims Boys Primary Schools Girls Total 95 (58%) 70 (42%) 165 (100%) Boys 71 (56%) Secondary Schools Girls Total (44%) (100%)

13 Categories of Bullying

14 Categories of Bullying Categories Primary (N = 165) 75% Secondary (N = 126) 74% Relational 61% 47% Physical 39% 49% Cyber 6% 8% Verbal

15

16 Relational Bullying Primary Schools Form of bullying experienced Withdrawal of friendship Social Exclusion Girls Boys (N = 70) (N = 95) 47% 25% 54% 32% Secondary Schools Form of bullying experienced Rumour Spreading Girls Boys 44% 17%

17 Trends in Bullying

18 Educational Level Majority of the victims were bullied by their own classmates

19 Effects of Bullying

20 Most Common Effects Effects Feel angry Primary Secondary School School 59% 75% Feel sad 43% 46%

21 Seeking Retaliation Primary School 27% Secondary School 37%

22 Victims who Felt bad about themselves 40% 35% 30% % 25% 20% Girls 15% Boys 10% 5% 0% Primary School Secondary School Gender by School Type

23 Victims who Felt sad 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% Girls 30% Boys 20% 10% 0% Secondary School Gender by School Type

24 School Performance Had difficulty paying attention in class Primary School Secondary School 25% 22%

25 Sources of Support Frequency and effectiveness of support sources approached by secondary and primary school victims Support sources Total Secondary school Primary school (N=126) (N=165) Effectiveness Total Better Same Worse Effectiveness Better Same Worse Parents 50 60% 34% 6% 65 57% 37% 6% Peers 81 55% 39% 6% 9 44% 56% 0% Teachers 58 66% 29% 5% 33 85% 12% 3%

26 Monograph on Bullying in Singapore Schools or Singapore Children s Society Research and Outreach Centre 9 Bishan Place Junction 8, #05-02 Singapore Tel:

27 Researches on Effectiveness of School Based Interventions

28 Researches A nation wide campaign across Norway against bullying, following several suicides (Smith & Ananiadou, 2003; Colvin, Tobin, Beard, Hagan & Sprague, 1998) The Sheffield (UK) Anti-Bullying Project Funded by the Department for Education from (Smith & Ananiadou, 2003)

29 Bully-Free Programme

30 Bully-Free Programme Bully-Free Camp Bully-Free Week Campaign Bully-Free Forum Networking sessions with school counsellors Bully-Free Website

31

32 Other Preventive Measures

33 Preventive Measures 1. Have an anti-bullying policy 2. Conduct class discussions and formulate class rules 3. Work on improving social skills of children 4. Empower bystanders to do the right thing 5. Mentoring programme 6. Train the teachers to handle the bullying incident effectively

34 Early Intervention

35 Distribution of Bullying Severity (Taken from Stop the Bullying A Handbook for Schools, by Dr Ken Rigby)

36 Early Intervention 1. Address the issue by: Speak to the bullies Help the victims Working with parents 2. Imposition of rules and consequences

37 Taken from Children & Bullying How Parents and Educators Can reduce Bullying at School by Dr Ken Rigby

38 Early Intervention 1. Address the issue by: Speak to the bullies Help the victims Working with parents 2. Imposition of rules and consequences

39 Thank You