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Bullying and Teasing

• Introduction
• Why a Kindergarten to Grade Three Program
• Information for All Educators
• KNEA has the resources — just call and ask!
• Click here to contact KNEA about these workshops

Introduction

One of the most important discussions going on in schools today is dealing with students who use violent and aggressive behaviors. How do teachers identify students who exhibit these behaviors? How should teachers work with students so that they choose appropriate behavior at school? These are just two of many important questions that educators are working to answer to effectively promote a safe school environment.

The National Education Association has published, in conjunction with Wellesley College in Massachusetts, a series of curriculums that deal with students who bully or harass other students. Each curriculum also provides lessons for students who are the targets of bullying and for those students who are bystanders and often feel helpless when observing bullying or harassment. Each of the three curriculums, described below, addresses lesson plans, background information and integration activities to provide teachers with the materials in ready form to use in the classroom immediately.

The work of Wellesley College, including extensive research references, puts excellent lessons and model activities into the age and development level of students as their behavioral patterns for dealing with classmates begin. What is very plain, from both the research and what educators have long observed, is that students seldom begin to bully or harass at the high school level. We know those patterns and behavioral choices were often present even as young as kindergarten or often preschool.

• The curriculums available are:
  Quit It! A Teacher’s Guide on Teasing and Bullying for use with students in Grades K-3 was written to address early intervention and to provide a proactive, gender-sensitive approach to addressing teasing and bullying. The guide uses group activities, integration into literature and age-appropriate writing lessons to provide the discussion with students about behavioral choices.
• Bullyproof is geared for grades 4-6 and addresses lessons and activities for students who fall into the categories of bully, target or bystander. It also uses literature and writing as important integration pieces to the school curriculum so that these important lessons are not squeezed out of an already crowded school day. More on “Bullyproof”
• Flirting Or Hurting? , the secondary curriculum on sexual harassment, is aimed at grades 6-9. It provides to students not only information on what sexual harassment is and what it is not but continues on the theme of better choices of behavior than bullying or teasing from the elementary pieces.

The use of these curriculums not only addresses the needs of teachers in eliminating these problems at their school but also helps students gain an understanding of their own behavior and the behavior of others. This is a life skill that all students need to develop to be successful in the work place.

Why a Kindergarten to Grade Three program?

Unfortunately, teasing and bullying are facts of life for young students. Ask any elementary school teacher, and she or he will tell you that this kind of behavior is a daily occurrence that disrupts teaching and learning.

We all would agree that school should be a safe place for students — a place where they are welcome, comfortable and free to learn. But researchers have documented that it is precisely at school where bullying takes place most frequently. And, in school, bullying occurs most often where there is little or no adult supervision — hallways, playground, lunchroom, gym and bathrooms.

Recent research conducted by Educational Equity Concepts and the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women found that teasing and bullying are a part of the fabric of daily life for students in kindergarten through grade three.

Findings of the year-long study, which included classroom observations, interviews with children and focus groups with teachers and parents, parallel those of other formal research studies that have been conducted both within and outside the United States:

• Teasing and bullying are frequent occurrences in elementary school classrooms;
• Boys initiate most of the teasing and bullying incidents, but both girls and boys are the recipients;
• Boys are more likely to respond physically, while girls are more likely to respond verbally to incidents initiated against them;
• Teachers and other adults frequently do not intervene — their predominant response is to remain uninvolved;
• Students feel that adults do not pay attention or support them in ways that resolve the teasing and bullying;
• Students want adults to become more involved.

Information for All Educators

To reduce teasing and bullying behavior, both adults and students need to work together to create a safe and welcoming learning environment that fosters self-respect and respect for others. Some general pointers include:

• Intervene with students when an incident occurs. Be sure to include all participants in the incident: the initiators, recipients and bystanders. Students who stand by while someone else is being bullied feel vulnerable that they might be next and powerless if they do nothing to help.
  
  
• Integrate discussions and activities about teasing and bullying into your teaching. This enables you to address the issue in an ongoing way, not just when an incident occurs.
  
  
• Provide help for students to develop skills in empathy, problem-solving and anger management.
  
  
• Create opportunities for cooperative learning, both in your classroom and, whenever possible, across grades. Many schools have cross-grade “buddies” for reading or other subject areas. These promote better understanding and acceptance among students and may reduce the incidence of “big kids” picking on “little kids.”
  
  
• Provide opportunities for boys and girls to work together. Avoid segregating students by gender lines, seating, teams, etc.

KNEA has the resources — just call and ask!

The three curriculums outlined here address bullying and teasing behaviors and give sensible and usable suggestions on how to accomplish a change in these behaviors in your classroom and your school.

The curriculums provide lessons on: teasing versus bullying, raising student awareness on teasing and bullying, perspectives of all the people involved in bullying, courage to respond to different teasing and bullying incidents and sorting through the complexities involved in bullying and sexual harassment.

Contact the office of KNEA Instructional Advocacy in Topeka (785-232-8271) or e-mail KNEA to make arrangements for these workshops and to obtain copies of the curriculum.

Sections of this article are reprinted from “Quit It! A Teacher’s Guide on Teasing and Bullying” written by Nancy Mullin-Rindler, Merle Froschl, Barbara Sprung with Nan Stein and Nancy Gropper.