Chapter 14- The Implications of Home-School Patnerships for School Violence and Bullying

Dropping out, literally and symbolically

Discipline problems, bullying and harrassment

Drug and alcohol abuse

Gang membership

The ready availability of weapons

"Families often set stage for school aggression by tolerating or encouraging domestic violence, by parenting in a cold or overly hostile manner, or through permissiveness for silbing attacks."

It is vital that family members and educators form strong and healthy working parternships in order to stop the bullying in schools.

There are three categories involved with bullying: bullies, passive victims, and provocative victims. Bullies tend to act out and direct their problems toward others. Passive victims tend to be overcontrolled. Chronic victims tend to become more anxiety-ridden as they suffer harassment.

Childhood experience of bullying tends to produce negative long-term adjustment effects.

Victims and bullies themselves have significant relational problems as they grow older.

Victims tend to have trust and friendship issues.

"Childhood bullies are four to five times as likely as nonbullies to experience mental health, legal, and job-related difficulties as they age into adulthood."

School Level: In order to reduce bullying and violence, data needs to be collected such as surveys, observations, and interviews.

Conference days, more supervision during lunch, recess, and in-between classes.

Large assembilies to encourage anti-bullying.

School mediation programs have been successful.

Classroom level

Rules against bullying must be spelled out! Teachers must communicate with students and parents the expectations.

Consequences for bullying should be a middle ground between overly permissive and overly authoritarian styles.

Social skills should be taught.

Individual level: "The systemic model includes counseling and intensive social skills instruction for students who bully others and for some students at high risk for peer harassment."

Definition: "Bullying is the purposeful infliction of psychological or physical pain on one individual by another or by a group."

Bullying behaviors: largely verbal, social ostracism, friendship interference, mild physical attacks.

"Nearly eight times as many girls as boys participate in what has been termed relational aggression. Relational aggression is defined as manipulating relationships in a manner purposely desgined to hurt others."

Cyberbullying: "repeated harassment of individuals utilizing indirect or electronic means."

Despersonalization of cyberbullying: Two identity factors related to this increase the risk for harm online: masquerading and faking.

Risk factors: more time spent online the more likely a youngster will come across safety issues, manipulating identities can exacerbate harm associated with the internet, sending personal information generates hazards for risky exchanges, more harm is associated with cyber attacks when they combine with face-to-face conflicts, and females, on average, experience more cyberbullying incidents.

Helpful websites: www.wiredsafety.org, http://us.mcafee.com/virusinfo/vil/parents/article_pcinternet.pdf, www.wiredkids.org

Sexting: where peers distribute phots or videos of young girls participating in sexual acts. Once the send button is hit, there is no ability to take back the damaging content.

There are 3 styles of parenting associated with the development of bullying: intrusive-overprotective parenting, parental psychological over control, and parental coercion.

The overprotective parent or caregiver: primarily boys recieve so much protection at home that as they grow older they grow to be poor at tolerating other children's "rough-and-tumble ways." These children tend to resolve conflicts with arguments.

Parental Overcontrol: Youngsters as a result of parental overcontrol "lose confidence in the validiry of their own emotions."

Coercive Parenting: "Generally, students learn to be aggressive via coercive parenting styles, but occasionally a youngster will react to parental hostility by becoming shy and anxious and thus become prone to victimization."

Working with parents: "An educaor armed with information about the relationship between parental attitudes and student behavior is much more prepared to work with parents on a strengths-based basis."

Make sure you acknowledge family strengths.

Understand cultural or linguistic backgrounds.

Avoid blame and secondary victimization.

Provide parent training and support models.

Encourage the monitoring of t.v., internet, and media use.