Dealing with bullying
Bullying is a serious problem in our nation's schools. Approximately
15% of students in the U.S. are either bullied regularly or are, themselves,
bullies. This translates to approximately 5 million students. Bullying
and harassment occur in almost all schools, regardless of school
size, the racial composition of students and staff or setting (urban, suburban or rural). Bullying has very serious negative consequences.
Victims of bullying often withdraw from school and experience physical
and emotional symptoms that can extend into their adult lives. In
some cases, victims of bullying turn to substance abuse and even
suicide. Children who are chronic bullies appear to remain bullies
as adults and are significantly more likely to be engaged in criminal
activities than their non-bullying peers. If left unchecked, bullying
can make schools unsafe and negative environments for both students
and staff. Yet, research consistently shows that teachers and principals
underestimate the amount of bullying that occurs in their school.
And, more tragically, students consistently report that teachers
and principals often fail to intervene or prevent bullying even when
they know that it is occurring.
As a principal, you play a critical role in ensuring that all students,
faculty and staff in your school are safe to learn and work. It is
your job to make sure that your school has a bullying/sexual harassment
policy, that the staff, students and families know what that policy
is, and that they all contribute to its enforcement. Preventing bullying
requires both immediate intervention to stop such incidents and long-term,
on-going efforts to educate and support staff, students and families.
The following tools can help you inform and equip beginning teachers
to understand, identify, respond to and prevent bullying and harassment
in your school:
Forms of bullying
Consequences of bullying
Identifying bullying
Responding to bullying and harassment
Working constructively with parents
The whole-school anti-bullying approach
Bullying resources and references
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