A Whole-School Approach

Shannon GillCapella University

CYBERBULLYING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION PLAN

Background and RationaleBULLYING/CYBERBULLYING• Defined as: an aggressive repetitive behavior done to one individual

who cannot defend themselves easily by another individual or group (Cantone et. al., 2015)

• Technology has evolved so that people can communicate easier in the past and with that comes a new style of bullying called Cyberbullying.

• According to Davison & Stein (2014) the opportunity to be a victim of a cyberbully an happen anytime and anywhere with a much larger audience.

• Research in bullying started with Olweus in 1973 published Forskning om skolmobbnin, which was translated into English in 1978 Aggression in Schools: Bullies and Whipping Boys (Smith, 2013).

• Bullying can lead to negative social growth and have detrimental

learning experiences.

• With the evolution of technology, cyberbullying has come about where there are ways to bully with a larger target audience.

• It is the responsibility of the faculty, elected officials, and teachers to provide a safe positive learning environment.

• It is the responsibility of the parents to be attentive to their child’s needs and actions.

• Davison & Stein (2014) claim cyberbullying victims are 2.5 times more likely to misuse substances such as alcohol and drugs.

Objectives• Prevention

• If prevention fails, have an empirically sound intervention plan in place

• Whole-School Intervention

• Accountability of all parties • Parents• Teachers/Faculty• Students

• Building a positive learning environment for all

Goals:Parent’s Roles• Parents need to be able to know

what their child doing online.

• Keep computer in high traffic area of home.

• Check with telephone companies for advice to see what they have to

offer for parents.

• Put parental controls on websites with

high Cyberbullying websites (social media).

Teachersand Faculty• Teachers need to not only

know the policies that are in place but also have the training to know what to do when they witness bullying/cyberbullying

• They need to be available to the students and respond to every bullying situation not just the occurrences where they will get a positive outcome.

Students• Empowering the students by having them partake in the planning and implementing the planning of the Anti-Bullying Campaign is important.• Give students a voice to be heard and they will take ownership in the program and help others when needed.

Research• Boulton et al. state “Research has shown that empathy is a predictor of pro-social helping behavior, especially when the empathetic concern involves feelings such as compassion, tenderness, and sympathy” (p. 147).

• Teachers can help prevent bullying in schools by getting students involved in writing school-wide assessments according to Bratis (2013).

• Davison & Stein (2014) claim cyberbullying victims are 2.5 times more likely to misuse substances such as alcohol and drugs.

• Pearce et al. (2011) found single-level anti-bullying programs are less likely to have an effective outcome in regards to bullying and that a whole-school approach is the most effective and non-stigmatizing.

Advocacy

• Make sure that all children know their rights

• Have the teachers and faculty AVAILABLE to the children who need them

Legal Requirements of Schools in CT• Adopt a clear policy against bullying behaviors

• Train all school staff who interact with the students on how to prevent bullying

• Ensure that all the school staff take immediate action whenever they observe bullying or receive a report

• Gather data to assess the extent of bullying in the school (State of Connecticut General Assembly, 2011).

Ethical Requirements • Faculty, educators, elected

officials, and other public servants need to make sure they do not harm any student. • Every instance needs to be

treated like any other instance regardless of who’s child(ren) are involved.• According to the APA Code

of Ethics (2010), there cannot be any unfair discrimination based on age, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, socioeconomic status or any basis prescribed by law.

Organization• Meet with elected officials to go over the states requirements of the anti-bullying laws and clearly write a policy that is a whole-school empirically sound intervention plan.

• Hold town hall meetings to that the parents also understand what is expected of their children as well as themselves and what their rights are.

Organization (cont.)

• Hold assemblies for the students as well to let them know the policies as well as their rights and who to go to should they need anything.

• Have teachers and faculty attend to mandatory training to go over the policies and procedures in place to combat bullying/cyberbullying.

References• American Psychological Association Code of Ethics. (2010).

Retrieved June 15, 2015, from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/• Bell, C.D., Raczynski, K. A., & Home, A. M. (2010). Bully Busters

abbreviated: Evaluation of a group-based bully intervention and prevention programs. Group Dynamic: Theory, Research, and Practice, 14(3), 257-267. doi:10.1037/a0020596

• Bratsis, M. E. (2013). Preventing bullying at your school. The Science Teacher, 80(6), 80. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docview/1437615550?accountid=27965

• Boulton, M., Hardcastle, K., Down, J., Fowles, J., & Simmonds, J. (2013). A Comparison of Preservice Teachers’ Responses to Cyber Versus Traditional Bullying Scenarios: Similiarities and Differences and Implications for Practice. Journal of Teacher Education, 145-155.

References (cont.)• Broster, R., & Brien, K. (2010). Cyber-bullying of educators

by students: Evolving legal and policy developments. Education Law Journal, 20(1), 35-61. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.library.capella.edu/docview/646139788?accountid=27965

• Cantone, E., Piras, A. P., Vellante, M., Preti, A., Daníelsdóttir, S., D’Aloja, E., … Bhugra, D. (2015). Interventions on Bullying and Cyberbullying in Schools: A Systematic Review . Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health : CP & EMH, 11(Suppl 1 M4), 58–76. doi:10.2174/1745017901511010058

• Lund, E. M., Blake, J. J., Ewing, H. K., & Banks, C. S. (2012). School counselors’ and school psychologists’ bullying prevention and intervention strategies: A look into real-world practices. Journal of School Violence, 11(3), 246-265. doi:10.1080/15388220.2012.682005

References (cont.)• Pearce, N., Cross, D., Monks, H., Waters, S., & Falconer,

S. (2011) Current evidence of best practice in whole-school bullying intervention and its potential to inform cyberbullying interventions. Australian Journal Of Guidance And Counseling, 21(1), 1-21. doi:10.1375/ajgc.21.1.1

• Smith, P. K., (2013). SCHOOL BULLYING. Sociologia, Problemsas E Practicas, (71), 81-98. doi:10.7458/SPP2012702332

• State of Connecticut General Assembly. (2011). Anti-Bullying Becomes Law. Retrieved May 8, 2015, from http://www.cga.ct.gov/coc/PDFs/bullying/2011_bullying_law.pdf