Bullying/Victimization Prevention Overview : Urbana School District #116

1. Bullying/Victimization Prevention Overview: Urbana School District #116 Ramin Karimpour, MS Child Development Division Department of Educational Psychology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Urbana School District #116 205 North Race Urbana, IL 61801

2. Goals for this presentation • Developing expertise in the area of bullying and victimization in schools by: • Understanding the definitions of bullying; both legal and academic. • Understand the phenomenon of bullying/victimization in order to intervene effectively • Understand the interventions that are in place at USD 116

3. USD 116 Legal Definition Any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or electronically, directed toward a student that has or can be reasonably predicted to have the effect of one or more of the following: 1. Placing students in reasonable fear of harm to their persons or property, 2. Causing a substantially detrimental effect on their physical or mental health, 3. Substantially interfering with their academic performance, or 4. Substantially interfering with students’ ability to participate in or benefit from services. Activities or privileges provided by a school. Section 27-23.7 of ILSC amended June 2010 by Prevent School Violence Act (PSVA)

4. US Department of Education Definition Unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance and the behavior is repeated or has the potential to be repeated over time.

5. Dan Olweus Definition “Bullying victims are exposed, repeatedly, and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more students. Victims typically have difficulty defending themselves for a variety of reasons”. (Olweus, 2011).

6. 3 Types of Bullying Behavior • Physical: Hitting, kicking, pushing, shoving. • Verbal: Mean names, make fun of, hurtful teasing. • Social: damaging peer relations by ignoring, excluding, spreading rumors. ____________________________________________ • Bullying is a group process with multiple roles. • Everyone assumes at least one of these roles • Bully • Victim • Bully/Victim • Assistant • Reinforce • Defender • Bystander Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, Bjorkqvist, Osterman, & Kaukiainen, 1996

7. Points to Remember: Climate Matters • Programs that only target student behaviors are NOT effective. • Schools will not eliminate aggression problems through disciplinary actions (consequences do not change behaviors) • Nobody should have the expectation that bullying can be totally eliminated • Interventions only work with maximum buy in from administrators, teachers, support staff. • All staff must be dedicated to the school mission statement. • Utilize clear pro-social expectations/norms that ALL members of the school follow • Adults must model the school and classroom expectations, not just in their interactions with their students, but also in their interactions with colleagues and parents

8. Busting the Bully Busters

9. Classroom Climate Classroom Climate: • Does the class have and understand its mission statement? • Does the teacher clarify and enforce class behavioral expectations? • Does the teacher praise prosocial behavior? • Does the teacher seem to know the students and the classroom community? • Does the teacher use cooperative learning strategies? • Is there consistently high supervision?

10. Academic Systems Behavioral Systems • Intensive, Individual Interventions • Individual Students • Assessment-based • High Intensity • Intensive, Individual Interventions • Individual Students • Assessment-based • Intense, durable procedures • Targeted Group Interventions • Some students (at-risk) • High efficiency • Rapid response • Targeted Group Interventions • Some students (at-risk) • High efficiency • Rapid response • Universal Interventions • All students • Preventive, proactive • Universal Interventions • All settings, all students • Preventive, proactive Three Tier Model for Bullying/Victimization Intervention 1-5% 1-5% 5-10% 5-10% 80-90% 80-90%

11. Universal level interventions • PBIS + SEL = Positive School Climate • Strong PBIS Universal is very important • Clear and explicit instruction of expectations • SEL implementation must be done consistently across the building • Morning Meetings, Second Step, etc. • School climate influences student aggression • School climate influences student engagement in pro-social relations • All members of the school influence the social climate of a school: Students, support staff, faculty, administration • Individual children’s beliefs and attitudes become more approving of aggression over time, and do do group norms! • Stop/Walk/Talk • Teaching students explicit strategies to help them feel safe is important

12. Secondary Level Interventions Check in Check Out Check n’ Connect Mentoring support Universal Social and academic, instructional groups (SAIG) (not specific to bullying or victimization) Investigate bullying reports Brief Functional Behavioral Analysis (FBA)

13. Tertiary Interventions Intensive SAIG WRAP Around Process to involve parents and community supports Individual Counseling and Mental Health Referrals Complex FBA

14. Investigating Reports of Bullying/Harassment • Teachers, Support Staff, and Principals should treat all accounts seriously • There should be constant vigilance and communication between teachers, administration, students, and parents • If “bullying” or harassment is reported to you by a student or a parent, notify your building administrator! She/He will investigate. • Remember: • It is important to implement tiered supports for both the student exhibiting bullying behavior, and the student who is the “victim” • Suspension is not always the answer for “bullying”

15. Recognizing “Bullying” Behavior Three basic ways to know if a child is truly being victimized: • A student or students picks on a child day after day. It never seems to let up. • The student who is the aggressor “wins” because the child who is victimized is different, smaller, younger, or less socially able to cope. • The victim is afraid and very upset. The aggressor sees it all as “no big deal” or as “deserved.”Some children actually enjoy making other children upset. Remember: • “bullying” or harassing behavior is often very subtle or covert Garrity et al. 2000

16. Resources http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/youthviolence/index.html http://www.stopbullying.gov/index.html http://www.pbisillinois.org/curriculum/bullying http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJ4v7R3MbrU&feature=player_embedded