Bullying Study: Kids not likely to Defend Random Classmates

As students anxiously return to school, they will become reacquainted with teachers, manage their class schedules and try not to forget their locker combination.

But in-person interactions in school also mean some kids will be bullied—and whether they are defended or not is based on their social status, according to a new University of Michigan study.

Victims who have a positive relationship with their classmates are more likely to be defended.

“Our findings confirm that students do not defend random classmates; instead, defending choices (or motivations) likely depend on positive (liking or a friendship) and negative (disliking) relationships with the victim as well as with other classmates within the peer network,” said Ashwin Rambaran, the study’s lead author and a research fellow in the U-M Department of Psychology.

The findings shed light on the nature of defending ties in terms of reciprocity between defending and (dis)liking, researchers said.

Rambaran and colleagues at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, note that defending victims is relatively uncommon. Potential defenders might not intervene because they fear becoming the next victim, Rambaran said.

“Thus, children are likely to be selective in choosing the victims they defend and may defend classmates they are close to either through direct or indirect relationships,” he said.

The study involved 1,272 students from 48 fifth-grade classrooms in the Netherlands. They completed a questionnaire in class and watched an instructional movie to learn what bullying means, such as hitting someone; stealing or damaging someone’s belongings; making fun of someone, calling names or saying mean things; and gossiping about someone.

Students disclosed their interactions with classmates, such as liking, disliking and defending, as well as indicated if they were victimized in the past months in person and via cyberbullying.

The study showed that victims disliked classmates who could potentially defend them, thus lowering their chances to be defended from bullies. From the perspective of the victims, that might seem counterintuitive to dislike potential defenders because, as Rambaran notes, victims need all the help they can get.

“One explanation is that they already have a friend who defends them, and they have the luxury to dislike other potential defenders because they don’t need them,” he said.

So what can parents and teachers do to stop bullying and mitigate its negative consequences? Previous studies indicate that many children do not disclose their victimization or involvement in bullying to anyone. But these victims may show this in other ways, such as being emotionally or physically withdrawn from others, or getting poor grades, Rambaran said.

“Parents and teachers need to be aware of these situations, and most of all, talk to their kids about these issues,” he said. “Talking to kids about what it means to be a victim, that bullying is mean and not nice for others, and what kids themselves can do when they see someone gets bullied in school is essential to create a more positive classroom climate—a safe school for all children.”

If bullying does occur, a support group could help solve the problem. Or, perhaps a small group that involves the bully and their assistants, defenders or friends of the victim, and prosocial classmates (potential defenders) can be planned.

“The goal is to create mutual concern and raise awareness for the well-being of the victim and to spark the bullies’ willingness to change their bullying behavior,” Rambaran said.

The study’s co-authors at the University of Groningen were researchers Marijtje A. J. van Duijn, Jan Kornelis Dijkstra and Rene Veenstra. The work received funding from the Netherlands Scientific Organization.

The findings appear in the International Journal of Behavioral Development.

More information:

• Study: The relation between defending, (dis)liking, and the classroom bullying norm: A cross-sectional social network approach in late childhood

One of the questions we have been asked most often over the last 18 months is whether bullying has gotten better or worse since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Early on, there was a concern that cyberbullying incidents in particular would increase as youth were spending more time online. Additionally, many young children were perhaps given premature access to technology with inadequate support or supervision as schools hurriedly moved to virtual educational activities and parents simply needed to survive the extended time children had at home. On the other hand, we have long known that bullying online is often connected to bullying at school and therefore fewer students at schools might translate to fewer problems online.

Despite these speculations, however, I’ve mostly had to respond to the question about bullying during the pandemic by saying that we simply don’t know. Recently, though, initial research has emerged to provide some insight about the nature and extent of bullying behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. And we also collected data about bullying during the pandemic that we are now able to share.

COVID-19 Bullying Research

There have been at least three studies that have attempted to assess whether the pandemic had an impact on bullying among adolescents. First, Tracy Vaillancourt and her colleagues from the University of Ottawa and elsewhere examined bullying (general, physical, verbal, social, and cyber) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic among a sample of about 6,500 Canadian students. They found that school bullying was much higher among students in grades 4 through 12 before the start of the pandemic. Specifically, nearly 60% of students said they had been bullied prior to the pandemic compared to about 40% during the pandemic. Cyberbullying, on the other hand, only decreased marginally (13.8% pre-COVID to 11.5% during COVID).

Second, researchers at Boston University analyzed Google internet searches for bullying and cyberbullying and found that searches for these terms on that site dropped 30-40% when schools went to remote learning in the spring of 2020. This reduced level of inquiry about these problems continued into the 2020-2021 school year, though began to increase once schools began to re-open their doors in the spring of 2021. Researchers speculated that decreases in online searches for bullying correlated to reductions in the behaviors.

Finally, an analysis of keywords related to cyberbullying (e.g., “cyberbullying,” “cyberbully,” “internet bullying”) on Twitter in the early months of the pandemic showed an uptick in the frequency of these terms immediately following school closings and stay-at-home orders. It is uncertain whether these terms were tweeted as a means of identification of actual incidents of bullying online, or for some other reason.

Taken as a whole, each of these studies sheds some light on the problem of bullying during the COVID-19 pandemic, though each has its own limitations. In particular, analyses of Google searches and Twitter keywords are especially tenuous in their insights about actual bullying incidents (especially because the studies returned conflicting results).

Our COVID-19 Bullying Research

Sameer and I have been regularly collecting data on bullying and cyberbullying in the United States since 2004, most recently in the summer of 2021 (more on this latest project in a subsequent post). If we focus just on our last three studies, all of which are relatively large (2,500-4,700 participants) nationally-representative samples collected in 2016, 2019, and 2021 using the same methodology and identical instrument, we can evaluate some recent trends in bullying and cyberbullying behaviors over that time period. For example, in the spring of 2021, 22.6% of students said they had been bullied at school in the previous 30 days, compared to 51.4% in 2019 and 37.8% in 2016. A similarly steep drop was observed in self-reported school bullying offending behaviors in 2021. In 2016 and 2019, about 11-12% admitted that they had bullied others at school compared to 6.8% in 2021. In short, school bullying behaviors have undoubtedly dropped during the pandemic.

When it came to cyberbullying, however, the findings were less clear. More students reported that they had experienced recent cyberbullying in 2021 (22.6%) compared to previous years (17.2% in 2019 and 16.7% in 2016), but fewer students reported that they had cyberbullied others (4.9% in 2021 compared to 6.6% and 5.7% respectively in 2019 and 2016). It is also noteworthy that this is the first time in any of our studies that more students said they were bullied online than at school (though the difference was small [23.2% compared to 22.6%] and not statistically significant).

In addition to asking adolescents in our 2021 study to report if they had been bullied or cyberbullied in the last 30 days, we also asked whether they had been bullied (or had bullied others) at school or online more or less since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. When looking at responses to these questions we saw a similar pattern as observed above. That is, students overwhelmingly said that they had been bullied less at school since the start of the pandemic. Only about 6% of students said they had been bullied more at school during the pandemic.

When it came to cyberbullying, most said they had been bullied online less or about the same as before, but about a quarter did report more cyberbullying during the pandemic. The same is generally true when we look at offending behaviors. The vast majority of students said they bullied or cyberbullied others less since the start of the pandemic.

Conclusion

So where does this leave us? Well, it is clear that the number of school bullying incidents dropped significantly during the pandemic. This is intuitive as fewer students were in schools generally and when they were many schools limited the number of students that could be in a particular classroom. Fewer students likely meant more supervision and fewer opportunities for misbehavior. When it came to cyberbullying, however, the results were less conclusive. I think it is safe to say that cyberbullying did not increase significantly over the last 18 months, but it likely didn’t decrease either. More youth are undoubtedly spending more time online, creating more opportunities for misbehavior.

It is clear that the number of school bullying incidents dropped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

I do think it is promising that the cyberbullying numbers weren’t even higher. Despite dire predictions, online bullying didn’t seem to surge the way some had expected. It is possible that online conflict is occurring more often now than prior to the pandemic, but conflict isn’t always bullying. There are plenty of angry, frustrated, and frankly ignorant people (more adults than youth, in my experience) expressing their outrage on the internet these days. Social media comment wars are not necessarily bullying, but might be captured in some of the studies of keywords used in Google and on Twitter described above. Without context (such as knowing the relationship between the aggressor and target and whether the actions were intentionally hurtful and repeated over time) it is difficult to definitively determine if something posted online qualifies as bullying.

Another concern during the pandemic is whether students would have access to support if they were being bullied. Without physically being at school it could be more difficult for students to visit with a counselor, social worker, or psychologist to report, work through, and obtain help with any issues they might be confronting (including bullying). So even if overall bullying numbers are down, the consequences youth are facing because of these experiences could still be serious.

The other question on the minds of many is what is going to happen in the 2021-22 academic year? Most schools in my area are back to face-to-face instruction with few COVID-19 mitigation strategies (one local district is requiring masks, but none of the others are). Will we see an increase in school-based or online bullying with students back in schools? I’m personally concerned because my tween son’s school is not requiring face coverings, even though there will be no physical distancing and most of his classmates are currently ineligible for vaccination. Per parental instruction, he is wearing a mask. Will he be bullied if he is the only student in his class wearing a mask? Suffice it to say that there continue to be plenty of opportunities for kids to be mean to each other as the pandemic continues. And they will persist long after the current situation subsides.

Key research finding

Miguel Sarzosa, an assistant professor of economics in Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management, finds that victimization depletes an average middle school child’s noncognitive skills by 40%. This skill depletion causes the child to become 34% more likely to experience bullying again.

While bullying negatively impacts the development of both cognitive and noncognitive skills, the effects of victimization are much more severe for noncognitive skill accumulation.

Noncognitive skills — also referred to as socioemotional or soft skills — include the ability to recognize and control emotions and reactions, establish and maintain positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and set and achieve positive goals.

Sarzosa finds that children who start middle school with less developed noncognitive skills are more likely to be bullied – those scoring in the bottom 10% for noncognitive skills are twice as likely to be bullied than those in the top 10% and 36% more likely to be bullied than the average student.

This snowball effect can continue into adulthood and puts those who experience bullying at higher risk for depression, substance abuse and suicidal ideation.

Sarzosa points to two tools to reduce victimization’s negative effects: Invest in helping children develop noncognitive skills at a younger age, and be mindful of classroom composition as students benefit from having peers that share common characteristics. For each additional classroom peer with similar characteristics, victimization drops by about 10%.

More information is available online: Bullying in school hampers skill development, healthy adulthood

Purdue professor’s expertise

Sarzosa’s research fields are applied microeconomics and labor economics. His main research focuses on the effect skill endowments have on in-school victimization and workplace discrimination.

Journal name

The Journal of Human Resources Abstract is available online: Victimization and Skill Accumulation: The Case of School Bullying

Full Research Article is also available via link but requires a login/account. Pdf available to share.

Funding

No external funding was used for this study.

Brief summary of methods

Sarzosa considers the cognitive and noncognitive skill sets and skill accumulation processes of 3,449 school-aged children, interviewed over six years, as part of the Junior High School Panel of the Korean Youth Panel Survey.

Sarzosa measures noncognitive skills using scales of locus of control, responsibility and self-esteem. Cognitive skills are measured through academic performance on math, science and language, and a comprehensive end-of-year exam.

Writer: Wolf Williams, Purdue University Research Center in Economics Communications Specialist

Media contact: Amy Patterson Neubert, apatterson@purdue.edu

Source: Miguel Sarzosa, msarzosa@purdue.edu

Is Your Child Being Bullied? 9 Steps You Can Take as a Parent

As we all know too well, name–calling, cruel taunts, cyberbullying, and physical bullying happen every day to kids across the country. When your child is being bullied, it’s hard to concentrate on anything else—all you want to do is make it stop immediately.

At some point, your child will be picked on or will have his feelings hurt by others. We all have our trials and tribulations with our kids, no matter who we are. An unavoidable part of living is finding solutions to problems, even when they are not easy or comfortable.

In my opinion, bullying is a problem that needs to be solved as a family. Our son was bullied in middle school and high school. We were living in a small rural community where he went to elementary school. The elementary school was terrific. The teachers were very aware of all the kids and very attentive. In some ways, it was an ideal school.

Unfortunately, they had no junior high or high school in our community, so we had to make the choice to send our son to a large urban school nearby.

Soon, he started to come home with some very disturbing stories about how other kids were teasing him, calling names, and taunting him. These children didn’t have any clear reason why they were bullying our son other than he was the new kid and he was perceived as being different.

Our son would come home each day with terrible stories about things that had happened. My husband, James, and I tried hard not to react too strongly when he talked to us. We did not want to seem too upset about it because we really wanted to listen to what our child had to say without making it worse by overreacting. We tried to remain as neutral as possible. But honestly, we were not always successful. Our son was upset and depressed. And it broke our hearts.

Over time we were able to resolve these issues as a family, but it didn’t happen overnight. It took a lot of work with both the school and our son to find a solution to the problem.

But along the way, we learned some valuable lessons that I believe played a big part in resolving the issue for our son.

Here are 9 steps you can take when your child is being bullied.

1. Listen to What Your Child Has to Say

Being a good listener is an important piece of your role when your child is being bullied. One of the best questions you can ask your child is:

“What can I do to be helpful?”

When your child tells you what’s going on at school, as much as it hurts to listen, be open and able to hear what he has to say. Try to be supportive but neutral when he’s talking. When you react too strongly to what your child is saying, he might stop talking because he’s afraid he’s going to upset you.

The other side of listening is not blaming your child. Don’t put the responsibility for the bullying on him or try to find a reason for it; there is no good reason or excuse for what’s happening.

If your child is being bullied, he is the victim, so trying to find a reason for why he’s “bringing it on himself” really isn’t helpful. Never blame your child because it makes him anxious and reduces what he’s going to tell you. Your goal is that he continues to communicate what’s going on.

2. If You Were Bullied as a Child, Try Not to Personalize What Is Happening

If you were bullied when you were younger, the same situation with your child will most likely bring up painful memories. It’s okay to connect with your child about how it feels to be bullied, but don’t take the problem on as if it’s yours alone.

The most important thing to do when your child is bullied is to remember the responses you received from others that were—or weren’t—helpful. Use what worked and avoid doing what was unsupportive or hurtful.

3. Don’t Retaliate Against the Bully or His Family

As tempting as it might be to take matters into your own hands and retaliate against the bully or his family, don’t do it. This is where you have to set some examples for your child on how to problem solve.

It’s very difficult to hear that your child is being threatened. Of course, you want to immediately stop the hurt. But remember, retaliating won’t help your child solve the problem or feel better about himself. Instead, take a deep breath and think about what you can do to help your child handle what he’s facing.

4. Coach Your Child on How to React

Bullies tend to pick on people who they can get a reaction from. They choose kids who get upset and who take the teasing to heart. They also look for kids who won’t stand up for themselves, or who they can overpower. It’s important to teach your child how to react. We coached our son on how to avoid bullies at school and who to go to if he felt unsafe.

We also did role plays together where we practiced not reacting to what the bullies said. He couldn’t stop the bullying right away, but he could get himself away from it and he could find someone to talk to about it.

5. Find a Teacher or Administrator at Your Child’s School Who Will Help

Remember, it is the school’s responsibility to stop bullying and most schools do take it seriously. The saving grace for our son was one of the guidance counselors at his school. We felt it was important for our child to have some sense of taking this problem on and solving it by going to the guidance counselor on his own. While we didn’t openly discuss this with him, he knew that we were also talking to the guidance counselor.

After our son started talking with the guidance counselor, she let him know that he could just sit in her office, even if she wasn’t there. The school allowed him to basically take a time out or break to get away if needed. This gave him some control and made him feel like he wasn’t powerless. It showed him that there were some solutions to the situation. It showed him that there was hope.

And make sure your child keeps talking—whether it’s with you, a guidance counselor or a trusted teacher, it’s important that he keeps communicating about what’s going on.

6. Take Your Child’s Side

When our son was being bullied, we constantly reaffirmed that there were things he could do to handle the situation and that he was, in fact, doing them. We let him know that we were going to get him help and that we loved him and we were going to support him.

We also said that there was no excuse for what was happening to him. Make sure to let your child know that you’re on his side. He needs to understand that you don’t blame him and that you will support him.

We also let our child know that if he retaliated against the group, by swearing back or even fighting, that we wouldn’t punish him at home. Our son was bullied physically and verbally, and we told him that he could do what he needed to do to protect himself.

We told him that he would still have consequences at school for any misbehavior because that would be against the rules, but we didn’t add to them at home.

7. Get Support

Be sure to talk to your spouse or to supportive family or friends. Sometimes I would burst out crying after hearing about what had happened to our son. There were definitely times when James and I got angry. The bottom line is that this situation can really bring out emotions from parents.

We found that we needed to talk with each other about this as a couple because it was so hurtful and because we wanted to be clear in how we communicated to our son.

I recommend that single parents reach out to somebody—a family member, friend, or someone at the school—anyone who can help you help your child. We reached out to friends and colleagues as well and asked how they handled it when it happened to their kids. If nothing else, it helped us feel like we weren’t alone and that there wasn’t anything wrong with our child.

8. Teach Your Child to Name What’s Happening

For younger kids, it’s important to be able to name what’s happening as “bullying.” For a child who’s feeling picked on, it’s empowering to be able to really name it.

They’re teaching a lot about bullying prevention in school these days and “bully” is such a negative word that it’s good for your child to be able to attach it to the behavior. This is truly empowering for many children and can work with older kids, as well.

9. Find Something Your Child Is Really Good at Doing

Help your child feel good about himself by finding something he can do well. Choose some activities he’s good at and reinforce it verbally. Our son got involved in swimming and it was very helpful for his self–esteem.

Fortunately, he got through that year and developed some great friendships. That summer we signed him up for a summer camp program. He went there still feeling a bit like a victim and came out a completely different human being. Camp was a place where he really excelled and it just fed his self–esteem.

So try to find a positive experience for your child to help him feel good about himself. Remember, every time he succeeds, it helps him develop better self–esteem, which is the opposite of how the bullies make him feel.

Bullying is not something your child is going to get over immediately. It can be long a process. But our son learned that while he couldn’t stop people from saying bad things, he had control over how he responded.

It’s that stuck place, that feeling of being completely powerless and trapped, that is the worst. I think what our son got out of this whole situation was finding those small pieces of control and exerting them, bit by bit.

Again, all of this took a lot of time. We didn’t come up with solutions quickly. It took time for our son to trust the guidance counselor and then for us to encourage him to go talk to her.

After a while, we could see that everything we were doing was starting to work. Overcoming a bullying episode takes support, and it takes everyone working together as a family to make it happen.

Signs That Your Child Is Being Bullied

Not all kids will admit to their parents that they are being bullied. It is often embarrassing to them and they are unsure how you will react. Therefore, it is important that you look out for the following signs that your child is being bullied:

• Not going to the bathroom at school. A lot of bullies attack in the bathroom, away from cameras and adults. Avoiding unsupervised activities and areas.
• Getting upset after a phone call, text or email.
• Losing friends they previously had.
• Being more isolated and skipping activities that they used to enjoy. Spending more time alone in their rooms.
• Making negative statements about themselves and engaging in negative self-talk.