Student Counseling and Personnel Services Commons^™

Addressing School Bullying Since The Onset Of Covid-19: A Merc Research And Policy Brief, David Naff, Morgan Meadowes, Kim Dupre, Alicia Gaston, Fatemah A. Khawaji, Christina Tillery, Makeba Lindsay D'Abreu, Lauren Powell, Deanna Fierro

MERC Publications

Among the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic is a shift in the nature and intensity of school bullying, perhaps symptomatic of the rapid changes and stressors that PK-12 students have endured since 2020. In this MERC research and policy brief, we explore how school bullying has changed since the onset of COVID-19 as well as research-based strategies for how educators and division leaders can best respond to it. The brief answers the following questions: 1) What is the nature of school bullying since the onset of COVID-19? 2) Which students have been particularly impacted by bullying since the pandemic? …

Examining Consent Education As A Preventative Measure For Sexual Violence, Harassment, And Bullying In Adolescents, Alexis Olson

Counselor Education Capstones

This paper is an examination of consent education in K-12 schools in the United States. Each state determines its own consent education policies. Most states do not require consent education despite high rates of adolescent sexual activity and increasing rates of sexual violence in adolescents. This paper examines the integration of adolescent sexual violence, harassment, and bullying. Considerations of current research shows an increase in adolescent experiences of sexual violence and connections to sexual harassment and bullying. Additionally, this paper explores consent education through classroom guidance lessons and cross-curricular implementation. Examination of consent education as a preventative measure for sexual …

What Rural Middle School Students Who Have Been Bullied Can Teach Us About Bullying: A Phenomenological Study, Sarah Lendt

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

School bullying is a significant health concern for youth worldwide. The struggle to combat bullying in schools is an ongoing issue. There is no universally accepted definition for bullying, though there is widespread agreement. The voice and understanding of those that experience bullying the most has not been considered in defining and describing bullying in the literature. This phenomenological study aimed to understand the lived experience of rural middle school students who had been bullied. Participants were rural middle school students, in grades 6-8, who had filed a bullying report in the past two years. Findings suggested four main themes …

Caregiver's Difficulty Paying Child's Healthcare Bills And Bullying Victimization Of Adolescents With Physical Disabilities, Jun Sung Hong, Mi-Jin Choi, Isak Kim, Carl L. Algood, Dorothy L. Espelage, Chad A. Rose

Counseling Faculty Publications

Guided by the ecological systems perspective, the objective of the study was to examine whether caregivers' difficulty paying their child's health-care bills is associated with bullying victimization directly and indirectly through the mediating mechanisms of caregivers' frustration, adolescents' internalizing problems, and social difficulty focusing on adolescents with physical disabilities. The 2019 National Survey of Children's Health dataset, which collected data on adolescents' and caregivers' demographic characteristics and health and well-being, was used. The study sample consisted of 368 caregivers of adolescents, 12–17 years of age with physical disabilities. No direct association between caregivers' difficulty paying their child's health-care bills and …

Identifying Protective Factors In The Association Between Peer Victimization And Internalizing Symptoms Of African American Adolescents In Four Chicago’S Southside Neighborhoods, Jun Sung Hong, Mi-Jin Choi, Isak Kim, Sheretta Butler-Barnes, Sarah Kruman Mountain, Dexter R. Voisin

Counseling Faculty Publications

Guided by the Risk and Resilience Model, the present study aims to generate hypotheses by investigating a wide range of variables that might buffer the association between peer victimization and internalizing symptoms from a convenience sample of African American adolescents in four neighborhoods in Chicago’s Southside. Measures for the study included internalizing symptoms, peer victimization, four protective factors (parental closeness, teacher’s care, religiosity, and positive future orientation) and covariates (age, sex, and government assistance). Controlling for the covariates, a series of multivariate regression analyses were conducted to explore the direct effects of peer victimization and internalizing symptoms and the interaction …

Why Witnesses Of Bullying Tell: Individual And Interpersonal Factors, Hyungyung Joo, Isak Kim, So Rin Kim, Jolynn V. Carney, Seriashia J. Chatters

Counseling Faculty Publications

The reactions of those who witness bullying are important because they can stop the bullying and prevent further harm. Factors associated with telling behavior were investigated with 477 elementary school students who witnessed bullying. Approximately seventy percent of the students talked to someone about bullying incidents, most often, teachers. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses demonstrated that gender, frequency of witnessing, cognitive empathy, and social skills were found to be associated with telling behavior of witnesses, whereas affective empathy and school connectedness were not significantly related. Findings from this research are important for future practice and studies on bystander intervention.

Cognitive Behavioral Intervention For Trauma In Schools (Cbits): A School Social Work Perspective, Karla B. Horton Phd, Lmsw

International Journal of School Social Work

This article reviews research about the effects of traumatic events on the functioning of children and adolescents in a school setting. Interventions with traumatic stressors have been shown to work best when they incorporate multiple elements such as policy change, teacher and administration buy-in, and parent meetings. One intervention, Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS), has been successfully developed and implemented by school social workers, teachers, and parents to address a range of traumatic stressors. This article will review CBITS training and examine how it could be used to address traumatic stressors in children and adolescents to lower …

Student Perceptions Of Bullying Victimization: Associations With Student Engagement And Teacher Support, Allen Garcia

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Bullying is a serious, complex problem that affects school-aged youth. Years of research on bullying has provided evidence that bullying victimization is linked with adverse outcomes for youth; however, researchers have yet to fully investigate how bullying victimization and maladjustment is associated with student engagement, and whether teacher support is a protective factor for victimized youth. A social-ecological perspective was used to guide the study given that a person’s bullying behaviors are related and interconnected to a network of systems and relationships in their environment.The purpose of the study was to investigate middle school students’ perspectives on bullying victimization (i.e., …

Spartan Connections: Developing Peer Mentorships For Freshman Success, Kathryn Ramos

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Seaside High School is located on the Central Coast of California and is home to 1,119 students. Bullying has many negative effects on high school students. Some consequences of bullying are suicide, depression and anxiety, and increased likelihood of dropouts. At Seaside High School, a survey was conducted to see if there was a need for a peer mentor program. After analyzing 136 responses from the freshmen and sophomore class, 64.7% of the respondents said they would benefit from having a peer mentor show them around the school and help them out with classes.Another question that was asked …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Empathy Skills Training In Reducing Schadenfreude Of Students With Bullying Tendencies: A Single Case Research Design, Maria Cecilia Montenegro

Theses and Dissertations

Main researcher implemented a small series (N=3) single-case research design to assess the effectiveness of a five-session empathy skills training for elementary-aged children. An analysis of participants’ scores on schadenfreude and empathy levels using the percentage of data points exceeding the median (PEM) yielded non-conclusive results concerning the training’s effectiveness. The present study makes the argument that these results might be a consequence of self-reporting errors concerning social desirability and limited training sessions, and then it presents other possible forms of measurement for schadenfreude and empathy.

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of University Students Who Self-Identify As Cyberbullies: A Phenomenological Study, Christine Osborne

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the experiences of university students, aged 18 to 50, in a suburban Atlanta university who have self-identified as perpetrators of cyberbullying. The three research questions that guided this study sought to determine how students perceive their cyberbullying behavior impacts their peers, how students explain their motivation to cyberbully their peers, and how their experiences led to perpetrating acts of cyberbullying. Experiences were examined that may be contributing factors for cyberbullying. Bandura’s social cognitive theory and the concept of moral disengagement of cyberbullies was examined through the research questions as well. …

The Association Between Electronic Bullying And School Absenteeism Among High School Students In The United States, Erin Grinshteyn, Y. Tony Yang

Nursing and Health Professions Faculty Research and Publications

BACKGROUND: This study examines the relationship between exposure to electronic bullying and absenteeism as a result of being afraid. METHODS: This multivariate, multinomial regression analysis of the 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data assessed the association between experiencing electronic bullying in the past year and how often students were absent in the last month due to feeling unsafe at/in transit to school. The model controlled for other predictors of school absence including demographics, physical / behavioral health, and risk factors. Missing data were multiply imputed. RESULTS: Electronic bullying was significantly associated with absences. Controlling for model covariates, the relative risk …

School Violence Prevention: Teachers Establishing Relationships With Students Using Counseling Strategies, Adam M. Volungis, Katie Goodman

Psychology Department Faculty Works

Although youth violence rates continue to decrease in the United States, it remains the second leading cause of death for adolescents. Furthermore, school violence remains a sociocultural concern, especially due to increasing media attention. Research consistently indicates that preventing school violence involves measures that go beyond formal protocols. One factor that has emerged from this research is that the quality of relationships between students and teachers, commonly referred to as school connectedness, may have a significant role in preventing school violence. However, there is very little literature that addresses how mental health professionals, such as school counselors, can assist teachers …

Gender Differences In Bullying And Perceptions Of Bullying, Melanie S. Brzezinski

Theses and Dissertations

Bullying is a prevalent and ongoing problem in all schools from elementary school on through college. Previous research has shown that rates of bullying have been on the rise in recent years. High rates of bullying should not be ignored as involvement in bullying can lead to long-lasting, negative effects. To decrease or prevent bullying, anti-bullying methods should consider all potential factors. An important factor in bullying research is the influence of gender on one’s overall bullying experience. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether or not there is a difference in the bullying rates and styles …

Bullying Prevention And Intervention In Education Through The Visual Arts: An Instrumental Case Study, Eugene Neglia

Theses and Dissertations

According to the American Educational Research Association (AERA) (2013) bullying is one of the greatest health risks to children and young adults in the United States. It is harmful in its impact to the victim, the bystander, and the bully and is often less visible and less identifiable than other public health concerns. The effects on victims, offenders, and bystanders can be long lasting and can affect an individual’s development (AERA, 2013).

The impact of bullying on education is profound. As a result of bullying, a child’s academic achievement can be greatly affected (Petrosino, Guckenburg, & DeVoe, 2010). As mandated …

Evaluation Of A Brief, School-Based Bullying Bystander Intervention For Elementary School Students, Aida Midgett, Diana Doumas, Rhiannon Trull

Counselor Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study evaluated a brief, bystander bullying intervention for elementary school students. Students in the intervention group reported an increase in knowledge and confidence to act as “defenders.” Students in the intervention group also reported an increase in self-esteem relative to the control group, although this finding was limited to sixth-grade students. The study found no group differences in sense of school belonging. This article discusses implications for school counselors.

A Retrospective View Of Bullying, Janie M. Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An Abstract of the Dissertation Presented

in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
(in Education)
December 2015

Bullying in schools is one of the most prevalent challenges for teachers, administrators, and counselors all over the world (Esbensen & Carson, 2009; Merrell, Gueldner, Ross & Isava, 2008). The increase in bullying is evident by the growing interest in the behaviour, as well as intervention and prevention programs (Esbensen & Carson, 2009). This study examines the retrospective view of 10 university students who were identified as bullies during junior high years. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted, …

Going Back To The Basics To Address School Bullying, Brandie M. Oliver

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

Dr. Oliver writes about how to take action against school bullying.

Teacher Perceptions Of The Use Of School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports At Reducing The Presence Of Bullying In Middle Schools, Kristine Marie Harper

Dissertations

Each day students throughout the world are exposed to bullying in many different ways and on many different occasions. Bullying has received such a great amount of attention through the media, that it leaves parents and community members with the belief that bullying has become a bigger problem today than it ever has before Austin, Reynolds, & Barnes, 2012; Carrera, DePalma, & Lameiras, 2011; Packman et al., 2005; Rigby & Smith, 2011). Nearly every state in the nation has passed laws regarding bullying and increasing the responsibility of schools and districts to implement programs to prevent and/or address bullying on …

Four Decades Of Research On School Bullying: An Introduction, Shelley Hymel, Susan M. Swearer

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This article provides an introductory overview of findings from the past 40 years of research on bullying among school-aged children and youth. Research on definitional and assessment issues in studying bullying and victimization is reviewed, and data on prevalence rates, stability, and forms of bullying behavior are summarized, setting the stage for the 5 articles that comprise this American Psychologist special issue on bullying and victimization. These articles address bullying, victimization, psychological sequela and consequences, ethical, legal, and theoretical issues facing educators, researchers, and practitioners, and effective prevention and intervention efforts. The goal of this special issue is to provide …

Understanding The Psychology Of Bullying: Moving Toward A Social-Ecological Diathesis–Stress Model, Susan M. Swearer, Shelley Hymel

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

With growing recognition that bullying is a complex phenomenon, influenced by multiple factors, research findings to date have been understood within a social-ecological framework. Consistent with this model, we review research on the known correlates and contributing factors in bullying/victimization within the individual, family, peer group, school and community. Recognizing the fluid and dynamic nature of involvement in bullying, we then expand on this model and consider research on the consequences of bullying involvement, as either victim or bully or both, and propose a social-ecological, diathesis– stress model for understanding the bullying dynamic and its impact. Specifically, we frame involvement …

Cyberbullying Prevention: Intervention Effects On Student Involvement, Sarah Nash Bumpas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

Repeated studies show that cyberbullying is pervasive amongst adolescents. Cyberbullying can lead to self-harm, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Educators are called to intervene in educating students about cyberbullying through research and federal legislation. However, there is little research examining whether this education is taking place or having an effect.

This study investigates the relationship between the incidences of cyberbullying victimization and offending over time and the direct cyberbullying instruction and activities facilitated by classroom teachers. The study took place amongst sixth graders in Jefferson County Public Schools, a large urban school district located in northern Kentucky. Students in one school …

Bullying And Peer Victimization: An Examination Of Cognitive And Psychosocial Constructs, Kisha M. Radliff, Cixin Wang, Susan M. Swearer

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Research has demonstrated a link between internalizing factors and bullying perpetration and peer victimization; however, few studies have examined predictors of cognitive and psychosocial factors, such as locus of control and hopelessness. The current study examined cognitive and psychosocial factors in bullying perpetration and peer victimization in a sample of 469 middle school students. A mediator model of hopelessness was also investigated. Students involved in bullying reported a greater external locus of control compared with peers who were not involved in bullying. Bully victims endorsed the highest externality. Results showed that hopelessness fully mediated the relationship between verbal/relational victimization and …

Bullying Perceptions: Understanding Students With And Without Disabilities, Shellie B. Simpson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The study investigates perceptions about bullying for intermediate students with and without disabilities. A survey administered to each student assessed perceptions related to bullying and friendship. Interview questions related to specific instances of bullying encountered were also administered. The results indicate perception variations between students with and without disabilities. Students with disabilities reported victimization at a higher rate than students without disabilities, except for verbal bullying and relational bullying which were reported at an equal rate. Students without disabilities reported a higher rate of bullying instances by friends, while students with disabilities report a desire to have more friends. Since …

The Moderating Effect Of Resilience Factors On Bully Victimization And Subsequent Psychological Adjustment Problems Among Adolescent Girls, Alexandra Hayley Quinn

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Bully victimization is linked to poor psychological adjustment, low self-esteem, and social withdrawal in children and teens. However, little research to date has examined the unique experiences of adolescent girls, the specific contributions of various subtypes of bullying, and the utilization of comprehensive instruments to examine the constructs of psychological adjustment and bully victimization. Further, researchers studying these issues have called for more studies to examine buffering factors that may protect teen girls from the psychological insults associated with peer victimization. This study advances research in the field by utilizing standardized self-report measures to examine the relationship between bully victimization …

Restorative Practices Training Manual, John M. Winslade, Elizabeth Espinoza, Michelle Myers, Henry Yzaguirre

Books

This manual is designed to support the process of training school personnel in the San Bernardino City Unified School District to implement Restorative Practices into the schools in their district. What is outlined below are the following:

• The need that the introduction of restorative practices is designed to respond to
• The key ideas and assumptions that underlie restorative practices
• The training and consultation process that aims to implement these ideas in the school district
• An explanation of the specific practices that training will be offered in
• A summary of what current research data says about the value of these approaches …

Exploring The School Bus As An Environment For Bullying: A Phenomenological Study, Natalie Evans

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative research examined the school bus as an opportune environment for bullying behaviors. School bus drivers have the responsibility to transport students safely to and from school; however, when students use the school bus for bullying activities, the task of driving becomes a challenge to the school bus drivers. The study investigated the experiences from school bus drivers' stories of bullying behaviors on the school bus. A qualitative approach was used with a phenomenological design to obtain data for this research study. Seven school bus drivers from a metropolitan school system in southeastern United States participated in the study. …

Understanding Teacher Perceptions Of Bullying And Effectiveness Of An Anti-Bullying Policy: A Case Study Of Suburban High School Teachers In The Southwestern U.S., James Isom

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this multiple-case study was to understand teacher perceptions of bullying and the effectiveness of the current anti-bullying policy of a suburban district in the southwestern U.S. Teacher perceptions will be generally defined as what teachers personally believe about bullying and how they perceive the effectiveness of the district's anti-bullying policy. Data was collected from three sources, interviews, teacher journals, and observations. Cross case synthesis was used to treat each case separately and then combine identified themes across cases. Data showed that teachers perceive the policy to be somewhat effective. However, significant gaps exist that need to be …

Exploring Heterosexist Bias And Oppressive Bullying In Anti-Bullying Prevention Programs, Shayna Yamashiro

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Children in the K-12 school environment who identify in the sexually underrepresented groups experience the effects of heterosexism, which is a manifestation of oppressive bullying. This work explores and analyzes the results of Anti-Bullying Prevention Pilot Program (ABPPP) which is a large-scale three-year evaluation. This study analyzed qualitative data (structured interviews) by utilizing a Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) and Mixed Methods approach to find the emergent theme of heterosexism. Grounded Theory was then used to code that information. This work found thick descriptions which illustrated the presence of heterosexist bias in the qualitative data. Thus, this writer proposes a model …

Bullying Prevalence In Mississippi: A Comparison Of Urban And Rural Schools, Valarie Mccaskill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examines the prevalence of bullying in urban and rural schools in Mississippi. Students at eight middle schools completed the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire to identify bullies and bully victims. The results of the study showed that approximately 50% of students in both urban and rural schools were identified as being bullied once or more during the current school term. There was no significant difference in the prevalence of bullying at urban and rural schools based on students who attended the eight middle schools who participated in the study. However, there was a significant difference in the prevalence of bullying …