“How Are We Supposed to Get Over It”: Transforming Schools’ Approach to Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying through Feminist Abolitionist Principles

Abstract

In this co-auto-ethnographic account of a school-based cyber-bullying incident, the authors discuss the challenges of current anti-bullying approaches in schools. In the incident, male-identifying students were alleged to have engaged in online gender-based abuse of female-­identifying students. The authors identify three key themes toward transformation: teacher knowledge and understanding, uncertainty and liminality, and symbolic accountability. The authors discuss an anti-bullying prevention approach that focuses on protecting targets of abuse and restoring trust.