Abstract
<p>The purpose of this study was to examine and compare opinions of 8th and 9th grade teachers and students regarding the prevalence of anti-social/gateway behaviors in their classrooms, the perceived connection between these behaviors and more traditional forms of bullying, and the potential impact of school-wide anti-bullying programs specifically designed to address these behaviors. A sample of convenience from one middle school and one high school from a suburban Midwestern school district were selected to participate in this qualitative study. Researchers found that over 80% of students have witnessed or been involved in anti-social behaviors, and over 70% of students, higher among females, believed that a school-wide program would lessen the amount of more extreme forms of bullying, while over 90% of teachers agreed that such a program would lessen extreme forms of bullying. The authors conclude that proactive, building-wide plans for addressing anti-social/gateway behaviors could be reduce the amount of overt bullying and positively impact the overall culture of the school.</p>
Highlights
Bullying in schools, and measures to address this phenomenon, are topics which have gained substantial attention in recent years in the media, public discourse, state legislatures and, naturally, in schools themselves
Researchers found that over 80% of students have witnessed or been involved in anti-social behaviors, and over 70% of students, higher among females, believed that a school-wide program would lessen the amount of more extreme forms of bullying, while over 90% of teachers agreed that such a program would lessen extreme forms of bullying
Bullying has been identified as a major contributing factor to the mental health conditions of many young people who suffer from significantly impacted emotional well-being and social acceptance
Summary
One is that lawmakers and school officials (along with community members, parents, and students) struggle to come up with a consistent and agreed-upon definition of bullying or the behaviors that constitute it. This lack of a clear definition for what constitutes bullying complicates officials’ attempts to develop anti-bullying policies and programs (Kueny & Zirkel, 2012). Students live in a virtual world, where they have their own identities (and ones which are often more honest and open reflections of themselves or who they want to be/what they value than what they portray in person), social groups, and relationships This venue is often where the psychological bullying that has largely replaced traditional physical bullying takes place or is aggravated. What remains visible to the adults who observe these students, are often not overt signs of bullying but anti-social behaviors (Englander, 2013; Hinduja & Patchin, 2014)
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