CONTENTS

About This Course

Table of Contents

1. School Bullying: What It Is and Why It Hurts
2. The Role of Bullies, Victims, and Witnesses
3. Factors Contributing to Bullying and Violence
4. Screening and Assessment
5. Treatment For Children and Adolescents
6. Prevention and Intervention
7. Legal and Ethical Issues

Supplements
Case Studies
Fact Sheets
References
Resources

The ABCs of Bullying
Addressing, Blocking, and Curbing School Aggression

Familial Factors

Familial factors contributing to bullying and aggression include: ref

• Substance or alcohol abuse by someone in the family
• Certain kinds of parenting behaviors toward the child
• Family violence
• Lack of warmth and involvement on the part of the parents
• Overly permissive parenting
• Lack of setting clear limits for child
• Lack of or inadequate parental supervision
• Harsh, corporal punishment
• Child maltreatment, such as sexual or physical abuse

As every parent knows, one of the best ways to teach a young child a new skill is to show by doing. Unfortunately, the technique is all too effective when it comes to behaviors that adults may not want children to emulate. Children who experience violence either as victims or as witnesses "are at increased risk of becoming violent themselves," according to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP).ref These children:

• Begin committing crimes at a younger age;
• Commit nearly twice as many offenses as non-abused children; and
• Are arrested more frequently than non-abused children.

Children need not experience the abuse themselves to be harmed. OJJDP notes that children who have viewed or heard violent acts often have the same lasting effects as those children who are direct victims.

Research continues to show that, among some children, parental permissiveness toward aggression and harsh, punitive parenting both may lead to aggression and therefore bullying.ref^, ref More specifically, some parents may encourage their kids to be tough and aggressive. Many boys from these types of families end up being not only aggressive, but angry, argumentative, and disruptive.ref

These aggressive boys learn that their self-esteem or self-image should be based on their strength, power, and physical superiority over others. They do not learn that a positive image includes competence, good performance in school, and good relations with family and peers. Parents who use coercive parenting instill fear very early in their children. They often do this by using techniques that create an inequality of power such as physical punishment, yelling, and name-calling.ref^, ref