Can School Leaders Combat Bullying Issues in Schools Effectively?
On #WorldChildrensDay, UNICEF issued a global survey which showed that almost 70% of Malaysian children worry about bullying. A number that is significantly higher than Japan (30%) and the UK (40%).
It begs the question: can school leaders combat bullying issues in schools effectively? And thereafter, what is a school leader’s role in curbing bullying in school? In order to understand that, we need to look at Malaysian’s current practices in school.
Current Practices in Malaysian Government Schools
There are existing strategies and protocols, according to one of our school leaders that we interviewed, to handle bullying in school. When students are bullied physically, the offenders and the victims are investigated. The offender, if found guilty, is then either suspended or expelled depending on the seriousness of the case. Parents of both parties would also be notified to ensure that they could provide the support needed by these students.
Public schools would also typically have a complaint box, where students can anonymously voice out their concerns. However, the school mentioned that this approach has not been well received by students because students prefer to voice out their concerns in person.
The protocols mentioned here are not exhaustive, but gives us an idea of the process involving in dealing with these cases.
These protocols and strategies work to an extent. But it is also useful to look at some best practices around the world.
In a study called Empowering students: using data to transform bullying prevention and intervention program by Anita Young, Valerie Hardy, Christina Hamilton, Kristen Biernesser, Li-Lin Sun and Susan Niebergall, there are a few strategies mentioned.
It covers a few topics, which includes anonymous school-wide anti-bullying survey and complaint website as well as teaching students about anti-bullying in class.
Anonymous School-wide Anti-bullying Survey and Website
Under the leadership of the school principal of a secondary school in Fairfax County, Virginia, counselors carried out a school-wide anonymous survey to gauge how many students had witnessed or experienced bullying in school.
A sample of the student survey used is as follows:
The survey was completed by 110 Year One students and it was found that 94% mentioned that they have been bullied. This survey allowed the school leaders to identify the seriousness of bullying in their school and create an anonymous website that allowed students to report these bullying incidents.
Creating Lessons related to Anti-bullying
According to the study, teachers in the schools identified, created and taught some topics related to anti-bullying to raise awareness on the issue. I summarised them into three broad categories:
- Learning more about themselves:
- understanding what they feel, knowing their coping mechanisms and recognizing personal boundaries and rights - Interaction with others:
- Knowing the appropriate and inappropriate behavior, and respecting alternative points of view - Asking for help:
- Differentiating between situations requiring peer support and situations requiring adult professionals
They did a similar survey in the second year and found out that students who have been bullied dropped from 94% to 48% in one year. Students who have strategies to defend themselves if they are bullied, increased from 5% to 28%.
Components of Effective Anti-bullying Interventions
Although this research yielded significant results, it is not certain which intervention specifically contributed to the reduction in bullying incidents. However, anti-bullying interventions are most likely to be effective given the following components:
- Comprehensive training in bullying prevention and intervention for the teachers and staff
- Parent awareness workshops on bullying, including cyberbullying
- Teaching strategies that empower students to use positive strategies in bullying situations
- A collaborative schoolwide approach to ensure that teachers, administrators, parents, and students are committed to addressing the bullying issue
- Data collection and analysis to determine the effectiveness of school counseling services
- Data sharing with teachers, administrators, parents, and students.
I shared these best practices with the school leader I interviewed, and she agreed that these are good practices and could be used to improve the way we handle bullying issues in school. However, some realities in school needed to be taken into account.
Reality in Schools
She mentioned that the anonymous survey is a great idea, as it gives a clear view of the trend of bullying in schools. She highlighted that students with lower-language proficiency might need some assistance and guidance to understand the questions.
There are also existing modules focusing on anti-bullying, that the school counselor is equipped to deliver. However, expectations on school counselors have grown. Apart from handling disciplinary issues, they are required to organize career fairs, anti-drugs campaigns, recycling campaigns, and anti-Aedes campaigns — just to name a few. Thus, there might be less emphasis on carrying out a school-wide anti-bullying solution in school.
She agreed that anti-bullying initiatives in schools could be strengthened by having the entire school community to commit themselves to combat this issue and that school leaders plays a huge role in bringing everyone together.
Conclusion:
Returning to the question — can school leaders combat bullying issues in schools effectively?
While is not certain how we are to do it — considering the myriad of solutions that are specific to the context of a given school — it is certain that there is no curbing this problem without the effective intervention by the school leader.
References:
Young, A., Hardy, V., Hamilton, C., Biernesser, K., Sun, L., & Niebergall, S. (2009). Empowering Students: Using Data to Transform a Bullying Prevention and Intervention Program. Professional School Counseling, 12(6), 413–420. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42732762
Wira, B., (2017). Children4Change Poll — The children have spoken! Children4Change Poll — The children have spoken! Retrieved from: https://children4change.unicef.my/world-childrens-day-poll-results/
