It’s time for some uncomfortable conversations about what our approach to bullying in schools looks like. This is an incredibly difficult topic, but it is life-changing for the victims. It is too important to get this wrong.
This is a heartbreaking topic. When bullying gets out of hand, the consequences are life-long and life-changing. Have you seen the ABC article about a student physically attacked by her peers while others filmed it?
This is a difficult topic to address without first discussing the problem. The current Labor/Greens government doesn’t go far enough in acknowledging the problems that have grown under their leadership. Bullying often involves vulnerable people on both sides of the issue, so adequate protections are very important.
Unfortunately, protections for the perpetrators and outcomes for the victims are at odds, yet both are important. We must acknowledge this before we could ever hope to move forward.
Policies and procedures
Public Education has a series of policies and proceedures for all situations. Generally speaking, they are very good. They are evidence-informed, inclusive, supportive, and aim for best possible outcomes for all parties. One issue with most of them is that they – very reasonably – weigh privacy quite highly. Unfortunately, a side-effect here is that most peopl never see outcomes or consequences.
Policies and procedures are important for accountability. We need a system that allows everyone due process and suitable outcomes. Rigourous procedures allow school administrators to take their emotion and personal experience out of the equation and follow what is considered best practice.
Perception of consequences for bullying
Perception is very important. People feel disregarded, disrespected, and unsupported when they don’t perceive that perpetrators facing consequences. This isn’t about visible justice or punishment, but consequences. Victims are already feeling let down by a system where the bullying occurred in the first place. They are then asked to trust that the same system is dealing with the perpetrator in private.
Other bullies are only emboldened by this approach. They don’t see consequences applied to other bullies. In fact, other students perceive that the bullies are often rewarded with iPad time, or time away from the classroom. These can be valid behavioural management strategies, but again, perception is very important.
Privacy
How can we sufficiently protect victims of bullying while respecting the privacy and rights of perpetrators – alleged and actual? The evidence tells us that many perpetrators of schoolyard bullying are vulnerable themselves. They may have more going on at home than we all know about. Society certainly should aim to help these children – and they are still children – but victims also have rights.
Victims usually don’t have the luxury of privacy. By the time bullying has escalated to require management, everyone in a class will know who the victim is, and what has been happening. Bullying is quite often public.
Moving forward
I don’t have a magic solution to schoolyard bullying. Nobody does. I believe there are uncomfortable and politially unfavourable conversations that need to happen more broadly.
Just like with a curriculum, explicit instruction is going to be part of the solution. When bullying has happened, all students should receive age-appropriate explicit instruction. This must cover what has happened, why it is unacceptable, and what the consequences for this type of behaviour can include. We can still maintain privacy for specific personal details while covering potential consequences.