Bullying is a widespread problem in education settings and many teachers rarely see it happening. It is a feature of antisocial behavior among students, building a classroom culture is necessary in elementary classrooms.  Although there are several consequences attached to the bullying behavior, on both the perpetrators and the victims it still remains an ongoing concern. It is the responsibility teachers to look into the activities and the learning environment to ensure that there are no cases of bullying present.

Bullying is happening, are you aware...

With this, the school culture also has a significant impact on the behavior of students in the school.  Bullying is happening through physical, verbal or social exclusion activities, teachers are working hard to understand and notice when it is happening on the playground, in the classroom, or in the bathrooms but many times sheer observation isn’t enough.  Teachers have to consistently ask questions, advocate for students if you notice a change in behavior, and build relationships among classroom peers. It is also important to note the fact that bullying has a lasting psychological and emotional impact on both parties, not only will students continue with their behavior if not noticed but for the student that is being bullied we know that consistent bullying can lead to poor academic achievement.

Are Student Voices being Heard

Bullying can take place in different places and times in the school setting. For instance, for kindergartners, bullying can take place during playtime. Some students may bully their peers by not sharing outdoor equipment, cutting in line, and even saying mean things during the day.  Teachers have to all be aware and make sure that they are not a part of the problem.  Teachers must keep this in mind during the morning meeting, allow students to lead the discussion, make sure that all voices are being heard, and remember that even though you have a dominate role, understand that you are an active participant in the group.  In the same vein, watch out for student isolation, separation, and frustration. This may be difficult to notice but keep an eye out for these things in the classroom.

Is the classroom safe?

When teachers are aware of the classroom culture, the chances of bullying happening are minimum.  Teachers have a huge responsibility to ensure that everyone has access to the classroom content and the responsibility of ensuring that all children are safe.  Below are some tips that teachers can use to prevent bullying in schools include:

1. Keeping an eye out for bullying- Teachers need to identify small behaviors that often signal patterns such as eye rolling, prolonged staring, laughing at others while encouraging others to laugh, name calling, spying, and ignoring others while encouraging similar behavior.

2. Teach Kindness and Empathy- work with your students to implement activities that help students appreciate their identity as well as recognize others.

3. Create Opportunities for connections- Studies indicate when students feel connected to their peers they speak up when they witness bullying behavior and stand up against it.

4. Using the Arts to have conversations- the arts helps students see situation from different perspectives, conversations around literature, drama provide a vehicle for in depth conversations with classroom communities.

5. Encourage students and work on positive framing- Highlight students that you want other students to model. Give complements to students and reward positive comments. This move discourages the incorrect actions and encourages the positive behavior.

6. Model warranted behavior- many times students admire adults and educators in the environment. Students start to model teacher actions and provide them solutions to possible problems that may arise. When thinking aloud teachers provide alternative solutions that help students handle conflicts.

Teachers can be bullied too

Many teachers do not like to discuss this notion but teachers can be bullied as well by other teachers which in turn can have a negative impact on their students.  Trying to keep bullying out of the adult culture can be a challenge but try to spend your energy cultivating a positive learning environment while being an advocate.  Educator influence helps to ensure bullying is not prevalent in classrooms. Teachers continue to apply different strategies to ensure that there is relevant behavior in the schools and classrooms but the ultimate way to minimize bullying is to work on relationships and build a classroom community.  Students will support one another and become advocates for their peers once they get to know them on a personal level.  We want to ensure that the classroom is a safe environment for all students to express themselves and be free from bullying.

References

Al-Ali, N. M., & Shattnawi, K. K. (2018). Bullying in School. In Health and Academic Achievement.

IntechOpen.Yoon, J. S., & Kerber, K. (2003). Bullying:

Elementary teachers' attitudes and intervention strategies. Research in Education, 69(1), 27-35.Preventing Bullying in Schools:

https://lesley.edu/article/6-ways-educators-can-prevent-bullying-in-schools