14-15 Ethics Bowl Case 15: Violence Against Bullies

1. Violence Against Bullies
14-15 Ethics Bowl Case #15

2. Bullying Laws
No federal laws against bullying
In some cases, bullying overlaps with
discriminatory harassment and schools are
obligated to address it.
Cover harassment of LGBT students
49 states have adopted laws regarding bullying
Bullying, cyber bullying, and related behaviors
may be addressed in a single law or multiple
laws
States with laws and/or policies
from stopbullying.gov

3. Pennsylvania Bullying Law
Covered under harassment code 2709
Includes cyber bulling and bullying that happens off
school grounds
Requires schools to include a bullying policy in their
student code of conduct
Must be updated every three years, define bullying,
and detail consequences
Schools that receive federal funds are required to
address discrimination
Failure to do so may violate one or more civil rights
laws

4. Bullying must be…
Unwanted
Aggressive
Include:
An imbalance of power
Repetition
from stopbullying.gov

5. The following acts can all
be forms of bullying:
Making threats
Spreading rumors
Attacking someone physically or
verbally
Excluding someone from a group on
purpose
Posting embarrassing pictures of
videos on social media
from stopbullying.gov

6. from stopbullying.gov

7. from stopbullying.gov

8. What does NOT work?
Group treatment for students who bully
Over two-thirds of
students believe that
Becomes an audience for students to brag about their exploits
Simple, short-term solutions
schools respond poorly to
A workshop or assembly can help identify what bullying looks like
and ways to respond, but teachers and students also need
support and time to practice and master these skills.
bullying, with a high
percentage of students
believing that adult help is
infrequent and ineffective.
Conflict resolution and peer mediation
strategies
Bullying is a form of peer abuse not conflict.
Incorrectly expect the victim to solve his or her own abuse
Zero tolerance policies
Bullying is a behavior that can be changed and replaced with a
more positive, prosocial behavior.
Nearly 20 percent of students are involved in bullying other
students. It is not realistic to suspend or expel 20 percent of any
student body. from stopbullying.gov

9. Promising Prevention
Strategies
Involving the whole school community in creating
a culture of respect
Upstanders make a huge difference.
Adults can help prevent by keeping lines of
communication open, talking to their children
about bullying, encouraging them to do what they
love, modeling kindness and respect, and
encouraging them to get help when being bullied.
The best way to prevent bullying still isn’t known.
from stopbullying.gov

10. Day 2

11. Questions to Consider
Is Aaron’s punch morally permissible? Why or
why not?
Is it wrong for bystanders to feel happy that
Aaron stood up for himself in that way?
Do the consequences of the punch affect its
justification?
For example, if the punch succeeds in
stopping the bullying, does this make a
moral difference? What if the punch makes
the bullying worse?

12. Yes, violence CAN be the
answer.
from The American Thinker

13. Bullying has become a
widely researched topic.
What type of student tends to be a bully or a
victim?
What type of schools are more susceptible to
bullying problems?
Are there any correlations between
bullying in age, sex, sexual orientation,
race, socioeconomic status, geographic
location, intelligence, etc.?

14. CDC’s Regional, State,
and National Bullying Data
Philadelphia, PA and Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA and United States
Pennsylvania and United States
Philadelphia from 1991-2013

15. Philadelphia vs. U.S., 2013
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Philadelphia,
PA
United States
Electronically
Bullied
Bullied on School
Property
Data from CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey

16. Philadelphia vs. PA vs. U.S.,
2009
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Philadelphia, PA Pennsylvania United States
Bullied on School
Property
Data from CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey

17. Bullying by Sex, U.S., 2013
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Male Female
Electronically
Bullied
Bullied on School
Property
Data from CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey

18. Bullied by Race, U.S.
,2013
25
20
15
10
5
0
Asian Black Hispanic White
Electonically Bullied
Bullied on School
Property
Data from CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance
Survey

19. Philadelphia, 2013,
Bullying by Grade Level
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
9th Grade 10th
Grade
11th
Grade
12th
Grade
Direct, physical bullying
increases in elementary
school, peaks in middle
school and declines in
high school. Verbal
abuse, on the other
hand, remains constant.
-U.S. Dept. of Justice
Electronically Bullied
Bullied on School
Property
Data from CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey

20. 2010: Indicators of School
Crime and Safety Report
During 07-08 school year:
25% public schools reported that bullying occurs on
a daily or weekly basis
4% reported student racial/ethnic tensions
Higher percentage of middle than high school
reported daily or weekly occurrences of bullying
Higher percentage of of schools with 76% or more of
free and reduced lunch reported discipline problems

21. from stopbullying.gov

22. from stopbullying.gov

23. from stopbullying.gov