1. Bullying Prevention & Intervention:
Strategies for School Staff
Amanda Nickerson, Ph.D.
Director of Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention
Associate Professor of Counseling, School and Educational Psychologyogy
nickersa@buffalo.edu
gse.buffalo.edu/alberticenter
*This presentation has been posted as a resource and tool for educators and the
general
public. Feel free to share and download the presentation provided that appropriate
credit is given to the Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention.

2. Learning Objectives
 Bullying and Harassment: Brief Overview
 School Culture: Power and Social Dynamics
 Bullying in Context: Perpetrators, Targets, and
Bystanders
 What to do? Strategies, Critiques, and
Brainstorming

3. Unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by
another youth or group of youths that
involves an observed or perceived
power imbalance and is repeated
multiple times (or is highly likely to be
repeated)
Bullying may inflict harm or distress on
the targeted youth including physical,
psychological, social, or educational
harm
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014)
What is Bullying?

4. What is Harassment?
 Generally defined as conduct which annoys, threatens, intimidates,
alarms, or puts a person in fear of safety (varies by state)
 Unwanted, unwelcomed and uninvited behavior that demeans,
threatens or offends the victim and results in a hostile environment
 Based on:
 Race, color, or national origin (Title VI of Civil Rights Act, 1964)
 Sex (Title IX, Education Amendments, 1972)
 Regardless of the sex of the harasser (applies to same sex); prohibition of
gender‐based harassment based on sex or sex‐stereotyping
 Disability (Section 504, Rehabilitation Act, 1973; Title II, ADA, 1990)
 Other “legally protected status”
 NY Dignity for All Students Act includes actual or perceived sexual
orientation, gender, or sex; weight; religion; religious practices

5. Hinduja & Patchin (2009)
Types of Bullying and Harassment
Physical
• punching, hitting, spitting
Verbal
• name calling, making offensive remarks
Indirect
• spreading rumors, excluding, ganging up
Cyber
• willful and repeated harm inflicted through the use of
computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices

6. Quick Facts About Bullying
Cowie (2000); Nansel et al. (2001); Perry, Kusel, & Perry (1988); Skiba & Fontanini (2000)
Estimates vary WIDELY, but about 1 in 3 children and adolescents are
involved as bully, target, or both
Bullying occurs throughout lifespan; peaks grades 4-7 and in transition
to new school (middle, high); cyberbullying increases in adolescence
Bullying is more likely to occur in less closely supervised areas
(bathrooms, hallways, playground, lunch, bus, online)
Adults are often unaware of or do not see the problem
Students usually do NOT tell it is happening

7. Culture &
Community
School
(Staff/Peers) Family Bully, Target, and
Bystander
Adapted from Swearer &
Espelage (2004)

8. School Culture, Power, & Social
Dynamics

9. Social Dynamics in Schools
30%
10%50%
10%
Social Dynamics
Cliques
Wannabees
Middle group
Outsiders
Adler & Adler (1996)
Bullying and relational aggression can be used to
protect and/or achieve status in cliques

10. Guiding Principles for Positive School Climate
 Reflect on your use of power in relationships
 Be friendly (but not friends with) the students
 Treat students the way you want to be treated and the
way you want them to treat each other
 Help all students look valuable in their classmates’ eyes
 Take responsibility for intervening when behavior is
inconsistent with the culture and norms in the school
Dillon (2012); Morrison & Marachi (2011)

11. Effective Classroom Management Strategies
Effective Educators: Ineffective Educators:
Pagliaro (2011). Educator or bully? Managing the
• Let students know they care
• Teach self-control
• Diffuse minor disruptions with humor
• Privately counsel chronic discipline
programs
• Aware of the power they hold; choose
words and actions carefully
• Help students feel successful
• Address misbehavior
• See each student’s uniqueness
• Highlight good behavior
• Proactive; create environments that
minimize student misbehavior
• Let students know who’s boss
• Exert their own control
• Use sarcasm to turn disruptions into
confrontations
• Publicly humiliate chronic misbehavers
• Use their power recklessly, frequently
resort to anger and intimidation
• Punish their students for being unsuccessful
• Attack the character of misbehavers
• Compare children to one another
• Make examples of poor behavior
• Reactive; blame students for the lack
of order in their classroom

12. Setting theTone
 You have just taught a class and on your way back from your 2-minute break
to go to the restroom, you overhear a student say to another student, “you
just ruined my chance for college because niggers are more likely to get
special treatment – thanks a lot”
 Why teachers may not do anything:
 Don’t know the specific student(s)
 Too busy
 Not sure what to do
 What teacher can do/say:
 “That is not the way we talk to each other here”
 “Whoa there – I get that applying to college is stressful but it is not acceptable
to use racist comments”
Be timely, consistent, firm, and respectful

13. Discussion
 In thinking about your school culture:
 What are some specific things that are done well in terms of
creating a positive, inclusive, and respectful culture?
 What are the areas for improvement? Identify the issue and
where you would like to be
 (e.g., making “elite cliques” less exclusive, being more consistent in
shaping positive student behavior, conveying clear message to
parents that with privilege comes power and there is a need to use
this carefully)

14. 
Bullying in Context

15. Bullying is a Dynamic Group Process
 Roles: perpetrator, victim, both (“bully/victim), bystander
 8% bully, 26% victim, 10% both
 Roles roles exist on a continuum
 Role of pure bully and victim at each extreme
 One individual can play multiple roles in difference social
contexts (i.e., bully-victim)
 Bystanders
 Can exacerbate the problem (reinforce, assist), help reduce it
(defenders), or not doing anything (ignore)
Goossens, Othaf, & Dekker, 2006; Salmivalli et al., 1996

16. Perpetrators
 Desire for power and control
 Get satisfaction from others’ suffering
 Justify behavior (“he deserved it”)
 More exposed to physical punishment
 Engage in other risky behaviors
(substance abuse,
lower school connectedness)
Basile (2009); Beaver, Perron, & Howard (2010); Olweus (1993); Pepler et al. (2006)

17. Warning Signs Child May Be Bullying Others
Refer to others
negatively
(wimp, loser)
Lack empathy
Strong need to
get
own way
Hostile/defiant
attitude
Anger easily
Deny
involvement or
blame others

18. Warning Signs Child May Be
Cyberbullying Others
Quickly switches
screens or closes
programs when
someone walks by
Becomes unusually
upset when personal
electronic device use
is restricted
Avoids discussions
about activities on
the computer or cell
phone
Uses multiple online
accounts or an
account that is not
his or her own
Hinduja & Patchin (2011)

19. Social Patterns of Bullying
 Bullying, harassment, and other aggressive behaviors can
function to control social resources
 Prosocial controllers
 Highly skilled, socially appealing, enjoy high intimacy and low
conflict friendships
 Coercive controllers
 Aggressive, hostile, not socially skilled
 Bistrategic controllers
 Both coercive (cheat, high desire for social recognition) and
prosocial (socially skilled, attract peers, liked by teachers,
extroverted)
Hawley (2003); Little, Rodkin, & Hawley (2013)

20. Targets
 Most are targeted due to perceived
weakness or vulnerability
 Different in some way (appearance, age,
disability, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation
or gender expression)
 May be passive and lack assertiveness
 Often rejected by peers
 In relational aggression, could be due to
jealousy and competition
Ashbaugh & Cornell, 2008; Boivin, Poulin, & Vitaro (1994); Brock, Nickerson, O’Malley, & Chang (2006);
Hodges & Perry (1999); Olweus (1978, 1993, 2001); Schwartz (2000); Snyder et al. (2003)

21. Warning Signs Child May Be
Bullied or Harassed by Others
Chiodo et al., 2009; Gruber & Fineran, 2007; Hand & Sanchez, 2000; stopbullying.gov
Unexplained
illnesses,
cuts/bruises (nurse’s
office visits)
Not wanting to go to
school or be in social
situations
Any change in behavior
-Not interested in doing things that he/she used to like
-Withdrawn or isolated
-Change in friend group
-Loss of appetite

22. Warning Signs Child May Be
Cyberbullied by Others
Unexpectedly stops
using personal
technology (e.g., cell
phone, computer,
games)
Appears nervous or
jumpy when (s)he
receives messages via
electronic devices
Appears angry, upset,
depressed, or frustrated
after using the
computer or cell phone
Avoids discussions
about activities on the
computer or cell phone
Becomes unusually
withdrawn from friends
and/or family members

23. Bully-Victims
 Also called “provocative victims”
 Offend, tease, irritate others
 Reactive; fight back when attacked
 Tend to be rejected by peers
 Usually have social skills deficits
 Often have other internalizing and
externalizing problems
Ashbaugh & Cornell, 2008; Boivin, Poulin, & Vitaro (1994); Brock, Nickerson, O’Malley, & Chang (2006);
Hodges & Perry (1999); Olweus (1978, 1993, 2001); Schwartz (2000); Snyder et al. (2003)

24. Bystanders
 Bystanders witness 80% of bullying episodes, but intervene less
than 20% of the time
 Most say they are disgusted by the bullying, but several reasons
they don’t help:
 Diffusion of responsibility (“No one else is doing anything”)
 Pluralistic ignorance (“Everyone else must think it’s OK)
 Power of bullies/fear of retaliation (“It will just get turned on me”)
 Attitudes toward the victims of bullying (“He got what was coming –
he is so irritating”)
Atlas & Pepler, 1998; Boulton, Trueman, & Flemington, 2002; Lodge & Frydenberg, 2005;
O’Connell et al., 1999; Pepler & Craig, 2001; Rigby & Johnson, 2006

25. What doYouth Say About what is Helpful
for Other Students to do? (Davis & Nixon)
Made it better sometimes, worse others:
• Kindly told the person to stop
• Angrily told the person to stop
Made it worse:
• Made fun of me
• Blamed me
• Ignored the situation
Made it better:
• Spent time with me at school
• Talked to me at school to
encourage me
• Helped me get away from the
situation
• Told an adult at school
• Gave advice
• Called me at home to
encourage me
• Helped me tell an adult
• Made a distraction
• Told an adult
•

26. gse.buffalo.edu/alberticenter
Follow us: @UB_BullyPrevCtr
Like us: www.facebook.com/UBBullyPrevCtr
Join us: LinkedIn UB Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention Group
http://www.facebookstories.com/stories/1921/video-we-are-all-daniel-cu

27. 
What to do?

28. What doYouth Say About what is Helpful
for Adults at School to do? (Davis & Nixon)
Made it better sometimes, worse others:
• Increased adult supervision for some time
• Used punishment for other student (varied widely)
• Sat down with both students together
• Talked about behavior in class
Made it worse:
• Told me to stop tattling
• Told me to solve it myself
• Told me if I acted differently
this wouldn’t happen to me
Made it better:
• Listened
• Checked in with me
• Gave me advice

29. What doYouth Say About what is Helpful
for Bullied Students to do? (Davis & Nixon)
Made it better sometimes, worse others:
• Walked away
• Pretended it didn’t bother me (effective for high school,
mixed for middle school, made it worse for elementary)
Made it worse:
• Made plans to get back at them
• Told me to stop tattling
• Told the person how I felt
• Did nothing
• Told the person or people to stop
• Hit them or fought back
Made it better:
• Told an adult at home
• Told a friend
• Made a joke about it
• Told an adult at school
• Reminded myself it’s not my
fault (high school)
•

30. On-the-Spot Interventions
 Name the specific behavior and why it is not acceptable
 Make teachable moment (include bystanders)
 Apply consequences (discussed later)
 Be sensitive to humiliation and possible retaliation
 Follow-up privately with target to listen, provide
support, and problem-solve

31. Immediate Response toTarget
 LISTEN and find out more
 “Tell me what happened”
 NOT “I’m so mad I’m going to…”
 Empathize with feeling
 “That must have been very scary for you”
 NOT “You need to toughen up”
 Problem-solve possible responses and coping
 There is no single quick fix

32. Possible Strategies forTargets
 Do not show you are upset
 OK/normal to feel upset, but showing it can make it worse
 Assert self using a calm, strong voice if safe
 “Stop,” “Give it a rest”
 Say something to deflect it or make a joke of it
 “You’re fat” “Then I guess you don’t want me to sit on you!”
 Report it (school, parent, community organization, police)
 Surround self by adults and trusted peers/friends (“safe” or “go
to” people)

33. Consequences
 Goals:
 Directly address the behavior and communicate that it is
unacceptable and in conflict with school values
 Protect student who was bullied; allow him or her to feel safe
 Help student who bullied stop and learn better ways
 Enlist parent support for a consistent message
 Educate the community about its responsibility to prevent and
reduce bullying

34. Three “I’s” of Consequences (Dillon, 2012)
 Individualized
 Age, history, school
performance, relationship
with target, honesty, remorse
 Incremental
 Continuum of consequences
see 
 Insistent
 Clear, insistent message that
school needs to be a safe
place to learn
INCREMENTAL CONSQUENCE EXAMPLES
 Reflection form
 Letter of apology
 Positive task to help school or repair
damage
 Reading and assignment related to
bullying or positive behavior change
 Behavioral contract
 Restricting unsupervised time
 Suspension from location (cafeteria) or
activity (sports)
 Check-in with principal each day
 Daily report to parents
 Counseling to build resilience and skills
 Referral for evaluation or intervention
 Student conduct committee
(suspension/expulsion)

35. Example of “Coaching” Response
from Second Step
 As you watch the video clip, please note:
 What were some things done well?
 What was done not so well?
 How could this response be improved?
Thanks to

36. Example of “Coaching” Response

37. 5 Step Model for Bystander Intervention
Nickerson, Aloe, Livingston, & Feeley, 2013; Latané and Darley, 1970
Notice the
event
Interpret the
event as an
emergency that
requires help
Accept
responsibility
for
intervening
Know how to
intervene or
provide help
Implement
intervention
decisions
Knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed:
• Bullying and harassment – what they look like, risk factors, warning signs
• Accurate norms (understanding that others also don’t think it is OK)
• Empathy toward target
• Selecting and following through with options for intervening
• Telling the bully to stop
• Reporting the incident
• Asking the teacher or another adult for help
• Supporting, consoling, comforting, befriending, or taking the side of the
student(s) being bullied)

38. Beyond the Initial Response
 Assessment
 What purpose does the behavior serve (ABCs)?
 Mental health issues (depression, anxiety, substance use)?
 Cognitive distortions?
 Lacking social skills (skill or performance deficit)?
 Education & Intervention
 Education: What is bullying? What are its effects? What is the plan for
change? Use videos, readings, writing, contracting
 Build resilience: network of support, involvement in positive activities
 Skill building (assertiveness, anger management)
Swearer, Espelage, & Napolitano (2009); Bullying Intervention Program www.targetbully.com/Intervention_Program.php

39. Communicating with Parents
 Be timely with communication!
 Focus on the behavior (not the
person)
 Avoid blaming or judging (expect
denial)
 Emphasize how this type of behavior
can be a problem for their child, the
other person, and the school
environment
 Problem-solve by identifying goal,
collecting data, developing,
implementing, and evaluating plan

40. Cyberbullying
 Anonymity
 Spiral effect (forwarding & copying to many others)
 Should school intervene? Yes, if it creates or would foreseeably
create a risk of substantial disruption in the school environment
 Legal issues
 Federal statutes (Title VI, Title IX, ADA, 504, due process/equal protection) and state
statutes (civil suits, New York State Penal Law – harassment/aggravated harassment,
hazing, menacing, stalking, assault/aggravated assault), tort claims (negligence)
 Sexting can fall under anti-pornography laws; students should be aware

41. Putting itTogether
 In your groups,
 Read the scenarios
 #1 Tamara – cyberbullying (video)
 #2 Abdul – locker room harassment
 Select one to discuss and problem-solve*
 Outline the specific actions you would take, both immediately
and longer term (with respect to students bullying, the target,
bystanders, parents) – consider the who, what, and when
 Be prepared to discuss with larger group
* If time permits, discuss both scenarios

42. “Broken Friendship – Real Life Story”