As cyber-communicating grows in popularity, bullies have become increasingly anonymous, and social scientists report trends such as victimizers exhibiting “moral disengagement” as well as a disconnect between researchers, policymakers and teachers who address bullying.
“Bullying is an international problem that has become easy with cyber-bullying,” said south Tempe resident Laura Hanish, associate professor at the School of Social and Family Dynamics in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University.
“There is certainly a proliferation of bullying via technology.”
Hanish joined two other ASU faculty members, Becky and Gary Ladd, along with other social scientists from around the world for a series of think-tank sessions on the problem.
She said researchers are noticing a “moral disengagement” trend where bullies don’t see anything wrong with what they are doing or justify their behavior with explanations such as “he deserved it.”
“The programs are still not as effective as we need or want them to be,” Hanish said.
Teachers have reported to social scientists that some children bully in front of adults in today’s schools, instead of trying to hide it from authority figures, she added.
In the past, she said, there was not much recognition of it being a problem. But, with increased awareness among parents, social scientists are working to come up with better models to combat the problem.
Although there are anti-bullying laws on the books in 47 states, including Arizona, implementing programs to successfully tackle the problem can be challenging.
“There’s a lot that we need to understand,” Hanish said. “Some of the issues that need more clarification include victim behavior and whether or not it’s better for a child to tell an adult, especially if that adult may be unsympathetic.”
Anti-bullying programs in place in schools have had varying amounts of success. Three things that are necessary to address the problem are teacher buy in, school resources to combat the problem and community concern, she said.
Hanish, whose husband owns south Tempe’s Pizza Chicago restaurant, said a disconnect also exists between researchers, policymakers and teachers. Researchers can design programs, but policymakers may have legal concerns as their primary interest.
She said teachers are often over-burdened with too many students in classrooms and up to 20 add-on programs during the school year, of which anti-bullying may be only one.
“There are some things that have happened with the economy recently, changing class sizes and making it more difficult for teachers to be aware of everything going on in the classroom,” she said.
“They may only focus on bullying for a very short amount of time.”
Through the Sanford Harmony Program at ASU, Hanish and other faculty members are working to understand and enhance the social interactions between boys and girls.
“We know that students do better if they have an environment without behavior problems or discipline issues,” she said.
Building classroom discipline is never easy, especially for neophyte teachers assigned in high school.
Name the youngster that you must never give second chances.
When you give thoughtful attention to a student’s work like this work it demonstrates that you recognize their work or improved behavior.