From the Heart

Volume I, Issue II

An E-Newsletter from The Heartwood Institute

A MESSAGE FROM THE INSTITUTE – JUSTICE
by Martha Harty, Ph.D.
Justice was at the core of the story of Heartwood’s founding, particularly the simplistic understanding of justice shown by co-founder Eleanore Childs’ juvenile legal clients, who defined it as “That’s not fair to me and my friends!” She knew that justice had much more to it, and challenged Heartwood’s founders to help children develop a deeper understanding.

Humanity’s earliest understanding of justice focused on revenge and retribution, and these are still powerful responses when harm is inflicted by one person on another. But revenge must be tempered by mercy and fairness. It is a central purpose of laws and legal systems to limit the strong preying on the weak.

Justice in the classroom, as in society, has many faces and raises many questions. How are resources and power distributed and used? Do punishments “fit the crime?” Are some voices silenced while others dominate? And perhaps most worrisome, are stronger members allowed to oppress weaker members through bullying—the focus of this newsletter issue?

Philosophers since before the Greeks have struggled with the question of what makes a society just and fair. One key feature is the “rule of law,” a setting in which everyone has rights and is subject to rules that protect them from harm. Dr. Joseph M. Strayhorn, interviewed for this issue by newsletter editor and author Aisha White, has identified establishing justice in the form of “rule of law” as the key to prevention of bullying.

At Heartwood, we feel establishing Justice in our schools is a place to begin the quest to end bullying. Many other steps are needed, such as vigilant supervision, involvement of parents, clarifying the role of bystanders, and ending the conspiracy of silence that keeps children from telling adults about the problem. We hope this issue inspires you to move forward in addressing bullying, and we wish you courage and success in bringing greater justice to your classroom and school.

Bully Surveys
Assessing whether and what type of bullying may be occurring in your school is an important first step to addressing this problem. Here are links to bullying surveys we think will be helpful. The first, www.southglos.gov.uk/YouthForum/BullyQuestionnaire.htm, is short and sweet. It should only take a few minutes for children to complete with your guidance. The second, www.kbr30.dial.pipex.com/educ12b.htm, is a bit longer but still easy to complete by checking boxes. The third survey is more thorough and includes multiple choice questions. It’s probably best to allot plenty of time for children to complete this one, www.state.de.us/attgen/main_page/teachers/bullquestip.htm. Select a survey, administer it before designing or implementing a new program, and then administer the same survey at intervals, such as one and two years later. Surveys should be anonymous. The important thing is to know how bullying is affecting the children in your care so that steps can be taken to stop it.

HEARTWOOD RECOMMENDATIONS:  Books on Justice
Angel Child, Dragon Child, by Michele Maria Surat, illus. by Vo-Dinh Mai - Ages 9-12
This story examines a young boy’s reactions to a new student from Vietnam and his growing acceptance of differences.

Be Good to Eddie Lee, by Virginia Fleming, illus. by Floyd Cooper - Ages 4-8
Although Christy considered him a pest, when Eddie Lee, a boy with Down’s syndrome, joins her in the woods, she remembers her mother’s advice to treat him kindly, and is richly rewarded.

Crow Boy, by Taro Yashima - Ages 4-8
A touching story about a small boy who is rejected by his classmates until a kind and thoughtful teacher reveals his talents, perseverance, and discipline to the entire village.

Gandhi, by Demi - Ages 9-12
The story of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, known as Mahatma by his followers, who grew to become an influential leader and teacher of nonviolence.

John Brown: One Man Against Slavery, by Gwen Everett, illus. by Jacob Lawrence - Ages 9-12
A retelling of abolitionist John Brown’s revolt against slavery from the viewpoint of his daughter Annie.

Move Over, Twerp, by Martha Alexander - Ages 4-8
Jeffrey shows his classmates that being younger and smaller doesn’t mean he can be pushed around.

Teammates, written by Peter Golenbock, illus. by Paul Bacon - Ages 9-12
Describes the racial prejudice experienced by Jackie Robinson when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers, and the support he received from teammate Pee Wee Reese.

The Summer My Father Was Ten, by Pat Brisson, illus. by Andrea Shine - Ages 4-8
A father tells his son the story of how he damaged a neighbor’s garden when he was a boy and what he did to make amends.

Your Move, by Eve Bunting, illus. by James Ransome - Ages 9-12
When ten-year-old James’ gang initiation endangers his six-year-old brother Isaac, they find the courage to say “Thanks, but no thanks.”

MORE RESOURCES:  The Ophelia Project
The Ophelia Project is dedicated to creating a culture that is emotionally, physically and socially safe. Serving youth, families, schools and communities with an expertise in covert peer aggression and issues unique to girls, the Ophelia Project promotes healthy character development and mentoring relationships through awareness, education and advocacy. http://www.opheliaproject.org.

FEATURED HEARTWOOD CHAMPION:  Interview with Dr. Joseph M. Strayhorn M.D.

by Aisha White, Ph.D.
Dr. Strayhorn is Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Drexel University College of Medicine. A specialist in child psychiatry, he is the author of 9 books and 2 CDs.

Heartwood:      Would you give me your definition of bullying?

Strayhorn:      Bullying occurs when children or adolescents victimize one another. Sometimes this takes the form of physical aggression - hitting, pinching, kicking, physically hurting - and at other times it takes the form of verbal abuse - name calling, humiliation, and rejection, spreading rumors about someone, or purposely being unkind to a less powerful person. It’s usually not done as part of a conflict but consists of aggression or hurting for the entertainment value of it. It seems to be a source of pleasure for lots of kids to victimize other kids and to more or less proclaim a dominant social position over them. Boys’ bullying takes on attributes of more physical aggression, whereas girls use social exclusion and spreading rumors rather than direct aggression.

Heartwood:       Why do you believe bullying occurs?

Strayhorn:       There are several motives bullies can have. One is stimulus seeking, also called sensation seeking. The motive is excitement; it’s exciting to stir up conflict, to produce emotions, even though they’re negative. Another motive has to do with the reaction of the spectators. Sometimes spectators inadvertently or on purpose reinforce the bullies by laughing or holding the bullies in higher esteem because of the power they demonstrate. One of the major things that underlies bullying is the effort to dominate another. ‘I am more powerful, higher on the social pecking order, than you.’ This wish to establish one’s position on the hierarchy has to do with evolution. Animals establish themselves on a hierarchy that determines who is most powerful and who is least. Some people say kids have this motive towards dominance because they themselves have been dominated, humiliated and aggressed against, and they have what psychoanalysts call ‘identification with the aggressor.’ That is, children bullied by other or older people assimilate the model in their heads and dump it on less powerful children.

Heartwood:       Is it a widespread problem?

Strayhorn:       In recent years students have been surveyed to get accurate data on how widespread it is. In a U.S. study in 2001 over 15,000 students were surveyed and about 30% reported being involved as a bully or victim or both. 13% said they were involved as a bully, 11% as victims and about 6% as both. About 8% said they were bullied frequently. Another study by the American Association of University Women found that about 1 in 4 students reported experiencing sexual harassment often. Less than half reported never being afraid in school.

Heartwood:       What does the research say about the harmful effects of bullying?

Strayhorn:       Some of the more subtle effects are the most harmful, including the psychological effects. The impact is negative for both bullies and victims. With the victims there is a tendency to have higher than average - sometimes substantially higher - rates of anxiety symptoms: stomach aches, depressive symptoms, and elevated stress levels. Bullying victims tend to be less happy and it can impact their school work. Also, what sometimes appears to be separation anxiety can be a direct result of the child being bullied.

Victims may look at themselves as failures and have a negative view of themselves. However, one myth is that victims are socially unskilled. One study looked at victims and found that they are able to generate solutions as well as other people. Another study found that after they quit being bullied, victims could have normal social relations. So the notion that bullying victims can’t perform socially is not true. Two other studies found that peer victimization coincided with suicidal ideation - that is, victims answer yes to the question “are you thinking about killing yourself?”

In terms of the effect on bullies themselves, Dan Olweus did a follow-up study and found that among children identified as bullies, 60% of boys had at least one criminal conviction by age 24. Being a bully is something that puts a kid at high risk of antisocial behavior, including becoming involved in smoking, using alcohol, and doing worse academically. In essence, the consequences are not good for either in the bully-victim dyad.

Heartwood:       Why don’t schools stop this behavior? Is it impossible?

Strayhorn:       There tends to be a conspiracy of silence about bullying. The victim feels ashamed and fears strong retaliation for telling anyone. The question becomes what’s keeping the bystanders or friends of the victim from asserting their own influence by alerting teachers, administrators, or parents. Surveys of children indicate that adults are just not involved in the process. Eighty-five percent of students reported that adults had not done anything about the bullying. Parents of victims and of bullies are not aware of the problem - adults just tend not to know what’s going on and kids tend not to tell them unless they’re asked directly. As a result parents should not assume their kids aren’t being bullied if they don’t say anything; you have to ask children directly “Is anyone hurting you, calling you names, making you feel bad?” A survey questionnaire is one good way to do this.

I believe bullying can be stopped by establishing a rule of law, the opposite of an environment where bullying can take place, where vigilantism is the response. The idea of justice is bound up in this because the heart of justice is figuring out what rights people should have, what is fair and good and enforcing those across the board, as opposed to letting the powerful get away while the powerless submit. A place where the rule of law stands and teachers, administrators, and students are all committed to it is at the heart of getting rid of bullying. Without the rule of law kids tell teachers, teachers don’t do anything and then kids get bullied more. Whereas the ethic of justice helps children other than the victim to report, band together, and demand the rule of law be enforced.

What’s best is everyone cooperating together. There must be openness to reporting any victimization, so the conspiracy of silence is broken - parents know about it, teachers know about it, bullies are forced to sit in a room with all the adults saying “This has to halt or this consequence will come to you.” This is the essence of what has to be done about this problem.

Heartwood:       Can you offer specific steps schools should take?

Strayhorn:       There are some very successful programs. One was started by Olweus and has been replicated in a number of schools in this country. It involves several elements.

1) At the school level, use an anonymous questionnaire for all students to disclose how much bullying they experience [See links in this newsletter]. Schools need beginning data and benchmarks to show later whether their efforts are improving the problem.

2) Have a day-long program on bullying to educate all staff and students about the problem.

3) Provide more supervision during recess and lunch.

4) Hold meetings of staff and parents to make plans to deal with the problem. Parent groups should devote time to discussing the problem and what to do about it.

5) At the classroom level, establish classroom rules against bullying, clear definitions of what it is, and clear consequences if people do it. Teachers must also have regular classroom discussions about what people are doing and how it’s going. Teachers can also hold role playing sessions, have class meetings, and meet with parents.

6) At the individual level, once the conspiracy of silence has broken down, hold meetings with bullies and victims and discussions with parents of bullies and parents of victims. Expel those who won’t stop bullying, with the bottom line being that you cannot be at the school if you continue victimization of other kids.

In studies of Olweus’ program, results showed marked reductions, cutting bullying in half or more in some instances. Schools also saw more reductions in year two as well as reductions in truant behavior. The process improved the social climate at the schools and increased satisfaction with school life.

The plan Olweus developed is different from a strategy which assumes that the victim must have something wrong with him or her and sends him to therapy so that kids won’t want to bully him anymore. That type of plan puts the onus on victims when it should be on the whole school to set up and follow the rule of law.

One other myth I feel I should mention is the one that says the bully is somebody who feels bad about himself and underneath is a really insecure individual. That just hasn’t been borne out. It posits that if we could just make bullies feel better about themselves, they would change. Well bullies actually feel better about themselves than their behavior warrants. What they really need is the enforcement of just and clear cut consequences. They tend to be powerful - physically strong and sometimes popular - so the stereotype of the bully as the person fighting desperately for self acceptance doesn’t appear to be true.

Heartwood:       Any other thoughts?

Strayhorn:       Bullying should be seen as just one example of the larger context of hostility and violence in the society. In a survey of over 3,000 high school students, 15% of males and 5% of females had taken a weapon to school in the month before the survey. One third of students had experienced theft of property or threats of violence. And in a study of urban high school students, one half reported knowing someone who had been murdered.

Violence and inhumanity are the pervasive societal problems and bullying is one manifestation. It is in the same set with physical and sexual abuse within families, in the same class with overly harsh corporal punishment of children, with dating violence with sexual assault, particularly of women; all these things set the societal context for bullying. The media violence is also related - when you have kids who are constantly bombarded with media violence, it makes it appear that pinching or banging another child with a book or calling names are trivial by comparison. But they aren’t trivial. Ideal anti-bullying programs should incorporate the study of violence and of people’s inhumanity to one another in general.

All of the Heartwood virtues fit into this model some way or another. For example, love: if people were loving enough, nobody would want to be a bully. The virtue of courage is another; the more ethical training kids have in general the more the problem someday will become a thing of the past. But we certainly should not wait for ethical training of children to take care of the problem. We need to establish the rules and have very clear cut consequences to make bullies wish they hadn’t victimized.

Heartwood:       Thank you very much Dr. Strayhorn.

Strayhorn:       You’re welcome.
 

Books by Dr. Joseph M. Strayhorn

A Programmed Course in Friendship-Building and Social Skills, 2003

A Programmed Course in Self-Discipline, 2004

Exercises for Psychological Skills, 2001

Foundations of Clinical Psychiatry, 1982

Illustrated Stories That Model Psychological Skills, 2003

Instructions on Psychological Skills, 2001

Manual for Tutors and Teachers of Reading, 2001

Plays That Model Psychological Skills, 2003

Programmed Readings on Psychological Skills, 2001

Student Booklet on the Foundations of Reading, 2001

Talking It Out: A Guide to Effective Communication and Problem Solving, 1977

The Competence Approach to Parenting, 2001

The Competent Child: An Approach to Psychotherapy and Preventive Mental health, 1988

The Letter Stories, Co-Author, Catherine Fischer, 2002

The Psychological Competence Curriculum, 1994