Bullying Prevention: Ron Avi Astor on Best Practices (Part 2)

EducationWorld asked a number of authors, college professors and other experts for their take on bullying prevention and whether schools, states and the country are getting it right--or wrong. Below is what professor Ron Avi Astor shared regarding best practices. See how other experts answered similar questions. Also, don't miss EducationWorld's additional resources that address school-based bullying.

By Ron Avi Astor, Ph.D.

Ron Avi Astor, Ph.D., is the Richard M. and Ann L. Thor Professor in Urban Social Development at the University of Southern California School of Social Work and Rossier School of Education. See Dr. Astor’s work in Prevention of Bullying in Schools, Colleges, and Universities: Research Report and Recommendations.
 

Part 2 appears below. Be sure to read Part 1 of Dr. Astor's answer.

Are there things that K-12 schools have to do to successfully prevent bullying, but that can't be covered or mandated in a law?

Schools that have done it best are those that have defined bullying prevention as part of their mission and role. In other words, they are not just about educating for academics alone, they are about creating a more civil society and training kids to become democratic members. That’s the role of schools historically—training kids to get along with other groups, teaching them what to do as bystanders when there are issues of injustice, guiding them on how to help other people, creating clear expectations on where to get the right support. Schools that do this—not because of a mandate, but out of a sense of educational purpose—are the best schools, and we refer to them as “theoretically atypical.” They tend to have very peaceful settings even if they are in the midst of neighborhoods with very high violence.

These schools collect the voices of their students, teachers and even parents through surveys and then focus groups of students, parents and staff to capture this information very accurately. They often map and monitor unsupervised territories in school and find positive ways to reclaim those un-owned places. And their findings are not used only to report to a state data system; they’re something that people really use, talk about, take seriously and integrate into every aspect of the school. For instance, teachers in literature classes may pick novels that have issues of bullying, math professors might teach equations and algebra that use issues of victimization and violence based on their own data, and schools may host sporting events or dances with the intent of promoting positive relationships and highlighting ways to show respect. These schools are welcoming and support such practices, and they don’t just call it bullying prevention—they integrate it into their ways of being. Here, bullying prevention is treated not like “window air conditioning,” but like “central air.”

Schools have to provide the right supports and the right vision to make it happen. Unfortunately, in the U.S. (unlike what happens in a lot of other countries), policymakers simply punish schools who don’t measure up.

For example, I was on an advisory board in Denmark, and they had told me that their rates were at eight percent for those being victimized for bullying. Some schools were at eleven percent, and they were really concerned. This was a tremendous eye-opener, as our rates in the U.S are much higher—in some places 50 percent or more. That said, it is important to recognize that in Denmark and other countries such as Israel, the strong efforts are due to a continuous process of trying to make students’ lives and society better. And it’s that kind of long-term philosophy—the philosophy of supporting and educating rather than punishing—that we must encourage in our own policies in order to move forward.
 

Laws aside, what are K-12 schools currently doing right/wrong when it comes to preventing and responding to bullying? What are some common mistakes that schools make?

The first and most common mistake that schools make is basing their decisions to act on what they saw on the news that week—say they heard a terrible story or there was a suicide or shooting. While that may motivate some communities at the local level, it is more important to know what is happening in their own school, and you find out by talking to students and conducting large-scale surveys. If you don’t know what the students are thinking or saying and you don’t have educators who are willing to talk to them about it, then that’s the place to start, because the students are the most reliable source here.  

It is also important to focus on the staff and student bystander group. Students know more about what’s going on than the teachers and parents do, but if they think they’re snitching, they will be more hesitant to help. You have to reframe bullying prevention so that they know it’s positive to help—if they think they are saving their friend’s life, or becoming a better friend, they will be more motivated to help. 

Staff in areas where bullying occurs also need to fully understand their role. Bus drivers, playground supervisors, cafeteria workers, secretaries, sports coaches, school-event organizers and others who oversee territories and times where/when bullying occurs are critical for prevention and often do not know what to do or who is responsible if they witness or hear an incident.

The same is true for issues of cyberbullying, when classmates bully each other online. When the staff or students hear or witness this, what do they do? What is the school’s organized and clear response?

Next, not all bullying prevention practices have to be extremely complex. If educators see that something is working and it’s reducing the numbers of victims, even if it’s very simple and straightforward, then they should keep it going.  For example, say all of the bullying in your school is happening in hallways or bathrooms. One middle school challenged teachers to stand in the hallways during transition times, memorize their students’ first names and greet each one in the most positive way possible (e.g., “Good morning, Ron,” or “How are you doing, Maya?”).

The school ended up seeing a huge reduction in hallway fights in one year, and it didn’t cost them anything. Even though it’s not part of an evidence-based book or program, I think the strategy’s actually pretty awesome. Teachers can come up with supportive and non-punitive ideas that make sense to them—such as having more personal interactions and connections during supervision on the playground, and coming up with communication procedures between bus drivers and school staff around safety on the bus. Give school staff the authority to come up with common-sense ideas that appear to work.

Bullying prevention practices can be simple, inexpensive and straightforward, but everyone has to be a part of the solution, and someone specific has to be responsible for making it happen. There has to be clarity of purpose and mission, and there needs to be local evidence showing what kinds of problems and suggested solutions are recommended by teachers, students and parents. None of this will happen unless the principal supports it and is behind it—the administration has to believe in bullying prevention as part of an overall school safety strategy if it’s going to sustain. If the principal is leading this mission and making sure it happens, bullying prevention has the greatest likelihood of working in both the short and long run.

Read Part 1 of Dr. Astor's answer.

Sources for ideas discussed:

Astor, R.A., Creating the schools we want for our children. (2013, December). Education Week. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/op_education/2013/12/creating_the_schools_we_want_f.html

Interdisciplinary Group on Preventing School and Community Violence (2013): December 2012 Connecticut School Shooting Position Statement. Journal of School Violence, 12(2), 119-133.

Astor, R.A., Guerra, N., & Van Acker, R. (2010). How can we improve school safety research? Educational Researcher, 39, 69-78.

Astor, R.A., Benbenishty, R. & Estrada, J. (2009). School violence and theoretically atypical schools: The principal’s centrality in orchestrating safe schools. American Educational Research Journal, 46(2), 423-461.

Benbenishty, R., & Astor, R. A. (2007). Monitoring indicators of children’s victimization in school: Linking national-, regional-, and site-level indicators. Social Indicators Research. 84(3), 333-348.

Benbenishty, R. & Astor, R.A. (2005).  School Violence in Context: Culture, Neighborhood, Family, School, and Gender. New York: Oxford University Press.

Astor, R.A., Benbenishty, R. & Meyer, H.A. (2004). Monitoring and mapping student victimization in schools. Theory Into Practice, 43(1), 39-49.

Astor, R.A., Meyer, H. & Behre, W.J. (1999).  Unowned places and times: Maps and interviews about violence in high schools.  American Educational Research Journal, 36, 3-42.

 

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