Bullying (Cyberbullying) Bullying and intimidation has been around for a long time. “One study found that 77 percent of junior and senior high school students in a Midwestern United States school survey reported being a victim of bullies.” (James & Gilliland, 2013, p. 485). Cyberbullying is another form of bullying that is very prevalent in today’s social media world. The ultimate goal of bullying and/or cyberbullying is to destroy one’s social standing, to make the victim feel inferior, to destroy one’s character, to stalk another, and to make threats, all to attempt to control the victim. Oftentimes, an individual bullies because they have been bullied and are seeking out a means to sort through their own feelings of inferiority. There are several intervention strategies that can help to minimize bullying attempts. Bullying (Cyberbullying) Intervention Strategies Glasser (1959) believed that bullying could be best addressed in the classroom setting. He believed that students should be given an assignment that requires them to write a one-page letter to: “Describe a time when someone’s words or behavior hurt you, 2.) Describe a time when you said or did something to hurt another person, 3.) Describe a time when you saw or heard bullying but didn’t do anything about it, 4.) Describe a time when you saw or heard bullying and either got help or tried to stop it” (James & Gilliland, 2013, p. 488). This approach allows the students to write out their thoughts about bullying and also gives those that have been bullied the chance to get out what is often held within. The teacher/counselor then follows up with the students to allow open discussion about threatening and intimidating behaviors and ultimately challenges the students to commit to refusing any bullying tactics, albeit direct, indirect, or cyberbullying. These students would need to know the proper channels to follow in the event bullying is witnessed. The bully, as well as the victim could both benefit from one-on-one counseling to discuss the motivation of the bully and then to allow the victim the chance to talk about how the effects of bullying are harmful. Bauman (2011) encourages a solution-focused platform to help both the bully and the victim. “This approach builds on both the victim’s and the bully’s self-identified strengths and develops strategies for similar situations in the future” (James & Gilliland, 2013, p. 487). This approach allows for the bully to interact with the victim in a positive manner, which can really bring about feelings of remorse, as thus the two are able to make amends. For more severe cases of bullying, support groups can be effective. The victim’s supporters and the bully come together to devise a plan to remedy the affects of bullying. Reference James, R.K. & Gilliland, B.E. (2013). Crisis intervention strategies (7th ed.). Belmont:CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 05:19:06 +0000
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