Expert's Advice on How to Stop Bullies

Sept. 2, 2007 — -- Dorothy Espelage is a professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois whose research focuses on bullying.

Q: How big a problem is bullying in schools today?

On average, about 15 percent of elementary and middle school students perpetrate bullying. About 17 percent are victims [of chronic bullying]. And then we have a smaller group -- about 7 to 8 percent -- that are bully-victims, where they are both aggressors and victims. ... And so it continues to be quite a problem in our schools. What we're finding is that it actually is happening earlier. We're starting to find it as early as pre-school playgroups.

Q: Have the ways in which kids bully one another changed?

The most common [forms] are still name calling and teasing and excluding -- not allowing someone to be in your group. But it's changed with the advent of technology. Kids are now reporting that they're experiencing bullying as victims through instant messaging, chat rooms, MySpace, Facebook and other types of computer-based harassment.

That has certainly intensified [the problem], because it used to be limited to the school building. Now the kids go home, get on the computer -- and what we're finding ... is those kids that are victimized in schools are becoming the perpetrators on the computer at night.

It's all new. And part of the problem is adults -- teachers, parents -- are not necessarily on top of the new technology. And a lot of teachers and administrators feel only the school is their responsibility. However, what they need to recognize is that a conflict that may have started in the school can escalate overnight through a computer, and so the next morning, they'll have a situation that has intensified.

Q: What are the effects of bullying?

There are short-term and long-term consequences, for the mental health of victims.

The short-term effects are sometimes [the victims] don't want to come to school for fear of being bullied. And when they do come to school they don't necessarily feel safe or engaged, so it affects their learning process.