Case Study: Middle School Bullying

This case was provided by Sean Calabrese based on personal experience.

**Setting**

The Catholic middle school where this incident took place is located just outside the D.C. line. The families in the surrounding neighborhoods are mostly working class, with a smaller portion being below the poverty line. This school has no bus system, so parents must find their students a ride to school.

**The Story**

 This incident took place in the elementary school. Student A (who has developed a serious stuttering problem due to his parents divorce and the amount of times he gets interrupted) I noticed that each time I asked student A to read (who had to also sit in the front of the class because of a vision problem) the students behind him would start to snicker and laugh. I gave those students a look (instead of verbally addressing the laughter so as not to put more pressure on Student A) and it ceased. I could tell this was something that wasn’t going away, so when the students lined up to leave my class I had them line up in the hallway instead of inside the class per our routine. I purposely stayed in the room but had the door open. I heard student B ask student A “why do you talk like that?”, student A replies with “like what?” and what student B said is what made me spring into action. He said “like you never learned how to read. the 1st graders read faster than you.”

I pulled student B into the classroom and had a discussion with him about how inappropriate his behavior was. I gave him a punishment of spending recess with me for two days. The first day was nothing but silence, no work or anything could be done. He just had to sit there with his hands folded. The second day, I made him watch a video on stutter and speech impediments. To help him understand the situation and not just have it be a punishment.

**The Students and A Teacher**

Student A- Middle school student, comes from a lower-middle class family, parents are going through a very unpleasant divorce, has a speech impediment (stutter), and a vision impairment.

Student B- Middle school student, comes from a lower middle-class family, parents are still married, youngest of 3 boys, no learning disabilities or IEP/ICEP

Teacher- Student A and Student B’s math teacher.

### Action Steps:

**Brittany Payne**

**Anti Bullying Strategies**

**Assess the Extent of the Problem** Survey students, staff and parents to find out how much and what type of bullying is going, as well as where and when, to target prevention efforts.

**Develop a School-wide Code of Conduct** that reinforces school values and clearly defines unacceptable behavior and consequences. Empower bystanders -- teachers and especially students -- to help enforce it by training them to identify and respond to inappropriate behavior.

**Increase Adult Supervision** Most bullying happens when adults are not present, so make sure they are "visible and vigilant" in hallways, stairwells, cafeterias and locker rooms, as well as on buses and the way to and from school for students who walk.

**Conduct Bullying Prevention Activities** such as all-school assemblies, communications campaigns or creative arts contests highlighting school values to bring the community together and reinforce the message that bullying is wrong.

**The Role of Teachers in Confronting Bullying**

**Know Your School and District Policies on Bullying** Do your part to implement them effectively.

**Treat Students and Others with Warmth and Respect** Let students know that you are available to listen and help them.

**Conduct Classroom Activities around Bullying** Help your class identify bullying in books, TV shows and movies, and discuss the impact of that bullying and how it was/could be resolved. Hold class meetings in which students can talk about bullying and peer relations.

**Discuss Bullying with Colleagues** As a group, you will be better able to monitor the school environment. Discuss both bullying in general and concerns regarding specific students.

**Take Immediate Action** Failure to act provides tacit approval of the behavior and can cause it to spread.

Retrieved from: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/bullying-prevention-tips-teachers-parents-anne-obrien