Their surging hormones allow for variation in size and development that can foster bullying behavior.
The ecologic theory goes beyond the bully-victim dyad. This theory includes all factors that allow bullying to develop and persist, with interplay among the family, victim, bully, onlookers, school personnel, and community.
This theory suggests that school and playground designs may foster unsupervised spaces where children and adolescents are vulnerable to bullies, and that inaction on the part of parents, teachers, principals, and other school personnel and members of the community allow bullying to continue.
“If you can't change community attitudes and the school environment, you won't be able to prevent bullying,” Dr. Sarles said. A successful intervention involves parents and school personnel recognizing that bullying exists and developing a consensus on prevention programs. (See sidebar.)
Physicians may recognize bullying before the parents do.
“As clinicians, you know that someone doesn't walk into your office and say, 'I need help; I'm a bully,'” Dr Sarles said.
However, there are clear links between bullying and other antisocial behaviors later in life. Dr. Sarles cited one study in which 40% of people who reported being bullies as children or adolescents had been convicted of a crime by the age of 24 years.
Children and adolescents who are victims, on the other hand, may present to clinicians with symptoms of anxiety. These children often do not want to go to school, feign illness, and have unexplained cuts and bruises. Belongings, such as hats, jackets, books, or backpacks, often end up missing for bullying victims.
After the bullying stops, the symptoms tend to disappear in the absence of a genuine comorbid condition, Dr. Sarles explained.
How Do You Stop a Bully?
Most bullying, even cyber bullying, begins at school—where children meet and spend much of their time. Many interventions against bullying start at school as well.
“You have to get people to agree that bullying is not for kids,” by encouraging parents to go to their children's schools and advocate for a no-tolerance policy, Dr. Sarles said.
School-based strategies include:
▸ Increasing adult supervision of children in public spaces during lunch and recess.
▸ Elimination of unsupervised places where children might be bullied.
▸ Use of classroom-based antibullying programs in an effort to teach that bullying is wrong and should be reported.
▸ Use of a “bully box” near the school counselor's office that allows children to anonymously report bullying episodes.
▸ Role playing and assertiveness training.
▸ Use of video cameras on school buses, on school property, and in buildings to record instances of bullying and to act as a deterrent.
▸ Establishment and enforcement of a zero-tolerance bullying policy that includes all school personnel, from teachers to cafeteria workers, coaches, and janitors.
▸ Switching schools. If the school and community fail to cooperate, the child must simply change schools to get out of an abusive environment.
The federal government has jumped on the bully bandwagon. Its Web site,
http://stopbullyingnow.hrsa.gov
The bottom line is to create a safe environment for the child, because children who feel intimidated in school can't learn, Dr. Sarles said.