Schools face flow-on effects in classrooms
A Southland secondary school has acknowledged a significant amount of bullying occurs on social media outside of school hours which then flows into its classrooms.
Southland Boys’ High School dean Leon Dunn said the school was working hard to challenge all forms of bullying and was collating data and refining systems to ensure the safety of all its students.
‘‘We have developed a three-stage system for documenting and dealing with bullying,’’ Dunn says in the school’s June-July newsletter.
‘‘A significant amount of bullying occurs via social media after school hours and flows into our classrooms.’’
Often the boys see bullying as banter, but it can quickly escalate and turn into bullying or physical confrontation, he says. The school defines bullying as behaviour that continues when the person is asked to stop.
He encourages parents and caregivers to speak to their children about bullying, check social media posts, remove communications devices from bedrooms at bedtime and talk to the school if there is a problem.
Southland Boys’ High School rector Simon Coe said the school, ‘‘along with all other schools’’, was on the frontline of social media issues. Social media had changed the communication landscape for all young people very rapidly, he said.
‘‘Online bullying is a whole community issue and its widespread acceptance, especially with apps that do not leave traceable comments, is a real issue.’’
The school was working, on a regular basis, to unpack events that occurred outside of school hours but had long-lasting effects for the students involved.
‘‘As a result, we have developed an adaptive pastoral care system that involves wha¯ nau and outside agencies as much as possible to help our young men understand the potential consequences of their online activity in this rapidly changing world,’’ Coe said.
University of Canterbury specialist teaching programme co-ordinator Dr Cara Swit said adolescent bullies often bullied other teens both online and face-to-face in the school environment.
‘‘There’s no reprieve for the victim, it’s just ongoing, they can’t get away from it.’’
It was much easier for online bullies to conceal their identities, which made intervention harder, she said.
Schools were supposed to be a safe space for students, but if bullied they were unlikely to have a sense of belonging and security. They were likely to internalise the feelings of rejection which led to mental health issues such as depression and anxiety.
The bullying also impacted on the academic performance of the victims, as they struggled to concentrate on their work.
Being bullied also affected the victims’ motivation, willpower and ability to persevere with tasks, and it affected their social relationships.
As for the bullies themselves, some lacked self-esteem and their behaviour built themselves up through power. But other bullies were ‘‘very smart’’ and targeted certain students to get what they wanted.
‘‘There’s no set of characteristics or personality traits that make someone more prone to becoming a bully or a victim,’’ Swit said.
Swit, who has written a paper on bullying, said schools should promote a culture of belongingness and acceptance where bullying wasn’t tolerated.