Why don't teachers always intervene in bullying?

 

During a class discussion during the lesson, an important question arose: Why don't teachers always intervene in bullying? Or worse: why don't students sometimes even report bullying?

Bullying is a serious problem in schools and has a major impact on the development and well-being of children. This made me curious about the role of teachers in combating bullying. Why do some teachers hardly intervene? Do they lack knowledge, resources, or are there other factors involved?

In this blog I discuss the findings from the study by Mazzone et al., (2021), entitled “Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Bullying: What Do We Know, and Where Do We Go from Here?”

What is Bullying

The Article defines bullying with an aggressive behavior with three characteristics:

• Intention: the perpetrator intends to cause harm.
• Repetition: the behavior occurs more often and is not a one-time incident.
• Power inequality: The victim has difficulty defending themselves, for example due to a physical, social or psychological disadvantage.

Bullying can manifest itself in different forms. Such as physical, verbal, relational, social exclusion or online (cyberbullying).

Bullying is not only an interaction between perpetrator and victim, but a social process in which peers, family and social factors play a role. The social ecological model of Bronfenbrenner (1994) explains how different layers influence bullying behavior:

·       Microsystem: direct relationships (family, classmates, teachers).

·       Mesosystem: interactions between microsystems (e.g., the relationship between students and teachers).

·       Exosystem: indirect influences (e.g., school policy and teacher training).

·       Macrosystem: Cultural norms about bullying and violence.

·       Chronosystem: changes over time (e.g., the increase in cyberbullying).

When we look at the complexity of bullying within these layers, it becomes clear why it is sometimes difficult for teachers to intervene: bullying behavior is influenced by multiple factors beyond their direct control.

Why don't students report bullying?

The article described with different research that almost half of the students do not report bullying to an adult. The main reasons are:

• They think the teacher will do nothing or make the situation worse
• They are afraid that the teacher will not take them seriously or blame the victim themselves
• They trust friends and parents more than teachers.

Why don't teachers always intervene?

The different factors how teachers respond to bullying are

1.     Lack of training: Many teachers do not receive specific training in bullying prevention and do not know how to intervene.

2.     Unclear school policy: If there are no clear guidelines, teachers do not know what to do.

3.     Personal perceptions: Some teachers view bullying as a normal part of growing up or think that the victim should know better.

4.     Unclear signals: not all victims show stereotypical characteristics, which means that bullying is sometimes not recognized as such.

5.     Undermining by colleagues: if colleagues do not take bullying seriously, teachers feel less supported to intervene.

6.     Lack of empathy and self-confidence: Teachers with lower levels of empathy or a lack of self-confidence in their abilities to combat bullying are less likely to intervene.

My opinion

Bullying remains a major problem, despite existing school policies and anti-bullying programs. Teachers need to be better trained in identifying and addressing bullying. In addition, students should be encouraged to report bullying, and schools need to create a culture in which everyone feels safe.

Combating bullying is not a task for teachers alone. Parents, peers, school psychologists and social workers must work together with teachers to create a safe school environment. Only by working together can we really make a difference.

The article also clearly stated how this issue relates to the factors why teachers do not intervene in bullying, so the article is worth a read.

 Eldoune C.

Bibliography.

Mazzone, A., Kollerová, L., & O'Higgins Norman, J. (2021). Teachers’ attitudes toward bullying: What do we know, and where do we go from here? In P. K. Smith & J. O. Norman (Eds.), The Wiley Blackwell handbook of bullying: A comprehensive and international review of research and intervention (pp. 139–157). Wiley Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118482650.ch8