Bullying and Violence as Barriers to Academic ... - Children Now

BEING WELL. LEARNING WELL.
CALIFORNIA HEALTHY STUDENTS
RESEARCH PROJECT
BRIEF NO. 4 IN A SERIES
Bullying and Violence as
Barriers to Academic Achievement
Jaana Juvonen | University of California, Los Angeles
An alarming 37% of secondary students in California report they experienced some form of harassment or
bullying at school in the past 12 months. Victims of physical or emotional cruelty feel less safe and connected at
school, are more frequently absent, and do less well academically than their non-victimized peers. Bullying can
account for up to an average 1.5 letter grade decrease in an academic subject across the middle school years. Evidence
indicates these compromised academic outcomes are related to the emotional distress and even somatic
problems that result from being bullied or witnessing it at school. Efforts to address this serious problem need to
focus on two areas: 1) educating staff, students, and parents about the signs and negative effects of bullying, and
how to deal with it; and 2) promoting more caring, safe, and supportive school environments.
A large percentage of students in California schools
are victims of harassment and bullying. The personal
and emotional toll that bullying can have on children
has become all-too-apparent — as attested to by recent
tragedies of youth who see suicide as their only way out.
Research also shows that victims of harassment tend to
have lower grades and achievement test scores than their
non–victimized peers, and feel generally less safe at, and
connected to school. Greater efforts must be directed toward
reducing school bullying and its devastating effects,
and toward creating more positive school climates.
What is the Scope of the Problem in
California
According to the California Healthy Kids Survey
(CHKS), in 2005-2007, almost half of students in the
state did not feel very safe in school. One reason for this
is that an average of 37% of secondary students selfreport
experiencing some form of harassment at school
in the past 12 months. The percentage was the same in
2001-02, indicating that little progress has been made in
reducing harassment in California schools.
It also appears that the percentage of students in California
schools being bullied is greater than in national
estimates. For example, recent national statistics showed
that 28% of 12- to 18-year-old students reported having
been bullied at school during the past six months.
Harassment is highest in California’s middle schools,
where its prevalence is 43% in seventh grade. Although
reports of harassment decline in eleventh grade, it is still
relatively high at 31%. Prevalence rates are even higher
when students are asked if they experienced specific
forms of physical or verbal harassment. Among seventh
graders, 44% report being pushed, shoved, or hit, and
42%-49% had mean rumors or lies spread about them;
had sexual jokes, comments, or gestures made to them;
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or have been made fun of because of their looks or
speech.
School staff in California perceive that bullying is a
major issue on their campuses. On the California School
Climate Survey (CSCS), 51% of staff in middle schools,
and 38% in high schools rated it as a moderate-to-severe
problem. In middle schools, it is the second-highest perceived
student-related problem after disruptive behavior
(Austin & Bailey, 2008). Both student and staff results
underscore the urgent need to focus on bullying prevention
efforts in middle schools.
How are Harassment and
Achievement Related
A recent meta-analysis of 33 studies concluded that
students who are bullied are more likely to earn lower
grades and scores on standardized achievement tests
(Nakamoto & Schwartz, 2009). This association is very
robust across grade levels and samples. The few studies
that have examined the causal effects over time indicate
that peer victimization increases the risk of lower
achievement (e.g., Schwartz et al., 2005). Recent analyses
in California further suggest that bullying can account
for up to an average 1.5 letter grade decrease in one
academic subject (e.g., math) across the three years of
middle school (Juvonen, Wang & Espinoza, 2009).
The connection between harassment and low academic
achievement has also been observed with schoollevel
data, as reported in California Healthy Students
Research Project (CHSRP) Brief No. 1. CHKS data show
that schools with high Academic Performance Index
(API) scores had significantly lower rates of harassment
than schools with low API scores, even after adjusting for
socioeconomic and other school characteristics. Depending
on the grade level examined, the number of students
reporting rates of harassment was 22-33 percentage
points higher at the schools in the bottom API quintile
than it was at schools in the top API quintile (Hanson,
Austin & Zheng, 2010).
Statistical modeling and other research on the
mechanisms that explain this connection indicate that
bullying experiences are related to psychological or
behavioral difficulties, which in turn negatively impact
students’ sense of safety and connectedness, attendance,
and academic achievement. Studies have shown that
emotional distress, somatic problems, depressive symptoms,
and poor academic engagement are, in fact, part of
the explanation for the connection between experiencing
harassment and academic difficulties. In one study,
emotional problems associated with being bullied compromised
academic performance as early as elementary
school (Schwartz et al., 2005).
Consistent with the research summarized above,
California students who have been harassed — compared
to their peers who have not — report lower rates
of school safety and connectedness, and higher rates of
truancy. They are more likely to experience a wide range
of psychosocial, behavioral, and emotional problems,
such as incapacitating sadness or hopelessness, that are
barriers to learning (CHKS Factsheets 4 and 10).
Who Are the Victims
If we are to effectively counter this serious problem,
we must take into account the factors that research has
shown to increase or decrease the risk of bullying and its
negative emotional effects. Although certain individual
personality characteristics place students at risk, there
are also groups who are more vulnerable than others.
Students generally considered to be “different” from their
peers are likely to be the targets. For example:
• Youth who are not socially integrated are more
vulnerable to harassment. Students with at least
one friend at school are less likely to be bullied
and are also better protected from the negative
emotional effects of harassment.
• Students who are harassed because of sexual orientation
or disability experience particularly high
rates of academic, health, social, and personal
problems (CHKS Factsheets 4 and 10).
• Ethnic minority youth also appear to be at higher
risk for harassment (see CHKS Factsheet 9),
although their relative representation within a
school appears to affect this risk, as discussed
below.
Interestingly, the social standing of learning-disabled
students in inclusive settings appears to be improved
when roughly one-third of the students in a classroom
had mild learning disabilities. This finding suggests that
having a critical mass of students who differ from most
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others may help protect them from harassment and bullying.
The witnesses of bullying are also among its victims.
Levels of social anxiety are elevated not only among
those who are bullied, but also among students who see
someone else being bullied. This helps explain the negative
effects of bullying at the school level.
How Do School Characteristics
Influence Harassment
Some school environments are riskier than others.
Most notably, studies have found:
• Small schools tend to have fewer problems with
bullying than larger schools. This may be due in
part to inadequate monitoring at larger schools,
as bullying most frequently occurs in unmonitored
areas of schools (e.g., restrooms, locker
rooms, and hallways).
• Schools where rules are perceived to be fair and
where there are generally fewer disciplinary problems
have lower rates of bullying.
• Greater parent involvement has been related to
lower rates of bullying.
• Caring environments reduce risk. CHKS data
show that students — including those who experience
harassment — with high levels of caring
adult role models are more likely to perceive their
schools as safe, and to report school connectedness.
They are less likely to be truant, have poor
grades, or show poor mental health indicators.
This supports research findings reported in
CHSRP Brief No. 6 on personalization, indicating
that caring adult relationships act as a protective
factor.
• Greater ethnic diversity has been associated with
reduced self-reports of bullying and higher perceptions
of school safety for African American
and Latino students in California middle schools
(Juvonen, Nishina & Graham 2006). This is
consistent with the research reported above that
showed having a critical mass of students who
might be regarded as “different” operated as a
protective factor.
What Can We Do
There are no simple or quick fixes to bullying. It is
not enough to write anti-bullying policies or to designate
one school staff member to deal with bullying issues.
Although school-size reduction might help, this is not
feasible in the current economic environment. However,
research has supported the value of implementing a constellation
of components to improve the social climate
of schools and protect all students, including high-risk
populations. Attention in particular must be addressed
toward two areas — training and strengthening relationships.
• Training. Schools need to proactively take action
to create more caring, safe, and supportive school
environments involving students and adults.
At least one positive relationship with a caring
adult at the school needs to be fostered that also
provides a “safe place” for students. Caring peer
relationships are particularly important (e.g.,
through a buddy program) when students transfer
to a new school during off-times.
• Strengthening Relationships. Staff, students, and
parents need to be educated about the signs of
bullying, its negative effects on emotional wellbeing
and academic achievement, and how to
deal with it, including establishing and consistently
following anti-bullying policies.
The most comprehensive, evidence-based, school
anti-bullying programs are based on the Bully/Victim
Program, designed originally by Dan Olweus in Norway
(Olweus, 1993). They aim to change the school culture
into a caring climate where everyone feels safe, and the
victims of bullying are supported by peers and adults
alike. The main goal is to restructure the social environment
such that there are fewer opportunities and rewards
for any kinds of hostile and intimidating behaviors.
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References
Austin, G., & Bailey, J. (2008). What teachers and other staff
tell us about California schools: Results of the California
School Climate Survey, 2004-2006. San Francisco: WestEd.
California Healthy Kids Survey Factsheets and data on
harassment may be downloaded from chks.wested.org/using_results/publications.
Hanson, T., Austin, G., & Zheng, H. (2010). Academic
performance and school well-being in California. California
Healthy Students Research Project Research Brief. No. 1.
San Francisco: WestEd.
Juvonen, J. & Graham, S. (2004). Research based interventions
on bullying. In S. E. Sanders & G. D. Phye (Eds.), Bullying,
implications for the classroom: What does the research
say (pp.229-255) Academic Press.
Juvonen, J., Nishina, A., & Graham, S. (2006). Ethnic diversity
and perceptions of safety in urban middle schools.
Psychological Science, 17, 393-400.
Juvonen, J., Wang, Y., & Espinoza, G. (2009). Do peer victimization
experiences compromise academic performance across
middle school grades Paper under review.
Nakamoto, J. & Schwartz, D. (2009). Is peer victimization
associated with academic achievement A meta-analytic
review. Social Development, 19, 221-242.
Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at School: What We Know and
What Can We Do. Oxford, Enland: Blackwell.
Schwartz, D. Gorman, A. H., Nakamoto, J. & Toblin, R.
L. (2005). Victimization in the peer group and children’s
academic functioning. Journal of Educational Psychology,
97, 425-435.
BEING
WELL.
LEARNING
WELL.
The California Healthy
Students Research Project
is devoted to understanding
and addressing issues of health
and well-being that hurt student
achievement. By researching health
and education issues in the state,
the project provides evidence-based
policy and practice recommendations
to foster the school culture, environment, supports and
services needed to give all youth the opportunity to be
successful learners.
The project was conducted by WestEd and the Philip R. Lee
Institute for Health Policy Studies, University of California
San Francisco. It was funded by The James Irvine Foundation,
The California Endowment and The William and Flora Hewlett
Foundation and guided by an advisory committee made up of
dozens of leaders within California’s health and education sectors.
Find complete research reports at LearningWellBeingWell.org
Project directors:
Gregory Austin, Ph.D.
gaustin@wested.org
Claire Brindis, Dr. P.H.
claire.brindis@ucsf.edu
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