October is National Bullying Prevention Month. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines bullying as “...any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths who are not siblings or current dating partners that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated.”1 The PACER organization, an advocacy group for children, youth, and young adults with disabilities and their families, started Bullying Prevention Month to highlight the harmful effects bullying has on children and how families and communities can work together to prevent bullying and create safe spaces for children.2 The Florida Department of Education links to numerous anti-bullying resources developed for the public, educators, parents, and youth.3
Facts & Figures Bullying can be:4
PHYSICAL
VERBAL
SOCIAL
(e.g., hitting, kicking, punching)
(e.g., teasing, name calling, threats)
(e.g., exclusion, targeted rumors)
In Florida, for behaviors to be considered bullying for School Environmental Safety Incident Reporting, they must be:5 REPEATED
INVOLVE A POWER IMBALANCE
INTENTIONAL
In 2019, 14.9% of Florida high school students reported being bullied on school property, while 11.3% reported being electronically bullied (e.g., through texting, social media) in the past year. This is significantly lower than nationwide rates for both on school property (19.5%) and electronic bullying (15.7%).6
Scholars suggest that children in foster care may be particularly vulnerable to bullying due to disruptions in their educational placements (i.e., changes to schools, peer groups).7
Bullying in residential group care facilities is prevalent, with half of youth reporting being a victim, perpetrator, or both. Literature suggests several risk factors for bullying in residential group care including individual (e.g., young children, newcomers, youth with maltreatment history) and contextual risk factors (e.g., inappropriate age-mix at facility, peer hierarchies).8
There are strong correlations between bullying victimization and well-being concerns, including:9 DEPRESSION
ANXIETY
POOR HEALTH
SUBSTANCE USE
SUICIDALITY
A recent meta-analysis of 100 studies found that school-based antibullying programs are effective in reducing in-school bullying by approximately 19-20% for perpetration and 15-16% for victimization.10
In 2008, the Florida Legislature passed the “Jeffrey Johnston Stand Up for All Students Act.” The statute prohibits bullying or harassment of any student or employee of a public K-12 educational institution. To read the full statute, go to FS 1006.147.
Institute Affiliates We have numerous affiliates with expertise in child and adolescent mental health. Learn more about their work in our affiliate directory: FICW.FSU.EDU/AFFILIATES
Heather Agazzi, Ph.D., MS, ABPP
Hui Huang, Ph.D.
Gihan Omar, Psy.D.
University of South Florida
Florida International University
Shamra Boel-Studt, Ph.D., MSW
Erin King, Ph.D., LCSW
Michael Campbell, Ph.D., LCSW
Jeffrey Lacasse, Ph.D. Florida State University
The Ounce of Prevention Fund of Florida
Morgan Cooley, Ph.D., MSW
Rene’ Ledford, LCSW, BCBA
Alison Salloum, Ph.D., LCSW
Florida State University Saint Leo University
Florida Atlantic University
Nicole Fava, Ph.D., MSW
University of West Florida
Children’s Home Society
Pam Macdill, MSW
Citrus Health Network
Kimberly Renk, Ph.D.
University of Central Florida
Terry Rhodes, D. Min
University of South Florida
Teri Saunders, MS
Florida International University
Florida State University
Heartland for Children
Martie Gillen, Ph.D., MBA
Jennifer Marshall, Ph.D., MPH, CPH
Heather Thompson, Ph.D., MSW
Chris Groeber, MSW
Marleen Milner, Ph.D., MSSW
Winnifred Whittaker, Ed.D., MSW
University of Florida
University of South Florida
University of South Florida Saint Leo University
Florida Atlantic University Warner University
Karen Oehme, JD
Florida State University
Institute Spotlight Affiliates Drs. Shamra Boel-Studt and Hui Huang have spent the last several years developing the Group Care Quality Standards Assessment (GCQSA), a tool designed to operationalize and measure Quality Standards for Residential Group Care. In FY19-20, the Institute began the statewide validation and the inter-rater reliability and agreement studies of the GCQSA, which includes items that assess bullying and negative interactions between youth and other youth and youth and staff. Drs. Boel-Studt and Huang are currently developing a manuscript that includes bullying-related findings. To read more about the Quality Standards for Residential Group Care initiative, please visit FICW.FSU.EDU/GCQSA
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Gladden, R.M., Vivolo-Kantor, A.M., Hamburger, M.E., & Lumpkin, C.D. (2014). Bullying surveillance among youths: Uniform definitions for public health and recommended data elements. Atlanta, GA; National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved September 23, 2020 from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/bullying-definitions-final-a.pdf PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center. (2020). History - National Bullying Prevention Month. Retrieved September 23, 2020 from https://www.pacer.org/bullying/nbpm/history.asp Florida Department of Education. (2020). Bullying prevention. Retrieved September 23, 2020 from http://www.fldoe.org/safe-schools/bullying-prevention.stml Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Violence prevention: Bullying. Retrieved September 22, 2020 from https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/youthviolence/bullyingresearch/fastfact.html Florida Department of Education. (2020). Bullying. Retrieved September 22, 2020 from http://www.fldoe.org/safe-schools/SESIR-DISCIPLINE-DATA/bullying.stml Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). YRBSS results: Compare high school data. Retrieved September 23, 2020 from https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/results.htm Vacca, J. S., & Kramer-Vida, L. (2012). Preventing the bullying of foster children in our schools. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 1805-1809. Mazzone, A., Nocentini, A., & Menesini, E. (2018). Bullying and peer violence among children and adolescents in residential care settings: A review of the literature. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 38, 101-112. Moore, S. E., Norman, R. E., Suetani, S., Thomas, H., Sly, P. D., & Scott, J. G. (2017). Consequences of bullying victimization in childhood and adolescence: A systematic review and meta-analysis. World Journal of Psychiatry, 7(1), 60-76. Gaffney, H., Ttofi, M. M., & Farrington, D. P. (2019). Evaluating the effectiveness of school-bullying prevention programs: An updated meta-analytical review. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 45, 111-133.
The Florida Institute for Child Welfare seeks to promote safety, permanency, and well-being among the children and families of Florida that are involved with the child welfare system. FICW.FSU.EDU
@FSUChildWelfare