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Too many children face bullying due to social power imbalances, and educators can prevent this

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Spending time with peers and friends at school is stimulating and positive for many children and adolescents. However, too many children in Canada face the reality of being bullied for certain aspects of themselves.

This type of bullying, known as identity-based bullying or prejudice-based bullying, is extremely harmful to children’s sense of belonging at school and can negatively impact children’s physical and mental health, academic performance, and social well-being. affect.

As psychology researchers and directors of the Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network (PREVNet), we want to help educators recognize identity-based bullying and learn how to intervene to stop it. We have developed accessible learning modules.

Although these have clearly been developed with educational settings in mind, they may also be useful to parents and other caring adults in situations that affect their children’s peer relationships. These modules will be available in French by the end of the year.

harmful to children’s health

There are several important elements of bullying that can seriously harm a child’s well-being.

Bullying is unwanted aggressive behavior that is often repeated over a long period of time. These behaviors may be verbal, social, physical, sexual, and/or cyber in nature.

It occurs in relationships where there is a power imbalance. In other words, the child who bullies has more power than the child who experiences the bullying. In the case of identity-based bullying, this power imbalance is rooted in the types of power differences found at a larger societal level.

Social power dynamics, identity-based bullying

In Canada, it is well documented that Indigenous youth, Black youth, 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, and youth with disabilities experience discrimination.

but why? Simply put, these experiences of discrimination are rooted in Canada’s settler-colonial history, which institutionalized racist, class-based, and colonial norms and forms of social privilege. . These institutionalized forms of privilege end up granting groups greater political, social, and economic power as they align more closely with these norms, reinforcing this “civilized” ideal. The greatest power was assigned to those who stood at the top, that is, white people (Westerners). European), Christian, wealthy, cisgender, heterosexual, settler men.

Groups that are disenfranchised and privileged through these systems seek to maintain their power through stigma, discrimination, and other forms of oppression, while being marginalized as “others” and subject to these dominant forces. Groups with low norm alignment cannot continue to experience and continue to hold onto less. Power across the social, political, and economic spectrum.

And young people with multiple marginalized identities often experience even greater discrimination.

Schools as social institutions

Because schools are social institutions, discrimination and other forms of oppression that dominant groups use to maintain power in the larger society are also reflected within schools through identity-based bullying.

In identity-based bullying, the power imbalances that are a key feature of bullying behavior are rooted in these larger social power imbalances.

Because we all have multiple social identities, a social power perspective also explains how these identities interact. For example, consider a situation in which a white gay student bullies a black gay student. Although both students are marginalized based on their queer identities, white students still benefit from the power and privilege afforded to white people. Therefore, this situation still reflects power relations based on social identity.

Educator intervention

Identity-based bullying may also be an issue at your local school. Data collected from 1,200 youth across Canada in 2023 shows that 1 in 3 will experience identity-based bullying based on weight, race or color, disability, religion, sexual orientation, or gender identity. reported.

Second, identity-based bullying impacts children’s experiences at school. For example, a recent study in the United States found that young people who experienced multiple forms of identity-based bullying were the most likely to avoid classes and activities. The study also found that when those same students felt they received more support from adults at school, they were less likely to avoid school. This means that caring educators can be a protective factor for young people experiencing identity-based bullying.

Our research suggests specific ways educators can prevent identity-based bullying in their schools.

1) Educators (or other adults involved in the school community) can review their school board’s policy on bullying and make sure it specifically addresses the role of social identity. If not, educators can work to change that. A great example of naming identities when defining bullying is found in the Northwest Territories Education Act.

2) Reflect and be aware. As a first step, educators can examine their own unconscious biases and consider how they impact the classroom climate.

3) Be a positive role model. Students look to adults for guidance on how to behave. Celebrate the strengths of all students and model how to be respectful and inclusive. We also model how to appropriately intervene when harmful behavior occurs.

4) Actively create opportunities for positive interaction among peers in the classroom. Create groups intentionally to give excluded students the opportunity to interact and collaborate with students who are kind, sociable, and who may have similar interests and abilities.

5) Ensure safe and effective intervention for all students. Actively educate students on how to recognize identity-based bullying and provide strategies to help all students become positive allies.

6) Work at the classroom, school, and community level to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all children. For educators, this includes conducting curriculum reviews, actively incorporating learning about power, privilege, and oppression, establishing and supporting clubs such as the Gay and Straight Alliance, and supporting trauma-informed initiatives. This includes efforts to create more classrooms.

These strategies will be strengthened and strengthened by engaging with new anti-bullying training modules that specifically focus on identity-based bullying.

In this way, educators and other caring adults can help children understand the difference between negative and positive uses of power and create inclusive and respectful practices for all. We can encourage you to use your power in a positive way to create a safe environment.

Provided by The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.conversation

Citation: Too many children face bullying due to social power imbalances, and educators can prevent it (October 14, 2024) https://phys.org/news/2024 -10-kids-bullying-rooted- Retrieved October 14, 2024 social power.html

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