Couldn’t See This Coming
By Mitch Berg
As “bullies” have become public enemy number one, a scourge being tackled by state legislatures, you might think that all of this frenzied activity would be affecting the incidence of bullying.
And you’d be right – but not in the way you’d suspect. I’ll add some emphasis:
It started as a simple look at bullying. University of Texas at Arlington criminologist Seokjin Jeong analyzed data collected from 7,000 students from all 50 states.
He thought the results would be predictable and would show that anti-bullying programs curb bullying. Instead — he found the opposite.
Jeong said it was, “A very disappointing and a very surprising thing. Our anti-bullying programs, either intervention or prevention does not work.”
The study concluded that students at schools with anti-bullying programs might actually be more likely to become a victim of bullying. It also found that students at schools with no bullying programs were less likely to become victims.
The results were stunning for Jeong. “Usually people expect an anti-bullying program to have some impact — some positive impact.”
Politics is the worst possible way to allocate resources; it may be even worse for regulating behavior.
October 9th, 2013 at 1:57 pm
“Usually people expect an anti-bullying program to have some impact — some positive impact.”
What I expect from a government program is that it will get the politician votes in the next election, will pad the pockets of the political cronies who will be implementing it, and – at best – will cause no significant harm to members of the public.
I rarely see that last expectation met.
October 9th, 2013 at 2:08 pm
jdege … You perhaps forgot to include the new source of income that bullying will bring to litigators. The term seems to be applied to any type of unpleasant behavior enacted against someone; bullying bosses, the chubby newswoman bullied by members of her audience for her weight, etc.
Once a good, broad definition is agreed upon, the lawsuits will commence. Like the sexual harassment bonanza of the 80s – 90s. Hurt feeling equal big bucks.
Like sexual harassment, there are legitimate cases of bullying which should rightfully be discouraged. However, most of these can already be prosecuted using existing law, not unlike hate crimes. However, where’s the money in that?
Mr. Berg’s friend, Jim Backstrom, when he’s not squashing crime in Dakota County, has an anti-bullying program he performs as his Elvis impersonator alter-ego. Seriously … That alone should set off a few alarms.
October 9th, 2013 at 2:38 pm
Along the same lines, I remember seeing evidence that the places with the worst racial/ethnic/sexual preference discrimination and harassment problems were the places with the most active diversity programs and anti-discrimination ordinances, especially places with speech codes. Go figure.
One possible excuse, or explanation, is that the places with bullying/speech/diversity codes are more likely to recognize the objectionable behavior, so things that get ignored in place A get reported in place B. So we’d want to take a look at the full study and compare the kinds of bullying reported.
That said, I like the original hypothesis best; that just like we joke at work that sexual harassment training teaches us how to sexually harass each other, bullying training teaches kids how to bully each other. Smooth move, Ex-lax.
Joe; oy weh!
October 9th, 2013 at 2:38 pm
I am proud to say that this has been our departments most successful program to date. Those morons at the DoE don’t know how to tie their shoelaces on, we’ve effectively taken over the entire department.
October 9th, 2013 at 4:05 pm
I am more surprised when a government social program’s main effect is actually what was desired than the converse. In most cases you’re left with a best case scenario like Head Start where there is no effect positive or negative after a few years.
October 9th, 2013 at 4:12 pm
Just like you’d expect the parts of town where the cops spend most of their time to have lower crime! Hey, wait a minute . . .
On the other hand:
The student videos used in many campaigns show examples of bullying and how to intervene. But Jeong says they may actually teach students different bullying techniques — and even educate about new ways to bully through social media and texting.
. . .
According to Jeong, some programs even teach students how to bully without leaving evidence behind. “This study raises an alarm,” he said. “There is a possibility of negative impact from anti-bullying programs.”
October 9th, 2013 at 5:36 pm
My nephew is a senior at a public school in rural Missouri. He and his classmates had to attend an anti-bullying lecture the first week of school. He’s a bit of a wag, and a clothes horse for a high school boy. The presenter somehow thought he was someone who might be bullied, and he asked her why she thought that. She mentioned his red, pencil jeans. “Really?” he said. “Why would they do that? I think they’re FABulous!”
October 10th, 2013 at 5:50 pm
Isn’t it strange. Show kids how to have sex, they have more sex, and more teen pregnancies occur. Show kids ways to be bullies, more kids become bullies, more kids are bullied.
I will say it over and over and never back down. Often times, the only thing a bully will respond to (in the short term) is an equivocal or greater response from his target.
To my dying day, the fat kid in the video who got sick of his smaller skinner bully, and body slammed him into the sidewalk, is my eternal HERO. And ANYONE who believes he should be punished for his actions as a response to his tormentor, is a damned idiot.
I was bullied from 3rd grade into high school, when the rich kids grew up a bit and then I was merely ignored by them. I know of which I speak.