“Say Anything”Waterville College’s Rally Cry To Knock Out Bullying

Western Kentucky University

Christopher CrutchfieldKassy FineoutChristian Montgomery

No Bull: Even at colleges, bullying exists and is harmful.

A recent increase in reports of bullying has us worried, yet Waterville College is not alone in experiencing more frequent instances of bullying, particularly cyberbullying – the use of technology such as text messages, emails, and social media platforms to intimidate, abuse, or harass.

Findings from a 2010 Indiana State University (MacDonald and Roberts, 2010) study found that: 21.9% of college student respondents reported being cyberbullied 8.6% of respondents reported cyberbullying someone else 38% of respondents reported seeing someone else get bullied

Extensive research on bullying in college is sparse, but recent news coverage and academic studies suggest it would not only be naïve, it would be dangerously negligent to ignore bullying. Victims can suffer from decreased academic performance (Nishina, Juvonen, and Witkow, 2005) or, at worst, a desire to commit suicide, as in the cyberbullying case of Rutgers student Tyler Clemente. This is particularly worrisome because many students do not outright consider cyberbullying to be an important concern (Kota and Moreno, 2013).

Policies Regarding Bullying

Commitment to Theory of Whole-Person Growth

Motivation, Obligation, and Capability:Waterville’s Call to Reduce Bullying

Like many schools, Waterville is obligated to address bullying because of adherence to a number of policies aimed at creating a safe, non-discriminatory campus. Some of these policies are external, such as Title IX and Equal Employment Opportunity. Others are internally drafted such as Waterville College’s anti-hazing policies, discrimination and harassment policy, the focus on harassment in the student code of conduct, and more.

Every member under our Office of Student Affairs – from advisors to RAs – should seek to contribute to the “whole-person” growth of our students. By reducing bullying on campus, we are protecting students’ physical, emotional, and mental well-being so they may positively mature in each capacity.

Our college’s call to providing a safe environment for learning stems from both adherence to a number of policies as well as a commitment to whole-person education.

Our college has the organizational depth to address bullying at multiple levels, from RAs and counselors to help victims, to Student Activities coordinators to help build healthy, positive social spaces for students. Our collective resources and expertise are uniquely suited to create the safe campus our students deserve.

Organizational Ability to Affect Change

A Two-Pronged Strategy: Support the Victim and Encourage the Bystander

Obviously, bullying does not happen without a victim on the receiving end of a bully’s actions. Student affairs professionals can be instrumental in providing an ally for those feeling abused and harassed.

As a college, we have pushed all of our staff – from RAs to professional counselors - to reflect on the core competency areas of Advising and Helping so that they are most able to comfort, support, and direct the victim.

Our staff must know how to: Listen without judging Speak about common feelings and responses that

victims may experience Refer students to appropriate resources when

necessary

Some research has shown that bystander-intervention models of anti-bullying campaigns can be quite successful (Polanin, Espelage, and Pigott, 2012).

The fact that many more students report seeing a case of bullying (38%) than being a victim (21.9%) inherently means that there are more bystanders than victims, giving student affairs professionals a large group of potential allies to work with, but numerous social psychology studies have shown that bystanders do not typically intervene unless prompted (Twemlow and Fonagy, 2004).

A strong bystander-focused anti-bullying campaign: Asks bystanders to assume responsibility Suggests direct and indirect methods of aiding victims

or confronting bullies Recognizes bystanders for doing so

It’s essential that college staff understand the sphere of influence we have in reducing bullying. Unfortunately, directly seeking to punish bullies is difficult. In the words of WKU Residence Hall Director Ethan Sykes, “Like it or not, bullies’ words are often protected by free speech unless a victim decides to make it a legal issue. We typically focus on providing support in other ways.” Fortunately, there are two other actors that we can address in the dynamics of bullying.Victim-focused

SupportBystander-Focused Encouragement

A Call to ActionScouring dozens of bullying websites and articles, from StopBullying.gov to recommendations on the part of the American Psychological Association, the first steps all come down to a similar theme.

Our anti-bullying message to students, victims or bystanders, is simple.Tell a counselor. Call out an aggressor. Protect a victim. It doesn’t matter what

you say.Just #SayAnything

ReferencesAmerican College Personnel Association & National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. (July 24, 2010). Professional competency areas for student affairs practitioners. Retrieved from: https://www.naspa.org/images/uploads/main/Professional_Competencies.pdf

Kota, Rajitha & Moreno, Megan. (January 17, 2013). The nature of cyber-bullying among college students. Journal of Adolescent Health, Volume 52. Retrieved from: www.jahonline.org/article/S1054-139X(12)00550-2/abstract

MacDonald, Christine & Roberts-Pittman, Bridget. (January 26, 2011). Cyberbullying among college students: prevalence and demographic differences. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, Volume 9. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042810025413

Nishina, A., Juvonen, A., & Witkow M. R. (March 2005). Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will make me feel sick: The psychosocial, somatic, and scholastic consequences of peer harassment. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Volume 34. Retrieved from: http://njbullying.org/documents/nishinajuvonenwitkow2005-jccap.pdf

Polanin, J., Espelage, D., & Pigott, T. (March 2012). A Meta-analysis of school-based bullying prevention programs’ effects on bystander intervention behavior. School Psychology Review, Volume 41. Retrieved: www.researchgate.net/profile/Dorothy_Espelage/publication/235220413_A_meta-analysis_of_school-based_bulling_prevention_programs%27_effects_on_bystander_intervention_behavior/links/00b4952c602de18785000000.pdf

Twemlow, S., Fonagy. P., and Sacco, F. (December 2004). The role of the bystander in the social architecture of bullying and violence in schools and communities. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15817740

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (n.d.) How to talk about bullying. Retrieved from: http://www.stopbullying.gov/prevention/talking-about-it/index.html