Bullying not a light concern; speaker discusses prevention

Ian Meyer Arizona Daily Wildcat Kris Bosworth, director of the Center for Adolescent Studies at Indiana University, lectures yesterday on "Bullies in Schools: Characteristics and Policy Implications" at the College of Education. According to Bosworth, the old saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me," is not always true.

Although Webster's Dictionary defines a bully as "a blustering browbeating fellow; one habitually cruel to others weaker than himself," most people are familiar with the term from personal experience.

Kris Bosworth, director of the Center for Adolescent Studies at Indiana University, attracted about 70 people to the College of Education yesterday to discuss the characteristics of a bully and what kinds of policies need to be implemented in schools to combat bullying.

Bosworth said the old saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me," is not true.

Bosworth said middle school bullies may carry the characteristics through their teenage years, and even into college, becoming involved in violence and date rape.

Bullies "attack" in a systematic, repeated, unprovoked manner in order to gain social dominance, Bosworth said.

"The bully selects a victim with an unusual physical impediment," she said.

Bosworth said bullying peaks between the fifth and eighth grades. Most bullies are males, she added.

David Allardice, who is getting his teaching certificate from the University of Arizona, said that bullying is a problem no matter where people go.

"As future teachers, we need to be sensitive to those things," he said.

Allardice, who graduated with a degree in political science from Northern Arizona University, said he knew of a few football players who were bullies even in college.

John Taylor, dean of the College of Education, said bullying is just one piece of the larger picture. The study on bullies, he said, raises questions about how to prevent drug and alcohol abuse.

Bosworth presented the results of a study done in January 1995 with 558 students from sixth to eighth grade in a middle school in Indianapolis.

He said the study classified 16 percent of the children as "high bullies," 44 percent as "moderate bullies" and 41 percent as "non-bullies."

The presentation raised numerous questions from the audience of students and teachers from the Education, Psychology and Health Departments.

Audience members questioned the precision of the self-report methods used to collect the data, and some argued that the study raised more questions than it answered.

"I'd like to say this is a good research because of all the questions that were raised," Bosworth said.

According to Bosworth, part of the bullying problem is that teachers, parents and schools don't know what to do when their students are being mocked by a bully.

"There is a lot of discussion on what level of violence is OK for adolescents," Bosworth said.

Along with the research data, Bosworth presented suggestions. Zero tolerance to bullying is not a good option, she said, because "we're not allowing kids to make mistakes."

She also said money needs to be put into preventing and combating bullying in schools.

The UA's College of Education is taking steps to do just that through its Project SOAR, Student Opportunity for Academic Renewal, Taylor said.

The program provides mentoring to middle and high school students and teen parents in the Tucson area.

Project SOAR pairs education undergraduates with eighth and ninth graders as a support system. Mentors work on academic success, time management and help guide those interested in becoming educators toward their goals.

Bosworth's presentation was part of the interview process for the Lester L. and Roberta D. Smith Endowed Chair in Education, for which she is a candidate.