Share Your Experiences

We want to hear directly from people who are working to make our schools and communities great places for students to learn and grow. How have you addressed a broad range of youth problem behaviors in your school? How have those efforts affected bullying?



Your entry will be posted below within 2 business days. Learn more about posting to the Safe and Supportive Schools Website.

Comments

No one has posted a comment on this page yet. You can be the first!

Voices from the Field

The Relationship Between Bullying & Other
Forms of Youth Violence and Substance Use

View All Polls

See What Others Think

Which risk behavior(s) have you seen cooccur with adolescent bullying?

Substance Use
0%


Gang Involvement
0%


Youth Violence
20%


School Failure
60%


More Than One Above
20%


None of the Above
0%




If you haven't already...
Take this Poll



Learn What Experts Think

The Issue of Bullying

The issue of bullying is of growing concern in schools across the United States.  Significant research attention has been given to the overlap between bullying and other forms of youth violence, including gang involvement, as well as behavioral health risks, such as substance use. Bullying is a significant issue for schools since it not only creates a poor school climate for students but also negatively affects the work environment for school staff.

Latest Research

An article in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence recently reported the link between bullying involvement, as both a target and a perpetrator, and other forms of youth violence and substance use. The study builds on prior research on the behavioral risks associated with bullying, particularly among the subgroup of youth involved as primarily bullies as well as bully/victims. It broadens previous research by examining more serious forms of involvement in violence, such as gang membership and weapon carrying. The researchers also advanced our understanding of the complex issue of bullying by exploring the potential influence of student ethnicity and community context. Highlights of the study’s report include:

  • The risks named above are present among high school youth (grades 9–12), an age when the risk for more serious forms of substance use, serious involvement in violence, and school failure are considerably higher than in elementary and middle school.
  • While the study findings suggest a great need for bullying prevention programming at the high school level, virtually no bullying prevention programs have been rigorously tested or shown to be highly effective among high school students.
  • Few models have been tested in U.S. urban settings, or with large populations of African American students.
  • The study highlights the need for more targeted programming aimed at adolescents already involved in bullying, especially the bully/victim subgroup.
  • Given the study’s findings regarding the co-occurrence of bullying and other health-risk behaviors, schools should consider addressing the broad range of youth problem behaviors, rather than focusing more narrowly on bullying. For example, programs that promote core skills and competencies that impact multiple outcomes may be most impactful for a range of behavioral and mental health concerns, including bullying.

Learn More

The lead researcher of this article, Catherine Bradshaw of the Johns Hopkins Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence, will lead a live webinar on the results of this study on Wednesday, May 22 from 4:00 5:30 PM Eastern time and Thursday May 23 from 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM Eastern Time. Dr. Bradshaw will be joined by Christina Jordan, School Climate Specialist with the Maryland Safe and Supportive Schools project. Additional details on the webinar, including registration details are available through the link provided below.

Register for the webinar: http://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/index.php?id=9&eid=1537

____________________________________________________________________

Reference


Bradshaw, C. P., Waasdorp, T., Goldweber, A., & Lindstrom Johnson, S. (2013). Bullies, gangs,
drugs, and school: Understanding the overlap and the role of ethnicity and urbanicity. Journal of Youth
and Adolescence, 42, 220-234.

____________________________________________________________________

Related Resources


Website: www.StopBullying.gov

Training Toolkit: Creating a Safe and Respectful Environment in Our Nation's Classrooms

Training Toolkit: Creating a Safe and Respectful Environment on Our Nation's School Buses

School Climate Webinar Series Event: Bullying Prevention

Implementation Webinar Series Event: Using Evidence-based Registries for Program Selection - Realities for Bullying Prevention