Facts about Bullying

Introduction

• A child is bullied every 20 seconds in Canada.
• A 2008 Harvard University study found that “bullying and harassment, most often by peers, are the most frequent threats that minors face, both online and offline.”
• According to recent data from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Health Behaviours in School-aged Children survey, Canada does not fare well on the world stage in addressing bullying problems. Canada ranked 26th and 27th out of 35 countries on measures of bullying and victimization, respectively.
• Across all categories of bullying and victimization, Canadian students consistently reported rates of bullying and victimization that ranked at or below the middle of the international group. In her article, “Binoculars on Bullying,” Dr. Debra Pepler aptly stated:

[t]his situation is even more discouraging because Canada’s rates have stayed approximately the same over the past decade, but Canada’s ranking in the WHO surveys has dropped over the same time period…other countries are making inroads in addressing bullying problems, while our efforts seem to be stalled.

• Canadian children are not safe from bullying.
• For every child concerned about being sexually abused by adults, there are three children concerned about abuse by peers.
• From an international standpoint, the WHO Health Behaviours survey tells us that we are failing to protect our children.
• The consequences of bullying are real. Bullying “not only robs self-confidence, affects physical health and leaves behind a long-term legacy for both victims and those who bully, it also destroys lives and futures.”
• Bullying must be addressed early as it has significant implications for later perpetrations of sexual harassment and dating aggression and may extend to workplace harassment, as well as marital, child, and elder abuse.

Safety is a Fundamental Human Right

• Sadly, 140,000 Ontario children dread returning to an environment toxic to them; this is the dark side of education.
• These children’s' lives and those of their family members have been altered forever.
• Many children wonder how they will survive life in the public school system from one day to the next.
• Students in our publicly funded education system are required to return and attend each day, even where their lives, innocence, and well-being are endangered.
• Current Ontario legislation, which addresses bullying through the Education Act, does not adequately deal with bullying perpetrated by, or against youth, and fails to protect children and adolescents.
• This is in contrast to adults, who are entitled to legislative protections under the Criminal Code, the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Bill 168 amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act—protections that a lot of children do not have because of their age. The law in this area is dispersed and not easily understood or applied, especially for children.
• Every child and youth has the right to be safe and free from involvement in bullying.
• Children in all three roles with respect to bullying—those who are bullied, those who bully others, and those who know it is going on—can be negatively affected.
• Further support for this argument can be found in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Canada is a signatory. Article 29 specifies that education shall be directed to:

[t]he preparation of the child for responsible life in a free society, in the spirit of understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of the sexes, and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin. As a society, therefore, we must educate children to ensure they develop positive attitudes and behaviours and avoid using their power to bully or harass others.

• The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child also addresses the rights of children who are at the receiving end of bullying and harassment. Article 19 of the Convention states:

Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse, while in the care of parent(s), legal guardian(s) or any other person who has the care of the child.

• It is time to view the problem of bullying through a different lens for a more effective way of addressing this important issue—one that has serious implications.
• Transparency is crucial to reducing the incidences and enduring consequences of bullying.

Ontario’s Protection in the Workplace: Bill 168

Oversight

• Bill 168 was enacted to protect adults from violence and harassment in the workplace.
• Children, a more vulnerable group, are not afforded the same protection from similar behaviour at school. Legislation should be drafted to provide children with this protection.
• The legislation should include provisions similar to the provisions in Bill 168 that introduce elements of accountability, enforcement, transparency and oversight.

Ontario’s Ministry of Education’s Response to Bullying

• As the primary institution and a “major socialization force” in the lives of children, schools must play a leadership role in addressing bullying problems.
• While it appears that significant progress has occurred through stronger consequences for perpetrators of bullying, principals still have wide discretion to investigate and take action when allegations of bullying come to their attention.
• There are no mechanisms built into the Education Act to ensure accountability or to review incidents in which no action was taken. Furthermore, there does not appear to be a definition of “bullying” in the Act, nor is cyber-bullying explicitly included. Ultimately, the law is only as good as its implementation.
• While memorandums issued by the Ontario Ministry of Education inform the school boards and school authorities of the Ministry’s new policies. Memorandums are not statutes and can be changed at the Ministry’s discretion; therefore, this definition of bullying could be altered in the future by government bureaucrats.

Holding Schools Accountable

• As a result, their responses to bullying are reactive rather than proactive.
• Educators ought to play a significantly more active role in fostering inclusive school environments by critically assessing what they model to young people in physical school settings and in virtual space.
• Bullying impacts learning in the physical school environment and creates unwelcome physical school environments where equal opportunities to learn are greatly reduced.
• It appears that schools are rarely held liable for student bullying; “nevertheless, they have a professional duty to ensure a safe and supportive learning environment for all students.”
• It can be argued that schools have an additional responsibility to act in loco parentis, or in the place of parents, because they have charge of children.
• In fact, courts have held that schools are required to ensure that they create a school environment that provides equal opportunities to learn without fear of harassment or bullying (of any kind whatsoever).
• Currently, there is no oversight mechanism for school boards in Ontario.
• The Ombudsman's authority, as established by the Ombudsman Act to oversee the delivery of public services, has not been modernized in over 30 years.
• According to the Ombudsman’s Office, Ontario has fallen behind in oversight of non-governmental organizations providing critical public services referred to as the “MUSH” sector, which includes school boards.
• The Ombudsman of Ontario's authority with respect to this sector is the most limited in Canada.
• NDP education critic Rosario Marchese introduced a private member’s bill on November 15, 2010, which aims to give the Ombudsman review powers over school boards, as well as other “MUSH” sector organizations.
• “There are many concerns with education and thousands of kids are falling through the cracks. We need someone who has the power and independence to investigate and resolve complaints.”
• Ontario is the only province where the Ombudsman doesn't oversee school boards.
• However, the Office of the Ombudsman still received 110 complaints in 2009 about issues relating to the education system, including issues such as school violence and inappropriate suspensions and expulsions.
• These complaints could not be investigated because they fell outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
• To ensure accountability of our educational system, oversight of school boards should be part of the Ombudsman’s mandate.

Conclusion

• Schools, however, cannot be expected to address this social problem alone; parents must play a significant role as well.
• In the cyber-bullying context, it is interesting to note that just when children are beginning to conduct more of their social lives online, the number of house rules governing online behaviour starts to drop off.
• Parents are also less likely to spend time supervising their kids online or talking to them about their online activities.
• Parents who are responsible for providing their children with Internet access are not taking responsibility for monitoring their children’s activities online.
• Recent trends suggest that a parent who is aware of their child’s malicious online behaviour may be held partially responsible for their child’s actions.
• Although there are limited legal remedies available to provide redress for victims or punishment for perpetrators of bullying, solutions for encouraging positive interactions can only emerge from an ongoing collaboration and commitment from all stakeholders, including parents, schools, government, and children themselves. All have a role and responsibility in ensuring children’s safety.
• We must avoid labelling children as “victims” or “bullies,” but should instead take a broader perspective on children’s strengths and challenges, not only in terms of their own needs, but also in terms of their important relationships within the family, peer group, school, and broader community.
• Children need consistent messages and responses to bullying across all of these contexts.
• We need “to interrupt and redefine these interactions to move children out of their entrenched roles in a bullying situation.”
• To promote positive relationships, all children involved in bullying incidents—the children who bully, those who are victimized, as well as bystanders—must be included in bullying interventions.
• Regardless of the setting, adults are responsible for creating positive environments that promote children’s ability to create and maintain healthy relationships.
• They are also responsible for minimizing opportunities for negative peer interactions.
• By observing the interpersonal dynamics in children’s lives, adults can construct social experiences in ways that protect and support their developing relationships and minimize the likelihood of bullying and harassment.
• We have to break down systemic barriers and model behaviour that teaches children to be respectful and inclusive, offline and online.
• One need not look too far to see how adults are failing children by modeling negative behaviour—from football and soccer fields where parents yell obscenities and aggressive taunts at referees and players, to Parliament, where politicians openly treat each other with derision.
• Specifically, the shortcomings of the current legislated response to bullying in Ontario, in terms of accountability, transparency, enforceability and oversight, should be addressed and repaired. The manner in which Bill 168 addresses bullying and harassment in the workplace and the recent initiatives in New Jersey and Massachusetts warrant serious consideration because they increase accountability, transparency, enforceability and oversight. The American initiatives are touted as the “gold standard.” Children in Ontario deserve nothing less.