Episode Details

Anthony Godfrey:
Hello, and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. Do you know someone who is being bullied? Is it something you have experienced yourself? On this episode of the Supercast, find out what parents, schools, and members of the community can do to help prevent bullying and teach kids that it is not okay. Dr. Scott Poland, one of the leading experts in bullying prevention in the United States, joins us with some sound advice on how to identify a bully and stop the bad behavior in ways that really work.

We are here with Dr. Scott Poland, a psychologist, professor, and expert in helping schools with prevention and through all kinds of crises. Thank you very much for taking time with us Dr. Poland.

Dr. Scott Poland:
Thank you very much, Dr. Godfrey for this opportunity today. I compliment the Jordan School District for focusing on the important problem of bullying prevention and the role that everybody has, not just schools, parents, community, students themselves. Everybody's got to be involved making a difference to prevent bullying.

Anthony Godfrey:
Well, I appreciate that. And you're right, we all have to pitch in together to make an impact. It's a big concern. It's a term that's used a lot. Let's just start out with talking about what bullying means. What is the general accepted definition of bullying?

Dr. Scott Poland:
The definition really stresses. Bullying is all about power. Power that one person has and another one does not. Bullying is repetitive. Bullying is nasty. Bullying is humiliating. Sometimes people are like, ‘How do we know it wasn't good natured teasing?’ But when kids are teasing each other, they walk away at about the same level. When it's bullying, one of them walks away feeling powerful. The one other one is really feeling horrible, and it's really difficult for somebody who's just been victimized by bullying to suddenly be at their best, you know, in their family or in school and trying to learn.

Anthony Godfrey:
That makes a ton of sense. It's about how everyone walks away from the situation. How prevalent would you say bullying is these days? I know you work with a lot of schools, you're busier than ever. You work at a national level. How prevalent is bullying right now?

Dr. Scott Poland:
Well, very prevalent. You know, somewhere around 20% of middle school students would say they're bullied somewhat frequently, and it does tend to peak in middle school. You know, the best sources of data for us are the stopbullying.gov website, federal government site. And then most states do a youth risk behavior surveillance survey every two years with middle schoolers and high schoolers. And that's where we really get the data about at risk behavior as well as kids feeling victimized. So it's pretty prevalent, unfortunately.

Anthony Godfrey:
Now, I know that it's a term that's used frequently. What are some of the myths that are associated with bullying? Because I think a lot of things get lumped into that category, and if we're specific about some of those myths, then maybe we can be more effective at combating it.

Dr. Scott Poland:
Well, one myth is that the bullies were somehow abused as a child. And that's not true. It's more like those that are the victims of bullying are more likely to have be