TORONTO – A survey conducted by the Canadian Initiative for the Prevention of Bullying (CIPB), in partnership with Astral Media’s Family Channel, has found that one in five Canadian children (20%) choose to passively endure being bullied and suffer in silence rather than doing or saying something to stop it.
The survey, which was conducted online between April and June 2005 among more than 1,800 Canadian children who identified themselves as being bullied, was designed to recognize and collect children’s perspectives on, and experience with, bullying. The survey findings are being released as part of the 3rd annual national Bullying Awareness Week, an initiative of Family Channel and its partners, which launched Monday and runs until November 20, 2005.
"The findings of this study confirm that a significant number of Canadian children who are bullied do not reach out for help," says Dr. Debra Pepler, CIPB co-founder. "The results also suggest that many children accept bullying as a normal part of life and that bullying prevention and intervention programs are not reaching these children in terms of equipping them with the learning, resources and support that can improve their situation. Further, resources and approaches that can be adopted by those who witness bullying are not necessarily understood or implemented to any significant degree."
One approach that has proven particularly effective in this regard is encouraging bystanders to intervene in bullying situations by reaching out to the person being bullied. Research conducted by Dr. Pepler and her colleagues at the CIPB has shown that bullying stops within 10 seconds 57% of the time when a peer bystander intervenes on behalf of children who are being bullied.
This research has also demonstrated that bystanders are present in 85% of bullying episodes, but only intervene 25% of the time. Together, these findings indicate that one of the largest opportunities for reducing bullying is to encourage bystanders to stand up for peers who are bullied, which is the objective of Family Channel’s anti-bullying program.
One of the more alarming findings of the survey is that one in five children (20%) report being bullied continuously for a period of two or more years. These chronically bullied children were also more likely to respond aggressively in a bullying situation, a response that has been proven to make the problem worse. Together, these findings indicate that the longer a bullying situation continues, the more likely it will worsen, thus suggesting that the most severely bullied children need the support of others – peer bystanders and adults – for the situation to improve.
The survey also confirmed interesting differences between girls and boys in terms of how each gender responds to bullying. For example, girls are more likely to inform an adult or peer if they are being bullied – 40% of girls told a peer, 45% of girls told an adult at school and 44% of girls told a parent versus 22%, 33% and 29% of boys, respectively, who did the same. Conversely, twice as many boys fought back physically (25% of boys versus 12% of girls).
Family Channel’s national Bullying Awareness Week has grown in support in the last three years and is supported by individuals, organizations and communities across Canada.
