Teasing and Bullying: Together, we can put a stop to It!

Handouts from presentation by Jaan Pill, International Stuttering Awareness Day, University of Toronto, October 21, 2007

Three topics:

• What is bullying?
• Bullying of kids who stutter
• What can we do to reduce bullying?

Many people have contributed to the study of bullying.

Dan Olweus of Norway is a pioneer in the systematic study of bullying. An anti-bullying program he developed has been applied in many countries.

Debra Pepler of York University and the Hospital for Sick Children, and Wendy Craig of Queen’s University, have done extensive research related to bullying in Canadian schools.

Barbara Coloroso of the USA is author of a book on bullying and another on genocide among other books.

Definitions

We need to take care in how we define things, so we can be sure we’re talking about the same things.

• Pepler and Craig define bullying as a problem of relationships; they view it as the assertion of interpersonal power through aggression. It involves negative physical or verbal action that has hostile intent, causes distress to the victims, is repeated over time, and involves a power differential between bullies and their victims.
• Coloroso defines bullying as a conscious, willful, deliberate activity intended to harm, to induce fear through the threat of further aggression, and to create terror in the target. In her view, even a single instance of a harmful activity can be defined as bullying. Her definition does not restrict itself to activities that are repeated over time. Contempt is a key ingredient of bullying, according to Coloroso. Contempt is a powerful feeling of dislike toward somebody considered to be worthless, inferior, or undeserving of respect.