Social and Emotional Learning and Bullying Prevention (page 2)

What Is SEL?

SEL is an educational movement gaining ground throughout the world. It focuses on the systematic development of a core set of social and emotional skills that help children more effectively handle life challenges and thrive in both their learning and their social environments. The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines SEL as the processes through which children and adults acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills they need to recognize and manage their emotions, demonstrate caring and concern for others, establish positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and handle challenging social situations constructively.

CASEL has identified five core categories of social and emotional skills:

• Self-awareness—accurately assessing one’s feelings, interests, values, and strengths/ abilities, and maintaining a well-grounded sense of self-confidence
• Self-management—regulating one’s emotions to handle stress, control impulses, and persevere in overcoming obstacles; setting personal and academic goals and then monitoring one’s progress toward achieving them; and expressing emotions constructively
• Social awareness—taking the perspective of and empathizing with others; recognizing and appreciating individual and group similarities and differences; identifying and following societal standards of conduct; and recognizing and using family, school, and community resources
• Relationship skills—establishing and maintaining healthy and rewarding relationships based on cooperation; resisting inappropriate social pressure; preventing, managing, and resolving interpersonal conflict; and seeking help when needed
• Responsible decision-making—making decisions based on consideration of ethical standards, safety concerns, appropriate standards of conduct, respect for others, and likely consequences of various actions; applying decision-making skills to academic and social situations; and contributing to the well-being of one’s school and community.

These skills allow children to calm themselves when angry, initiate friendships, resolve relationship conflicts respectfully, and make ethical and safe choices. To develop these capacities, children need to experience safe, nurturing, and well-managed environments where they feel valued and respected; to have meaningful interactions with others who are socially and emotionally competent; and to receive positive and specific guidance.

Many excellent SEL curricula and programs are available that provide sequential and developmentally appropriate instruction in SEL skills, and structured opportunities for children to practice, apply, and be recognized for using these skills throughout the day. SEL programs are ideally implemented in a coordinated manner throughout the school district, from preschool through high school. Lessons are reinforced in both classroom and non-classroom settings (such as the hallways, cafeteria, and playground), as well as during out-of-school activities and at home. Educators receive ongoing professional development in SEL, and families and schools work together to promote children’s social, emotional, and academic success.

Self-Awareness and Self-Management Skills

Recognize and manage emotions in order to respond to conflict in calm and assertive ways. In order to handle conflicts effectively, children need to be able to recognize when they are getting angry, and learn to calm themselves before reacting. Children who frequently bully others tend to have trouble managing anger and to strike out aggressively. Bosworth, Espelage, and Simon (1999) found that children who are the angriest are the most likely to bully others. Children report that the need to relieve stress and having a bad day are the primary reasons they bully others (Swearer & Cary, 2007).

A recent study found that students expressing higher levels of sadness and emotional instability are more likely to be bullied (Analitis et al., 2009). Hyperactivity and emotional outbursts are the two factors most likely to annoy and provoke peers. Such provocation increases the likelihood of being victimized and not supported by peers over time (Rodkin & Hodges, 2003).

Research suggests that many victims (43 percent) respond to being bullied in an aggressive, retaliatory, or emotionally reactive manner that both prolongs and escalates the bullying episode (Wilton, Craig, & Pepler, 2000). These victims lack effective emotional regulation skills and may yell, scream, or cry in response (the least effective ways to stop bullying), thereby rewarding the aggressor (Goldbaum et al., 2006; Salmivalli, 1999) and making themselves more vulnerable to further victimization.

Social Awareness

Be tolerant and appreciative of differences, and interact empathetically with peers. Research suggests that children often lack empathy for the victims of bullying, and that they view being different from the social ideal, or social norm, as the cause of bullying (Swearer & Cary, 2007). When active bystanders were asked why they chose to intervene, they were likely to attribute feelings of empathy for the victim and a general concern for the well-being of others as motivating factors. Bystanders are also more likely to intervene when they have positive feelings and attitudes toward the victim (Rigby & Johnson, 2006).

Relationship Skills

Initiate and sustain friendships and other relationships. Victimized children tend to have fewer friends, to only have friends who are also victimized, and to have more enemies than non-victimized children (Rodkin & Hodges, 2003). Many are socially withdrawn and lack confidence and skills in effectively interacting with peers (Pelligrini, 2002; Salmivalli, 1999). Because of their lack of peer support, victimized children are less likely to have other children come to their defense when they are bullied (Rodkin & Hodges, 2003; Slaby, 2005).

Research suggests that having high-quality friendships, or at least one best friend, can help prevent children from being victims (Boulton, Trueman, Chau, Whitehand, & Amatya, 1999; Goldbaum, Craig, Pepler, & Connolly, 2006). Interventions that help peer-rejected children learn how to positively communicate with peers (e.g., ask questions, show support, make suggestions) can help them be more accepted by peers, less likely to be bullied, and more likely to be assisted by peers if targeted by a bully (Pelligrini, 2002).

Resist social pressure to enable, encourage, or directly participate in bullying, and actively defend victims. Studies have revealed that when bystanders observe bullying, they spend most of their time either actively participating in the act or passively encouraging the aggressor by serving as an audience; less than one-quarter of the time do they try to assist the victim (O’Connell, Pepler, & Craig, 1999; Slaby, 2005).

There are a variety of reasons that bystanders don’t come to the assistance of victims:

• They are intimidated by the social or physical power of those doing the bullying
• They fear retaliation
• They are reluctant to challenge group norms supporting bullying
• They don’t recognize the act as bullying
• They lack a sense of personal responsibility or self-confidence
• They don’t know what to do to help. 

 It’s worth noting that when bystanders do assert their disapproval of a bullying act, the episode usually ends quickly—in fewer than 10 seconds, in about half the cases (Craig & Pepler, 1997; Salmivalli, 1999).

Be able to seek help from peers or other adults when needed. Research suggests that victims and bystanders typically do not seek help from peers or adults when they are unable to solve the problem on their own (O’Connell et al., 1999). Self-identified victims are particularly likely to blame themselves for their victimization and to “suffer in silence” (Graham, Bellmore, & Juvonen, 2006).

Responsible Decision Making

Think through and resolve social problems effectively and ethically. Effective social problem-solving requires an accurate assessment of the situation. Research indicates that children who frequently bully tend to misinterpret social interactions as being more hostile, adversarial, or provocative than their peers do (Dodge, 1993). These children also tend to hold more supportive beliefs about using violence and are less confident about using nonviolent strategies to resolve conflict (Bosworth et al., 1999). Not surprisingly, these students’ relationships with friends and family members tend to be fraught with conflict (Society for Research in Child Development, 2008).Problem-solving also requires an evaluation of possible and likely consequences. Youngsters who are both bullies and victims tend to be emotionally volatile and to react aggressively before thinking through the consequences (Pelligrini, 2002).

Bullies may narrowly consider the positive short-term consequences of bullying for themselves, but are less likely to consider the negative consequences of their actions on others or on their own relationships over time (Arsenio & Lemerise, 2001). Because of the potentially anonymous nature of cyberbullying, students may be even less likely to recognize and consider the effects that these actions will have on the victims.

Victims also often lack effective social problem-solving skills (Biggam & Power, 1999). Problem-solving strategies are 13 times more effective at de-escalating conflicts than are the aggressive, retaliatory, or emotionally reactive responses most frequently used by targeted children (Wilton et al., 2000). Even among victims who use a problemsolving strategy in response to bullying, the vast majority employ a passive strategy, such as avoiding, acquiescing to, or ignoring the bully, instead of a more effective assertive strategy, such as talking with others to find a solution or asking others for help (Wilton et al., 2000).