" 'Bullying' means any aggressive and unwanted behavior that is intended to harm, intimidate, or humiliate the victim; involves a real or perceived power imbalance between the aggressor or aggressors and victim; and is repeated over time or causes severe emotional trauma. 'Bullying' includes cyber bullying. 'Bullying' does not include ordinary teasing, horseplay, argument, or peer conflict."
(Code of Virginia: § 22.1-276.01. Definitions)

Get READY to prevent and stop bullying by embedding social/emotional learning in early childhood classrooms to:

Teach children to communicate how they are feeling and how others may be feeling. We must teach the youngest children ways to express themselves. Preschool teachers intervene early and focus on developing pro-social skills.

- "Overall, it is clear that more attention needs to be paid to identifying, researching, and preventing the roots of bullying behavior in young children. It is only when we recognize that bullying behaviors do not simply appear in elementary or middle school, but may be part of a developmental trajectory, that will we be able to stop bullying." (Tempkin & Snow, 2015)
- The National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence, as cited in Tempkin and Snow (2015), "found that 20.4 percent of children ages 2-5 had experienced physical bullying in their lifetime and 14.6 percent had been teased (verbally bullied)."

Respond proactively when young children display overly aggressive behaviors early. These behaviors may become a pattern if adults do not intervene and teach. Early observation and guidance promotes the growth of more constructive emotional and social skills.

- "Children who express themselves by being repeatedly hurtful, physically or verbally, are crying out for adults to investigate their underlying needs and challenges." (Evans, 2011)
- From the HighScope newsletter, an article, Bullying: Can It Begin in Preschool? (Evans 2011), shares information about bullying in the early years and strategies to deal with it.
- An additional resource from the Education Development Center (EDC) includes an article with easy to implement strategies, Eyes on Bullying in Early Childhood (Storey & Slaby, 2013).

Get SET to work systemically to incorporate bullying prevention by:

Building a school-wide infrastructure that supports the implementation and practices of bully prevention:

- "A school-wide approach demonstrates effectiveness and provides a logical framework for the integration of strategies targeting bullying behavior"(Good, McIntosh, & Gietz, [in press])

Creating a school-wide environment that promotes safety for academic, emotional, and social learning:

- "The effectiveness of systems, such as instructional routines, program structure, administrative leadership, staff training, and the implementation of practices of teachers and other school personnel play a crucial role in the sustainability of a school-wide framework approach" (Good, McIntosh, & Gietz [in press]).
- Download Bullying and Harassment Prevention in Positive Behavior Support: Expect Respect (Stiller, Nese, Tomlanovich, Horner, & Ross, 2013), a handbook that provides information on reducing bullying behavior through school-wide positive behavior supports in middle and high school.
- For elementary, download Bullying Prevention in Positive Behavior Support. (Ross, Horner, & Stiller, nd)

For more information, ideas, resources, and tools, GO to:

	U.S. Department of Education: Bullying
	Virginia Department of Education Bullying Prevention Strategies & Programs
	Virginia Department of Health: Youth Violence and Bullying
	Stopbullying.gov: Bullying and Youth with Disabilities and Special Health Need s provides information from various government agencies on bullying
	TTAC Online- type "bullying" in the upper right search box
	I'm Determined: Bully-Free Zone
	PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center: Bullying and Harassment of Students with Disabilities
	Autism Speaks: Combating Bullying
	Horner, R.H., Sugai, G., & Anderson, C.M. (2010). Examining the Evidence Base for School-Wide Positive Behavior Support. Focus on Exceptional Children, 42(8).

References

Code of Virginia (2001) § 22.1-276.01. Definitions . Title 22.1. Education, Chapter 14. Pupils.

Evans, B. (2011). Bullying: Can it Begin in Preschool?

HighScope Extensions: Curriculum Newsletter from HighScope. 25(3).

Finkelhor, D., Turner, H., Ormrod, R. and Hamby, S. L. (2009).The National Survey of Children's Exposure to Violence : Violence, Abuse, and Crime Exposure in a National Sample of Children and Youth. Pediatrics. 123, (5).

Good, C., McIntosh, K., & Gietz, C. (in press). Integrating Bullying Prevention into School-wide Positive Behaviour Support.

Ross, S.W., Horner, R.H., & Stiller, B.C. (nd). Bullying Prevention in Positive Behavior Support.

Stiller, B.C., Nese, R.N.T., Tomlanovich, A.K., Horner, R.H., & Ross, S.W. (2013). Bullying and Harassment Prevention in Positive Behavior Support: Expect Respect. University of Oregon.

Storey, K. & Slaby, R. (2013). Eyes on Bullying in Early Childhood.

Education Development Center, Inc. Waltham, MA.

Tempkin, D., & Snow, K. (2015). To Prevent Bullying, Focus on Early Childhood.

NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children). Washington, D.C.

This news brief is a collaborative effort of the Virginia Department of Education Training and Technical Assistance Centers at George Mason University and James Madison University. This issue was prepared by the staff of the VDOE TTAC at James Madison University. For questions about content, please contact Cathy Cook at cookch@jmu.edu, Gina Massengill at massengk@jmu.edu, or Jacki Nickel at nickeljr@jmu.edu, or call 540.568.6746.