Running head: Prevention is Key

Prevention is Key: Bullying Within the Early Childhood Classroom

Candace Garland

Martin Methodist College
Dr. Tina Thornton Smith
EDU 331
Educational Assessment
November 30, 2015

Statement of the Problem
Child disciplinary problems come in many different forms. No matter the form, a behavior problem can prove to be of tremendous stress on a classroom teacher. Teachers claim making classroom adaptations to accommodate these problems proves to be more difficult than making instructional modifications (Crothers, 2008). Kolbert (2008) says that early intervention is critically important in preventing and reducing children’s behavior problems.
A classroom at an early childhood care facility contains a group of 11 four-year-old children. One teacher monitors these children throughout the day. The classroom teacher has noticed a patterned behavior within the classroom that causes concern. A few implementations and modifications have been my made by the teacher with few results. The behaviors observed include name-calling, insulting, ridicule, and teasing. The teacher would like to implement research-based strategies on bullying and character education within the early childhood classroom to positively impact the classroom environment and prevent possible future problems with the behavior.
Review of Related Literature
Due to many highly publicized incidents of the matter, school violence has become a major area of concern among teachers, students, school officials, and the general public. These events have stressed the importance of introducing preventative efforts earlier, during the preschool/primary years, to all who work with children (Levine, 2013). Fostering a sense of understanding of the concept of bullying within young children can be a critical step in the prevention of bullying. Discussing the term of bullying and all that it entails can help to foster this sense of understanding in young children. Levine (2013) discusses the use of picture books to enhance these classroom discussions. “By providing young children with culturally relevant texts and exposing them to backgrounds that are different from their own, then they will expect individuals to be unique and celebrate their differences” (Levine, 2013).
Bullying occurs at all ages in many different forms. There are four general types of bullying, or victimization, seen in young children including physical, verbal, social exclusion, and rumor spreading (Freeman 2013). Although these types of behavior may seem developmental, the recurrence of the conduct could lead to more severe forms of bullying in the future. Freeman (2013) states that preschool children obtain a better understanding of bullying features and strategies for dealing with bullying through the reading of picture books and character education activities with a bullying theme. Freeman (2013) defines character education as “the instruction of fundamental ethical values and encouragement of good behavior in the classroom”. Basically, students need skills, attitudes, and a disposition that allows for a friendly, positive, and fun learning environment.
As with most behavioral problems, prevention of bullying problems can prove to be easier than reacting to the problem once it has already occurred. Crothers (2008) states that an important first step of addressing childhood bullying is assessment of the behavior. Crothers (2008) introduces the idea of collecting data that groups students into three groups based on certain behavioral descriptors. The three groups used by Crothers (2008) are bullies, victims, and bystanders. Once students have been observed and placed into a category, intervention steps can be taken to alleviate the problem. Crothers (2008) introduces the intervention technique of sensitization to the problem so that children are able to identify and talk about bullying and the experiences that accompany the behavior. This type of sensitization can be taught through the use of videos, books, discussions, drama, and puppet shows for younger children (Crothers 2008). These types of activities will allow students to relate to the different characters and better understand the concept of bullying.
There are many lessons students need to learn to discourage bullying behavior, many of which can only be taught by the teacher, leaving teachers at the core of bully prevention (Shore 2009). The incorporation of anti-bullying themes or lessons into the classroom is one way to teach these needed lessons to students. One of the ways in which students identify is through literature. Shore (2009) says books that allow students to relate to characters may be comforting to students who may have fallen victim to bullying. This type of lesson also lends itself to discussion in which students will be able to share their own stories and broaden their understanding of the concept of bullying.
There are many instances within an early childhood classroom in which approaches can be made to reduce teasing and bullying. The relationship between teachers and students should be one in which the student feels comfortable enough to tell their teacher if they are experiencing problems such as teasing or bullying. Froschi (1999) states that books can be used to start discussions so that students feel comfortable talking about teasing and bullying. This strategy allows the students to feel more comfortable within the classroom environment as well as making them feel more safe and welcome.
Method
This research involves three children at Kidz Kingdom Childcare in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. The students were observed for an entire week beginning Monday, November 9th, 2015 and ending Friday, November 13th, 2015. The observations begin at 9 AM and end at 3 PM. The students will be referred to as Child 1, Child 2, and Child 3, and Child 4. Child 1, Child 2, and Child 3 are four-year-old females who attend childcare at the center daily. Child 4 is a four-year-old male who also attends the center daily.
The research conducted implements children’s literature into a unit lesson over character education with a bullying theme. The purpose of this research is to strengthen the participants’ understanding of bullying while also building character in hopes to eliminate behavioral problems within the classroom. The main problems within the classroom include name-calling, aggressive behavior, and teasing.
Child 1 is a very outgoing student with a big personality. She enjoys most activities so long as it is not independent work. She makes friends very easily and gets along with all other children in the class. However, Child 1 prefers to only have one friend at a time and isolates all others. Because this child is so popular within the class the isolation hurts many feelings and causes behavioral problems. Child 1 uses teasing as a means of isolation. These behaviors are the main problem areas with Child 1.
Child 2 is a moderately outgoing student whose feelings are easily hurt. She enjoys all activities in the classroom. She is quiet but makes friends fairly easily. Child 2 often falls victim to being left out among other classmates because she has a more quiet nature. Child 2 retaliates to these types of incidents through name-calling.
Child 3 is a reserved student with a speech impediment. She is creative and especially enjoys art activities. Despite her speech impediment, she easily makes friends. However, Child 3 often times falls victim to name-calling and teasing due to her inability to communicate at the same level of other students. When incidents such as this occur, Child 3 will retaliate with aggressive behavior.
Child 4 is an outgoing student who thoroughly enjoys independent work. Despite being outgoing, Child 4 has difficulty making friends due to his demeanor. His main issue in the classroom is teasing other students.
On Monday there were no new changes implemented. Behavior was recorded as a typical day in the classroom. Data was collected based on what behaviors were observed and how many times the behavior was observed. On Tuesday the book Llama Llama and the Bully Goat by Anna Dewdney was read aloud during circle time. After the story, the teacher started a discussion on bullying and what it means to be a bully. She told students that we were going to work on being better friends in the classroom and asked children what it meant to be a good friend. She then asked children what parts they remembered from the book and many students remembered the name-calling. She used this moment to ask students if they had ever been called a name and how it felt. Child 3 quickly told stories of how she had been called names and how it was not nice. The teacher then held a discussion on how name-calling was not nice and hurt feelings.
On Wednesday the teacher read the book The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill. After reading the story the teacher asked what the children thought about the events in the book. The students quickly responded by saying how kicking, hitting, and being mean like Jean was in the book was not nice. The teacher then asked students if they had ever had anyone be mean to them like Jean was in the book. The students quickly responded by telling stories about how other students had been mean to them on the playground. The teacher then told students that being aggressive was not nice and could hurt their friends just like name-calling could hurt our friends.
On Thursday the teacher read the book The Tease Monster by Julia Cook. The teacher then told the students that sometimes teasing is a way to make friends, but sometimes it can make us lose friends. She then asked students when they thought it was okay to tease and when it wasn’t. The students all said that if it was being mean or hurting someone’s feelings it wasn’t a nice tease. Child 3, who had been falling victim to teasing, said, “a mean tease could make someone cry”. The class then discussed how teasing can sometimes lead to bullying.
On Friday the teacher asked students to tell her what types of books they had been reading this week. The students all responded with “books about being a good friend”. She then told students that they were going to have a puppet show to finish off their week of learning about being nice to our friends. The students were all very excited and watched eagerly as the teacher acted out a bullying scene. The scene was about a pig that was being made fun of by an elephant. The elephant was calling the pig names and teasing him because he was smaller than him. The elephant stepped on the pig and a lion came along and scared the elephant by growling. The lion told the elephant that there was always going to be someone bigger than him. The dialogue continued with the lion teaching the elephant how to be a good friend to the pig. Afterwards, the teacher reminded the students that name-calling, being aggressive or physical, and teasing was not a good way to make or keep friends. The students were paired off and allowed to take turns creating their own puppet show about being a good friend throughout the day.
Results
The children were observed for a weeklong period. On Monday no new changes were made. Data was recorded when behavioral problems were observed. Child 1 was reprimanded for name-calling once and teasing three times. Child 2 was scolded for name-calling four times, and teasing once. There were two instances in which Child 3 used aggressive behavior. Child 4 received reprimand twice for teasing, and once for aggressive behavior.
On Tuesday the book Llama Llama and the Bully Goat was read. The class had a discussion on name-calling and how it can lead to bullying. On this day Child 1 received scolding for teasing twice, and none for name-calling. Child 2 received reprimand for name calling once, and teasing twice. There was one instance in which Child 3 used aggressive behavior. Child 4 received reprimand two times for teasing. The number of instances of name-calling with the students dropped drastically from Monday. The students seemed to grasp the concept that name-calling was hurtful to their peers and appeared to be trying to be more polite and friendly to one another throughout the course of their day.
On Wednesday the book The Recess Queen was read aloud during circle time. After reading the story the class had a discussion on aggressive behavior was not nice and could hurt our friends. Child 1 received two reprimands for teasing, but none for any other behaviors. Child 2 was scolded for teasing twice, and name-calling once. Child 3 had one instance of aggressive behavior. Child 4 was reprimanded for teasing once. The number of instances of teasing dropped and students’ seemed to have a better understanding of things that could hurt their peers’ feelings.
On Thursday the teacher read the book The Tease Monster. The students then had a discussion on the difference between a mean tease and a nice tease. They also discussed how sometimes teasing can lead to bullying. Child 1 was reprimanded once for teasing. Child 4 was scolded once for aggressive behavior. Child 2 and Child 3 received no reprimands on this day.
On Friday the teacher acted out a puppet show. The children were also paired off and allowed to take turns creating their own puppet show about being a good friend throughout the day. Child 3 and Child 4 had no incidents of name-calling, aggressive behavior, or teasing on Friday. Child 1 received one reprimand for teasing. There was also one instance where Child 2 was scolded for name-calling. There are individual as well as a classroom results in table format in attached appendixes.

Works Cited
Crothers, L., & Kolbert, J. (2008). Tackling a Problematic Behavior Management Issue: Teachers’ Intervention in Childhood Bullying Problems. Intervention in School and Clinic, 132-239.
Freeman, G. (2013). The Implementation of Character Education and Children’s Literature to Teach Bullying Characteristics and Prevention Strategies to Preschool Children: An Action Research Project. Early Childhood Education Journal, 305-316.
Froschi, M., & Sprung, B. (1999). Beat Bullying in Early Childhood. Young Children, 70-72.
Levine, E., & Tamburrino, M. (2013). Bullying Among Young Children: Strategies for Prevention. Early Childhood Education Journal, 271-278.
Shore, K. (2009). Preventing Bullying: Nine Ways to Bully-Proof Your Classroom. NJEA Review, 10-13.
Top of Form

Child 1 | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Name CallingAggressive BehaviorTeasing | 103 | 002 | 002 | 001 | 001 |
Appendix 1
Appendix 1 is a table made to show the changes in behavior from day to day with Child 1. On Monday there were a total of four instances of bad behavior, Tuesday there were two, Wednesday there were three, Thursday there was one, and Friday there was one. Child 2 | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Name CallingAggressive BehaviorTeasing | 401 | 102 | 102 | 000 | 100 |
Appendix 2
Appendix 2 is a table made to show the changes in behavior from day to day with Child 2. On Monday there were a total of five instances of bad behavior, Tuesday there were three, Wednesday there were three, Thursday there were none, and Friday there was one.

Child 3 | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Name CallingAggressive BehaviorTeasing | 020 | 020 | 010 | 000 | 000 |
Appendix 3
Appendix 3 is a table made to show the changes in behavior from day to day with Child 3. On Monday there were a total of two instances of bad behavior, Tuesday there were two, Wednesday there was one, Thursday there was none, and Friday there were none. Child 4 | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Name CallingAggressive BehaviorTeasing | 012 | 002 | 001 | 010 | 000 |
Appendix 4
Appendix 4 is a table made to show the changes in behavior from day to day with Child 4. On Monday there were a total of three instances of bad behavior, Tuesday there were two, Wednesday there was one, Thursday there was one, and Friday there were one.

Classroom Totals | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Name CallingAggressive BehaviorTeasing | 536 | 126 | 115 | 011 | 101 |
Appendix 5
Appendix 5 is a table made to show the changes in behavior from day to day with all four children. On Monday there were a total of fourteen instances of bad behavior, Tuesday there were nine, Wednesday there were seven, Thursday there was two, and Friday there was two.