Battling the Bully: A Brain-Inspired Approach to

Bullying

Heather Higgins, LCSW-CDirector of Training, UDO

Howard County Public SchoolsHoward County Public SchoolsNovember 8 & 10 2011November 8 & 10 2011

© 2007 The Upside Down Organization

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• 25 Learning Experiences on topics such as ADHD, Poverty, Executive Function, Adolescent Brain, Behavior, Motivation and More!

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About Your PresenterHeather Higgins, LCSW-C is the Director of Training and Development for the Upside Down Organization. Heather has been practicing Social Work for over a decade in Baltimore, MD focusing her efforts on working with children and families.Heather obtained her BA from Loyola University and her MSW from the University of MD, Baltimore. Heather has been working for The Children’s Guild since 2004 on their leadership team and The Upside Down Organization since 2008. She has spent time working with children in residential, school, foster care, outpatient, and inpatient settings.Currently, Heather oversees the training department at UDO and can be found actively presenting interactive workshops and keynote addresses nationwide to child serving professionals and families. Heather provides training in a variety of areas including Poverty and the Brain, Gender Differences in the Classroom, The Teen Brain, ADHD, and Bullying.

Why The Brain?

Because the brain is involved in EVERYTHINGEVERYTHING you – and others – do!

Why the Brain?

Because the brain is

EVERYWHEREEVERYWHERE these days

Bullying and The BrainThe Bully Brain

The Target BrainBullying and Learning

Just a quick review…

The educational field operationally defines bullying as having these 3 distinct features:

1. harassment of the victim occurs over timeover time

2.2. intentintent behind the harassment is either mentally or physically harmfulmentally or physically harmful to the victim

3. an imbalance of powerimbalance of power is apparent.

3 Distinct Features

4 Types of Bullying

Physical• Hitting, slapping,

kicking, pushing, poking, tripping

• Stealing, hiding or ruining ones’ things

• Making someone do things they don’t want to do

Verbal• Name calling• Teasing• Making insults• Making racist or

sexist remarks

Social• Refusing to talk to

someone• Persuading others to

exclude or reject someone

• Spreading lies or rumors about someone

• Making someone do things that they don’t want to do

Cyberbullying

Thirty percent (30%) of U.S. students in grades six

through ten are involved in moderate or frequent bullying.

Each dayEach day

160,000160,000 students miss school students miss school

for fear of being bulliedfor fear of being bullied

“Bullycide” Victims

ME

GH

AN

ER

ICH

OP

E

CA

RL

The Bully Brain

“The Brain Made Ridiculously Simple”

1. The UPS Guy Hippocampus

2. Palace Guard Amygdala3. Learning to Drive Frontal Lobes

Brain Anatomy 101

CerebellumCerebellum

Basic Brain Anatomy

Frontal Lobes

Hippocampus

•The UPS Guy HippocampusHippocampus

Brain Anatomy 101

CerebellumCerebellum

CerebellumCerebellum

Basic Brain Anatomy

Frontal Lobes

Amygdala

– The UPS Guy HippocampusHippocampus

– Palace Guard AmygdalaAmygdala

Brain Anatomy 101

Amygdala creates emotional memories.

PositivePositive

Or negative…Or negative…

“What were were you thinking?”

CerebellumCerebellum

Basic Brain Anatomy

Frontal LobesFrontal Lobes

Frontal Lobe Functions(Partial List)

• Impulse Control

• Organization (Thought and Action)

• Time Orientation

• Reading Social Cues

• Predicting Behavioral Consequences

• Goal Achievement (Telekinesis?)

Why Do the Frontal Lobes Take So Long to Develop?

It’s like learning to drive

Brain Chemistry

• Cortisol Cortisol – “UH-OH”– “UH-OH”• AdrenalineAdrenaline - “YIKES!” - “YIKES!” vs. • Serotonin – “AHH..”• Dopamine – “YAHOO!”

These pairs do not play well together…These pairs do not play well together…

The Bully Brain

Frontal Lobes and Dopamine

Bullies tend to have unusually low Bullies tend to have unusually low levels of anxiety and insecuritylevels of anxiety and insecurity

They tend to have a relatively positive self image.

Hardwired to Bully?

Study had 2 groups of male Study had 2 groups of male teenagers:teenagers:

1) Identified as bullies —history of physical aggression and conduct disorder behaviors.

2) No unusual history of aggression

Hardwired to Bully?

All watched videos clips of All watched videos clips of people enduring physical pain people enduring physical pain (accidentally and intentionally) (accidentally and intentionally) and brain activity was and brain activity was measured.measured.

• Do you think the brain activity in the 2 groups was the same or different?

• If different, how? If the same, why?

(Decety 2008)

Hardwired to Bully?Group 1:Group 1: (the bullies) showed an

activation in the reward system of their brains and no reaction of empathy.

Group 2:Group 2: showed the opposite reaction.(Decety, 2008)

The Bully Brain: Brain Chemistry of Bullies

Decety, J., et al., Atypical empathic responses in adolescents with aggressive conduct disorder: Afunctional MRI investigation. Biol. Psychol. (2008), doi:10.1016/j.biopsycho.2008.09.004

Hardwired to Bully?

The brains of bullies may have a disrupted natural impulse for empathy and respond to watching

people intentionally inflict pain on another with pleasure.

What does this suggest about bullying What does this suggest about bullying prevention and intervention?prevention and intervention?

The Target Brain

The American Medical Association warns that Bullying Bullying

can damage a brain as can damage a brain as much as child abuse can.much as child abuse can.

How Does the Brain Respond?

1. The stress response system has an 1. The stress response system has an exaggerated and prolonged response to exaggerated and prolonged response to other stressors.other stressors.

• Dysregulation of stress chemistry• Increased activation of sympathetic

nervous system

How does traumatic stress influence the developing brain?

How Does the Brain Respond?

How does traumatic stress influence the developing brain?

2. Brain Anatomy is Altered2. Brain Anatomy is Altered•Smaller Corpus Callossum•Smaller Hippocampus•Larger, more active Amygdala•Smaller, less active Frontal Lobes

Social Stress Can Change Our Brains!

Adolescent hamsters exposed to a bullying environment had an accelerated onset of adult-like aggressive behaviors, attacked smaller hamsters, and stopped their natural child like play. (Yvon Delville)

“Bullying Alters Brain Chemistry, Leads to Anxiety”

“The biggest change in behavior was that the traumatized mice were more reluctant to socialize with their fellow mice…also more likely to “freeze” in place for longer periods of time…and to frequently display risk assessment behaviors (indicative of fear and anxiety in humans)”

www.sciencedaily.com

How do these brain changes impact learning?

What Do We (not) Do?

The BullyTraditional punishment

doesn’t work.

• Punishment will often increase anger, that may be taken out on the target.

• You can not demand empathy—it must be developed (in creative ways).

The Target• Tell them you hear them, believe them, Tell them you hear them, believe them,

and that they are not aloneand that they are not alone• Allow time to process the experience, to

receive and feel support.• Teach ways to avoid being

intimidated/bullied.• Practice reading social signals.

What not to do:

Don’t use adult logic in a kid’s world• Remember Brain 101—we are developing until our

mid 20’s

Don’t tell them you know how they feel• Do you? This isn’t about you

Don’t tell the target to ignore the bullying• This sends the message that when people

mistreat/abuse you—just ignore it.

My Action Plan:

•Stop

•Consider

•Start

““Every child Every child needs at least needs at least one adult who one adult who is irrationally is irrationally

crazy about crazy about him.”him.”

― U. Bronfenbrenner

Resources and References• www.bullying.org

• www.stopbullyingnow.com• www.bullystoppers.com

• www.safechild.org• www.b-free.ca

• www.bullypolice.org

• Davis, S (2005), Schools Where Everyone Belongs

• McNamee, A & Mecurio, M (2008), School wide Intervention in the Childhood Bullying Triangle. Childhood Education 370-378

• Blanco, J. (2008) Please Stop Laughing At Me

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