Bullying and Racism

• Includes being harassed because of a youth’s race, colour, ethnic background, traditions or beliefs.
• For instance, racist remarks, threats, denying a student to play in a game, damaging property.
• Based on race or perceived difference.
• Bullying other young people because of their visible religious symbols.

Four key principles to address racism and bullying:

• Acknowledge that racism exists in wider society, and that it can lead to racist bullying in schools
• Let the students know where you stand and that racism is discriminatory
• Listen to children and young people
• Involve children and young people in solutions

Source: “https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2018-03/respecting-others-anti-bullying-overview.pdf.

Most harassment occurs in the hallways or classrooms of a school

Image source: valerie watson, artbyval.ca

However, the Hostile Hallways report notes:

“Race/ethnicity differentiates these findings. Black girls are more likely than white girls, for instance, to say they are harassed on public transportation to and from school and in the cafeteria. And white boys are twice as likely as Hispanic boys to be harassed in the cafeteria and locker room.”

Source: “Hostile Hallways: Bullying, Teasing and Sexual Harassment in Schools” (2001) commissioned by AAUW Education Foundation, researched by Harris Interactive at 27.

For this study, Harris interviewed a nationally representative sample of 2,064 public school students in eighth through 11th grades (compared to 1,632 in 1993). “When they call me a Paki,” explains nine-year-old Sereena, “it’s not just me they’re hurting. It’s all my family and all other black people too.” – Respecting Others: Bullying around racism, religion and culture at p. 45

There are many similarities between bullying incidents and bullying based on racism, such as they both cause the victim great distress. However, there are some differences in how bullying based on racism affects students. Some differences are:

• “Racism has a long history affecting millions of people and is a common feature in wider society.”
• “The distinctive feature of a racist attack or insult is that a person is attacked not as an individual, as in most other offences, but as the representative of a family, community or group. Other members of the same group, family or community are in consequence made to feel threatened and intimidated as well.”
• “Most bullying involves a series of incidents over time. In the case of racist bullying, however, a single one-off incident may have precisely the same impact as a series of incidents over time. This is because it may be experienced by the person at the receiving end as part of a general pattern of racist hostility.”

Source: “Bullying around racism, religion and culture” (2006), Learning Wales at 45.