Districts Placing More Focus On Covert Aggression Among Adolescent And Preadolescent Girls 7/24/2002
From: Sally Banks Zakariya, 703-838-6231, or Glenn Cook, 703-838-6234, both of the American School Board Journal Web site: http://www.asbj.com ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 24 -- Ostracism, put-downs, and other forms of covert aggression among girls are receiving increased attention in schools in the wake of two recent books, but districts are finding that changing deeply ingrained behavior is not easy. School officials, counselors, and psychologists who have seen girls' covert aggression at work say it should receive the same attention as physical bullying, but that it often goes on unabated because it does not disrupt order in the classroom or the school, according to the August issue of American School Board Journal. "If your kid has a knot in her stomach every day, how will she pay attention in class?" said Anne Cass, principal of Riverdale High School, near Portland, Ore. "You know gossip is ugly. I've seen enough kids with their stomachs clenched, day after day, in pain." Adolescent and preadolescent girls wield enormous power over their peers, a fact spotlighted by the publication of two recent books - Rosalind Wiseman's Queen Bees and Wannabes and Rachel Simmons' Odd Girl Out. While gossiping, name-calling, and excluding may not give other girls black eyes or bloody lips, they can be as harmful as physical intimidation, violence, and racial slurs, researchers say. "Power corrupts," said Stan Davis, a school counselor in Maine and founder of Stop Bullying Now. "These girls are given the power to say, 'You live, you die,' and it destroys them." On the whole, girls are more likely than boys to withhold friendship as an act of aggression. Some researchers have suggested that girls are biologically predisposed to value relationships and emotional connections more than boys do, so that's the arena in which they express their emotions. Relational aggression, as social science researchers call it, can be lessened through anti-bullying programs that raise awareness of the problem, target school culture, and work with girls directly. Cass' district is working with the Ophelia Project, a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization in Erie, Pa., that has developed school-based programs to address girls' aggression. "Most schools have policies on physical aggression," said Susan Wellman, the Ophelia Project's founder. "We realized they don't have a system in place to deal with the more covert aggression." The Ophelia Project focuses on schoolwide change, rather than addressing small numbers of girls. Wellman said changing this behavior takes a commitment from the whole community, teachers, administrators, school board members, and parents. It requires that all participants be willing to examine long-held assumptions and uncover personal prejudices. "It works, but it's a slow process," Cass said. "It's messy stuff." ------ American School Board Journal (http://www.asbj.com) is the award-winning, editorially independent education magazine of the National School Boards Association in Alexandria, Va. Founded in 1891, ASBJ covers a broad range of topics pertinent to school governance and management, policy making, student achievement, and the art of school leadership. In addition, regular departments cover education news, school law, research, and new books. Opinions expressed in the magazine do not necessarily reflect positions of the National School Boards Association. | |