Bullying G: A Case Study from South Korea

This case is a mixture of cyberbullying and in-person bullying from Kimberly Cochrane's personal experience. Students' names have been shorted to letters to protect the identity of the students. (Kimberly has written the case study, all group members have commented upon it and Adrian has written a summary of the suggested action points.)

G is fifteen years old. She attends the lower-intermediate English language class at the after school English academy where I work. She is very soft spoken. She is highly sensitive and still learning about her own social and emotional health. Unfortunately this self-consciousness has attracted “friends” who push her around and do not boost her confidence. She attends class every day with these other students. I see her in class once a week.

When I first met G at her after school English academy, she did not volunteer any answers. I was concerned, so I quietly approached her while everyone worked. She started crying for a yet unknown reason. Then it turned into crying because she was crying. The other teachers acted “fed-up” with her, dismissing her as over-sensitive. I expressed concern.

Sometimes her crying would start because she forgot her book and did not tell anyone. Sometimes the crying would start because it seemed that everyone knew what to do when she did not. I found that she also had trouble with her classmates, whom she called friends. They often wrote rude notes. G snuck her phone into class, against academy rules. She was also being bullied via text, and when I made her put her phone away, she seemed desperate, asking to go to the restroom. I was very concerned about her, and started talking to the other teachers about what to do. After two months of knowing her (8 classes), I found out G was no longer coming to the academy. She changed to another academy.

Around the time she left, a new girl, N, joined her class. I wondered if N would become the new victim of bullying. Instead the dynamic shifted, it became more positive. Students refrained from bullying one another, and they all had a good time.

G just returned to my class last week (I now see the students twice a week.). She noted the change in the dynamic. She expressed to the Korean staff that she felt like everyone had changed, and there was no more room for her. Quickly, she has fallen back in with her old friends.

In her time away, she seemed to have gained some confidence. During the first class back, she engaged in what seemed like friendly banter, and then 30 minutes into the 40 minute class, seemingly without rhyme or reason, the ringleader of the bullying and G’s “best friend” slapped her on the back, hard. I looked over to see G’s reaction, and she looked hurt, upset. Because these are lower level students, and I knew their background with bullying, I checked in with eye contact with G and her bully, and then I walked out to ask for help from their Korean teacher. The Korean pulled both girls out of class to talk to them. Then she told me that G said it was a friendly hit, they were playing around, and everything was ok, they were friends, but for the last 10 minutes of class the atmosphere was different.

Action Steps
Through our discussions below, we have decided upon the following action steps:
 * 1) There needs to be a mix of immediate, medium term and long term interventions.
 * 2) Kimberly will urgently prepare a lesson on bullying, empathy and the ally concept. Her immediate goal will be to have all students in the class recognise this behavior as bullying. If she receives a favourable response, she hopes that G may be willing to come forward in order to discuss her reactions to and feelings about this behavior.
 * 3) It will also be important to set out a clear set of rules for behavior in this classroom and, hopefully, these will emerge from the class discussion. They could include: a clear "keep your hands to yourself" rule, guidance on unacceptable language, and a student behavior contract, all coupled with the introduction of a "be a part of the solution, not a part of the problem" principle.
 * 4) In the medium term, there will need to be ongoing discussion and review of the problem together with an effort, throughout the school and with all faculty members, to coordinate and develop a coherent anti-bullying culture, backed up by suitable and enforceable "zero tolerance" based policies. Given the less than understanding approach of Kimberly's colleagues to date, it will be essential to secure the buy-in of the school's principal and staff.
 * 5) In the medium to longer term, G may need counselling with help given to assist her deal with the issues she has faced.