How Educators Can Help Combat Identity-Based Bullying In Schools

Being at school among peers and friends can be exciting and positive for many children and youth. But, too many kids in Canada face the reality of being bullied because of some aspect of who they are. This type of bullying — known as identity-based or bias-based bullying — is extremely harmful to kids' sense of belonging at school, and has negative effects on their physical and mental health, their academic achievement and their social well-being.

As psychology researchers and directors of the Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network (PREVNet), we developed accessible learning modules for educators so they can learn to recognize identity-based bullying, and intervene to stop it. While explicitly developed with education settings in mind, these may also be helpful for parents or other caring adults in situations of influence for children's peer relations. These modules will be available in French by the end of the year.

Harmful to kids' well-being

Bullying has several key elements that make it so harmful to kids' well-being. Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behaviour that is often repeated over time. These behaviours can be verbal, social, physical, sexual and/or cyber in nature. It happens in relationships where there is a power imbalance. In other words, the child who bullies holds more power than the child who experiences the bullying. In the case of identity-based bullying, this power imbalance is rooted in the types of power differences we see at a larger societal level.

Social power dynamics, identity-based bullying

It is well-documented that Indigenous youth, Black youth, 2SLGBTQIA+ youth and youth with disabilities experience discrimination in Canada. But why? Put simply, these experiences of discrimination are rooted in Canada's settler-colonial history, which institutionalised racialised, class-based and colonial norms and forms of social privilege.

These institutionalised forms of privilege resulted in greater political, social and economic power being granted to groups as they more closely aligned with these norms, with the greatest power allotted to those at the top of this “civilised” ideal: people who are white (western European), Christian, wealthy, cisgender, heterosexual, settler men.

Groups who have been granted unearned power and privilege through these systems work to maintain their power through things like stigma, discrimination and other forms of oppression, while groups marginalized as “other” — less aligned with these dominant norms — continue to experience and hold less power across the socio-political-economic spectrum. And, youth who hold more than one socially marginalised identity often experience even greater discrimination.

Schools as societal institutions

Since schools are societal institutions, the discrimination and other forms of oppression that are used by dominant groups to maintain power in larger society are mirrored within schools through identity-based bullying. With identity-based bullying, the power imbalance that is a key feature of bullying behaviour is rooted in these larger social power imbalances. Because we all hold multiple social identities, a social power perspective also explains how these identities interact. Take, for example, a situation where a white, queer student is bullying a Black, queer student. Although both students are marginalised based on their queer identities, the white student still benefits from the power and privilege afforded to whiteness. So, this situation still reflects a power dynamic based on social identities.

Educator interventions

Identity-based bullying is likely an issue in your neighbourhood school. In data we collected from 1,200 youth across Canada in 2023, one in three reported identity-based bullying because of their body weight, race or skin colour, disability, religion, sexual orientation and/or gender identity.

Second, identity-based bullying impacts kids' experiences at school. For example, a recent study from the United States found that youth who experienced multiple forms of identity-based bullying were the most likely to report avoiding class or activities. This study also found that if these same students felt more supported by adults at their school, they reported less school avoidance. This means caring educators are a protective factor for youth experiencing identity-based bullying. Our research has proposed ways educators specifically can prevent identity-based bullying in their schools:

1) Educators (or other adults engaged in a school community) could examine their school board policy on bullying, and make sure it specifically mentions the role of social identities. If it doesn't, educators can work to change it. A great example of naming identities when defining bullying can be seen in the Northwest Territories' Education Act.

2) Be self-reflective and aware. As a first step, educators can explore their own unconscious biases and reflect on how they may be influencing the classroom climate.

3) Be a positive role model. Students look to adults about how to behave. Celebrate the strengths of all students and role model how to be respectful and inclusive. Also role model how to helpfully intervene when harmful behaviour occurs.

4) Actively create opportunities for positive peer dynamics in the classroom. Be intentional about creating groups to ensure that students who are excluded are given the opportunity to interact and work with students who are kind and prosocial, and who may have similar interests and abilities.

5) Empower all students to intervene safely and effectively. Actively educate students on how to recognise identity-based bullying and provide strategies that will help all students to be positive allies.

6) Work at classroom, school and community levels to create a welcoming, inclusive environment for all children. For educators, this can include things like conducting curriculum review, actively incorporating learning about power, privilege and oppression, creating and supporting clubs like gay-straight alliances and working to create a trauma-informed classroom.

These strategies can be consolidated and deepened through engaging with our new anti-bullying training modules, which focus specifically on identity-based bullying. In these ways, educators and other caring adults can help kids understand the difference between using power negatively and positively, and encourage its positive use to build inclusive, respectful and safe environments for all.

(Deinera Exner-Cortens, Elizabeth (Liz) Baker, University of Calgary, and Wendy Craig, Queen's University)