A Sense of Doubt blog post #3784 - LIFESPAN class assignment: COUNSELING degree program: Moral Development: Bullying
In my continuing series of posting things I am writing for graduate school, the next installment is a post on bullying.
This topic is especially important to me as I explain below.
I hope you enjoy this post if you give it a read.
Week Four Discussion MAIN POST - BULLYING
Chris Tower
COUN-6215-18 - Lifespan
Instructor - Dr. Kristin Page
2506.18
I was bullied as a child and an adolescent, and so I chose
bullying for this assignment. I know I am not unique in being bullied, which is
so common that many of my student colleagues in this course may have been
bullied as well or have seen members of their families bullied. Though bullying
takes multiple forms, it is a “redundant, monotonous, and destructive, power
based behavior among students” (Jan & Husain, 2015, p.43). From a
developmental perspective, the causes of bullying are multi-factorial, though
often are under-pinned by an element related to the moral development of the
self. Broderick & Blewitt (2025) stipulate that the incidents of bullying
decline as children age, especially in second through eighth grades after which
they claim that the rate of decline lessens (p. 296). Presumably, the decline
in bullying may be due to the development of prosocial behaviors (p. 287) and
an evolution of logical thinking, which provides a basis for moral development
as cognitive theorists like Piaget and Kohlberg purported (p. 282). However,
that evidence should not suggest that bullying stops in the teenage years or
beyond. Even adults bully other adults. The case of immoral behavior examined
in this post comes from high school aged adolescents, the time period of
supposed decline in bullying activity. Bullying frequency varies by country and
region, and statistics should be understood as incomplete due to how they are
collected and/or how (or if) incidents of bullying are reported. Two surveys in
2022 and 2023 reported via the U.S. government’s site stopbullying.gov
confirmed the rate at around 19% for ages 12-18 (Frequency, 2024) – the age
group for the case to be examined in this post – whereas Broderick &
Blewitt (2025) shared rates as high as over 50% in China in 2010 or at 38%
among Canadian fourth graders studied in 2016 (p. 296). Regardless of the
number of incidents within any age group population, antisocial behaviors like
bullying have long term effects for the perpetrators, the victims, peers,
families, school staff, and for society. The developmental psychopathology of
bullying can be traced to conduct disorders or even oppositional defiant
disorders that can lead to antisocial personality disorders in adults (p. 303).
Some of these behaviors are childhood- or adolescent-limited though they can be
life-course persistent, especially if ADHD or other comorbidities are present
(Broderick & Blewitt, 2025, pp. 303-304). Because a healthy and
highly-functional civil society relies on the prosocial behaviors of its
population, and bullying damages the health of society at all levels, research
and advocacy must continue to better define the multi-factorial causes of this
anti-social behavior and devise multiple interventions through the childhood
and adolescent years to reduce its frequency, thus promoting better public
mental health in families, schools, and communities.
Description of Event and Immoral
Behavior
In late February or March of 2025, five students forcibly
assaulted another male-identifying student, lifting him up, and attempting to
put his head in a toilet. A video circulating on social media brought the
incident in Pana, Illinois to the attention of Pana High School officials and
the police. The video seems to confirm that the victim’s head did not make
contact with the toilet, and he “received no visible injuries.” The police
began an investigation to ensure accountability and that such incidents do not
happen again (WAND Digital Team, 2025). The investigation appears to still be
ongoing at the time of this assignment as no updates have been issued since
April, 2025.
Many will recognize this incident by the slang-term “swirlie,” a
form of bullying so common it has been depicted in films, such as
The Year My Voice Broke. Though something that causes many
to laugh and/or dismiss as typical school hazing, the incident is an assault
and should be treated as a crime. Victims of such assaults endure lasting
trauma and could even suffer from PTSD (American Psychiatric Association [APA],
2022, p.305), depression, anxiety, and/or suicidal ideation (Broderick &
Blewitt, 2025, p. 304). Furthermore, being bullied can increase risk of
developing separation anxiety disorder as a young adult (APA, 2022, p. 219) or
even dissociative identity disorder (APA, 2022, p. 333). If my own experience
is similar to that of many other victims of bullying, I can share that having
experienced incidents very similar to
the one reported from Pana High that the lasting traumatic effects have
lingered in some way my entire life. Anecdotally, in discussions with other
adults over the years, these post-trauma and lingering effects are common among
victims of bullying.
Factors Contributing to Immoral
Behavior
Determining causes for the Pana High School incident is pure
conjecture given the dearth of information about those involved.
The report of the incident gives no indication for the causes of
the incident or who is involved by name or even the identifying genders of the
perpetrators as well as whether the video was recorded by a perpetrator or
by-stander. The victim could have been targeted for being a member of the LBGTQ
community or due to race-based or culturally-based bigotry. If not, other
factors may apply, such as a desire for perpetrators to dominate (show of
power), because perpetrators have low self-esteem, or even because perpetrators
have a failure to identify their behavior as a problem (Bullying, 2025).
Additionally, trying to change popularity or social status could be motivating
factors as well as desire for revenge/payback or attention/drama. Furthermore,
root causes from the perpetrator’s home environment or their own psychological
issues may be factors (Causes, 2025). Though conduct problems and aggressive
behavior have physiological and neuropsychological influences – such as genetic
markers or trait impulsivity – there are also adverse environmetnal influences,
such as hostile and abusive parenting (Broderick & Blewitt, 2025, p.
305-306) leading to the multi-factorial causes for bullying. Callous-unemotional
traits (lack of empathy and remorse among others) may be inherited, especially
for early onset behaviors and those that are life-course persistent (carrying
into adulthood) (Broderick & Blewitt, 2025, p. 305). Other research echoes
this potential cause. Wilke & Goagoses (2023) published an article in BMC
Psychology on morality in middle childhood, specifically “the role of
callous-unemotional traits and emotion regulation skills.” The authors found
that children with “higher levels of callousness and uncaring” also experienced
low levels of emotional regulation skills (p. 8). Though focused on middle
childhood (ages 6-12), the concepts can surely apply across the age range in
regards to bullying or can start early and persist into adolescence, the age
range for the Pana High incident.
Though little is known about the motivating factors of the Pana
High incident, group dynamics obviously are one such factor. When five students
team up to terrorize one student, it is often due to a one bully motivating or
even coercing the others and may have greater social status implications, which
are likely in the Pana High case, especially because of the video recording
posted to social media. These factors go hand in hand as peer groups and
video-sharing both affect social status. In the The Journal of Psychology,
Wang et. al. (2019) conjectured that deviant peer affiliation is an important
driver of bullying (p. 199). The authors defined “deviant peer affiliation” as
associations with others who exhibit “problem behaviors, such as cheating,
aggressive behavior, and substance abuse” (p. 200). These groups become
strongly influential over their members reinforcing aggression and tendencies
to bully. This definition by Wang et. al. (2019) echoes concepts in multiple
sources that bullies form homogenous groups of like-minded individuals, a
pattern of behavior possibly evident in the cited incident from Pana High
School. Bullying as a group process in establishing a place in a social
hierarchy is echoed throughout evidence-based literature, such as in Jan &
Husain (2015) in the Journal of Education and Practice, defining
multiple roles including ringleader, assistant, reinforcer, defender, victim,
and bystanders (p.44), all of which may well be in play in the Pana High
incident. Given that at least one Pana High student circulated a video of the
incident on social media, it is possible that the video was part of the
intention, a further bullying humiliation beyond just the physical assault. As
documented by Ye et al. (2024) in an editorial in the Behavioral Sciences
journal about maladaptive and deviant behaviors in schools, “new media
addictions,” specifically “short video addiction” can be a driving force for
bullying behavior (p. 2). Specifically drawn from studies conducted in China,
there’s every reason to extrapolate these results to anywhere in the world,
especially the U.S., as the short videos surely refer to Tik Tok, a social
media platform owned by a Chinese company.
Tik Tok Hate article-study - "The Hatescape"
Interventions
Though many interventions have been devised and practiced for
decades, bullying persists, even after pledges to end bullying entirely
following school shootings in which bullying may have been a motivating factor.
Broderick & Blewitt (2025) emphasize that teachers are the front-line in
the war against bullying. They fail in this effort if they normalize the
victimization or tell children to solve the problems on their own. However,
bullying happens as often or more often outside of supervision, especially in
today’s technological world of ever-increasing cyber-bullying. The best
strategies may be school-wide interventions and parent-training initiatives,
multi-level programs that change peer and family ecologies (pp. 297-298). Often
these programs are developmentally-focused. Wilke & Goagoses (2023)
promoted prevention and intervention programs on developing emotional
regulation skills along with social-cognitive skills to allow children to
“solve social problems,” along with other influencing factors, such as
parenting (pp. 10-11). Though Broderick & Blewitt (2025) suggested that
more narrowly targeted interventions may work better at higher grade levels (p.
298) – such as in the Pana High case – in a study conducted by Garandeau et al.
(2025) and published in the International Journal of Behavioral Development,
the authors argued that targeted interventions should not focus on urging
perpetrators of bullying to admit to their actions. Their study found that
though admitting to bullying did not prompt positive change: “admitting to
bullying others, compared with denying it, was actually associated with higher
levels of bullying behavior 1 year later in control schools” (p. 9). The
authors postulated that deniers may be more willing to participate in discussions
in which they are not openly blamed for bullying. The authors suggested that
raising awareness of the problem of bullying school-wide may be more effective
as a deterrent than confrontation in a targeted intervention (p. 9), an idea
that echoes those advocated by Broderick & Blewitt (2025). Even technology
can assist in these targeted interventions. Ye et al. (2024) suggest use of
generative AI as “listening, chatting, and counseling” tools for victims or
perpetrators of maladaptive and deviant behaviors in schools, I.e. bullying.
Though AI is a tool and not a replacement for human-interaction and
communication in and outside of counseling.
Regardless of the interventions employed to reduce or end
bullying, additional research is needed for this very complex issue. Though
little is known about who committed the Pana High assault or why, and much of
the conjecture in this post though likely is not definitive, it is
well-documented that issues with moral development of perpetrators of bullying
may be a central factor in all such cases. Studies by Wang et. al. (2019)
indicated a relationship between moral identity and moral disengagement that
gives rise to bullying. The authors suggested further study establishing a
stable moral identity may preserve it from influence by “external social
contacts, such as deviant peer affiliation” (p. 209). The authors rated moral
identity in regards to being “caring, compassionate, fair, friendly, generous,
honest, and kind” along with moral disengagement and bullying perpetration on
similar opposite-type scales (p. 204). With additional evidence-based research
into moral identity as with Wang et. al. (2019), mental public health support
can further promote “a strong sense of self-worth and a sturdy moral compass...
important for building and participating in a civil society” (Broderick &
Blewitt, 2025, p. 298). Given that the Pana High School administration and the
local police are taking the bullying incident in the circulating video very
seriously, there’s a good sign that if other communities follow that example
that decades from now rates of bullying will be far lower than currently
reported. Additional focus on children’s mental health is crucial for the
development of a well-functioning civil society, especially given that poor
children’s mental health predicts worse educational outcomes and eventually
lower incomes for those adults, directly affecting national labor markets as
documented by Currie (2024) in a special issue on the economics of child mental
health published in the Journal of Human Resources. Because of these
lasting effects, health professionals need to remember that character education
relies on schools along with family and community contexts as primary supports
for developing prosocial values and behaviors.
Summary
Despite the extensive research already devoted to the causes of
and interventions for bullying, nearly every scholar’s study called for
additional research to a problem that is complex, multi-factorial,
context-specific, and one with long-lasting effects for perpetrators, victims,
and communities as a whole. Though eliminating bullying is the goal of many
advocates for improved public mental health, the antisocial behavior persists,
and some genetic influences for it may never be wholly eradicated. Though the
prevalence and importance of short-video social media sharing technology among
adolescents may have been a central feature in the Pana High School assault,
technology such as generative AI assisting with counseling perpetrators and
victims may be a positive use of these often maligned technological systems.
Regardless, root causes for bullying in poor moral development due to
callous-unemotional traits, moral disengagement, and/or negative peer
affiliation are some of the many factors to investigate further in promoting
improvements prosocial behaviors. Comorbidities like ADHD that can lead to poor
impulse control among other latent factors can also be addressed with
improvements to public mental health starting in the home, the preschool, and persisting
through the educational system. These improvements may also affect larger
social issues of bigotry and discrimination that are often the overt or
underlying causes of many bullying incidents, though its unknown that these
were influencing the Pana High School assault. However, the serious way in
which the Pana community is taking the assault from early 2025 is a positive
sign for change if only more communities would follow their example.
References
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and
statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., TR). APA.
Broderick, P. C., & Blewitt, P. (2025). The life span:
Human development for helping professionals (6th ed.). Pearson Education.
Bullying. (2025). Healthdirect.
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/bullying.
Causes of Bullying. (2025). Teen Heroic Journey.
https://teenheroicjourney.org/book/tough-challenges/teenage-bullying/bullying-basics/causes-of-bullying/
Currie, J. (2024). The Economics of Child Mental Health: Introducing
the Causes and Consequences of Child Mental Health Special Issue. Journal of
Human Resources. 59(7), S1-S13. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/922811.
Frequency of Bullying. (2024, October 7). Stopbullying.gov.
https://www.stopbullying.gov/bullying/what-is-bullying
Garandeau C. F., Turunen T., Trach J., & Salmivalli, C.
(2025). Admitting to Bullying Others or Denying It: Differences in Children’s
Psychosocial Adjustment and Implications for Intervention. International
Journal of Behavioral Development, 49(1), 1–11.
https://doi.org/10.1177/01650254241242690
https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=c597b8d6-b10f-3c84-a2c1-0f7e20365165
Jan, A., & Husain, S. (2015). Bullying in Elementary
Schools: Its Causes and Effects on Students. Journal of Education and
Practice, 6(19), 43–56.
https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=fc0ab656-fd90-3424-b0df-0ed693bbb0a1
WAND Digital Team. (2025, April 1). Police: 5 students
implicated in bullying incident at Pana High School. WAND News.
https://www.wandtv.com/news/police-5-students-implicated-in-bullying-incident-at-pana-high-school/article_c9f90171-312f-4847-987d-9bd2f759f201.html.
Wang, X., Yang, J., Wang, P., Zhang, Y., Li, B., Xie, X., &
Lei, L. (2019). Deviant Peer Affiliation and Bullying Perpetration in
Adolescents: The Mediating Role of Moral Disengagement and the Moderating Role
of Moral Identity. The Journal of Psychology, 154(3), 199–213.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00223980.2019.1696733
https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=8c5c4aee-d6c8-344e-9a17-0c23bbe0f0b9
Wilke, J., & Goagoses, N. (2023). Morality in middle
childhood: the role of callous-unemotional traits and emotion regulation
skills. BMC psychology, 11(1), 283.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-023-01328-7.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10515015/.
Ye, J.-H., Chen, M.-Y., & Wu, Y.-F. (2024). The Causes,
Counseling, and Prevention Strategies for Maladaptive and Deviant Behaviors in
Schools. Behavioral Sciences (2076-328X), 14(2), 118.
https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14020118.
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- Days ago: MOM = 3649 days ago & DAD = 303 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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