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Stefano Corapi

Mr.Lopes

ENG3U

24 July 2019

Identity-Based-Bullying:

​Punitive measures wont stop it:

An Annotated Bibliography

Speigler, Jinnie. "What Is Identity-Based Bullying—and How Can I Stop It?"

Edutopia,​ GEORGE LUCAS EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION, 26 Oct. 2016,

www.edutopia.org/article/what-is-identity-based-bullying-jinnie-spiegler.

The author clearly defines identity-based bullying as an individual being bullied

based on their ​race, beliefs, disability, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or

physical appearance. ​It is particularly harmful because it focuses on the core of who people are.

Furthermore, it affects not only the targeted individual but those around them who identify in a

similar way and who worry that they may be the next victim.​ Some examples of identity-based

bullying specified in the article are “teasing an overweight teen about their body, trying to pull

off a Muslim student’s hijab, slut-shaming a young woman, or excluding a young person because

they don’t conform to gender norms”. The article lists three things for educators to do in order to

prevent identity based bullying. Firstly, it is recommended that educators teach students about

identity and bias. Secondly, it advises educators to me more approachable. Lastly, teachers are

encouraged to help students learn and feel empowered to be allies. The author effectively
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conveys what the problem is, provides examples of the problem, and specific solutions that

educators can use to prevent identity-based bullying.

Utt, Jamie. "A Problem of Power: Ending Bullying in Schools." ​Everyday Feminism​,9 Oct.2013,

everydayfeminism.com/2013/10/ending-bullying-in-schools/.

In this article the author begins to talk about how bullying is often discussed in the media

and schools. He then continues about how new legislation and policies have been recently

created to deal with it. All this attention, discussion and actions come from a sincere concern for

young people who are hurting. The author suggests the root cause of all bullying behaviour is

power. He says “young people tear each other down and target one another for sustained

violence, harassment, or neglect in order to feel more powerful, particularly when the person

exhibiting bullying behavior is feeling powerless.” Then uses the term identity-based bullying to

get to the root of the bullying problem. The author suggests that tackling bullying cannot be done

by simply telling one another to use respect and kindness, and although people promote such

ideas out of good intentions they simply don’t work. Punitive measures also don’t work. To end

the problem of bullying, the author states we must all think differently about solutions. The

solution provided is to transform the culture and climate of schools. He says we cannot simply

pass laws and then “wash our hands” of it. Some specific suggestions he lists are: “recognizing

every school is diverse, treat bullying as a problem of power, empathize, engage the whole

community, and to be proactive not reactive”.

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"Identity-Based Bullying." ​Youtube​, International Bullying Prevention Association, 10 Mar.

2015, youtu.be/u54bg43-D9I.

In this video, Jenny breaks down the three fundamental characteristics of bullying which

she describes as aggressive behaviour, repeated nature, and the power imbalance. She goes on to

explain that power imbalance can be broken down into three different categories: social power

(ie. popularity), physical power (ie. strength, height), emotional power (ie. intimidation), and

points out the uniqueness and definition of identity-based bullying. She describes it as “when

students are targeted for bullying because of their appearance, size, sexual orientation or gender

identity, their religion, race or ethnicity, how much money have, immigration status, the

language they speak, that’s when identities come into play”. She talks about how it not only

impacts the person being bullied but also affects the people who identify with the victim because

they worry they may be the next target. The solution presented in the video is that one must

address the underlying bias in bullying to tackle the problem.

Evans, Jon. "The Bully Poem." ​PoemHunter.com,​ 22 July 2019, www.poemhunter.com/

poem/identity-the-bully/.

This poem by John Evans, ​Identity - The Bully, d​ escribes a boy who is all alone and is

picked on because his identity is his own. He is bullied by a group of kids who all try to look the

same in order to fit in. John then questions why the world or is not as pleasant or safe as it was in

the past, and why kids feel the need to bully in order to seem cool in front of others. A

suggestion he makes towards bullies is to think twice about how the person they are bullying is

feeling inside and how it will affect them. Try to feel sympathy for the boy instead of acting like

a fool. Life doesn’t revolve around a cool identity, there are other ways of being cool. Free the
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people you bully and craft your own identity based on who you truly are and you will be loved

more as a better person.

"Tackling Identity-Based Bullying in Schools." ​Youtube,​ Equality and Human Rights

Commission, 13 Nov. 2017, youtu.be/5PQJr17D3m4.

This visually descriptive video’s purpose is to make students aware about identity-based

bullying and what to do if they encounter it and/or if they are a victim of it. The video is set in a

school and instead of human characters the students are depicted by a group of various shapes

and colours, used to represent diversity. The video points out how prevalent identity-based

bullying is and that it harms children's mental health by giving them social anxiety, feeling

unsafe, and shutting down their ability to learn. With these challenges students begin to have

poorer attainment, reduced ambition, and increased absences which persist into problems well

into adulthood. It also addresses the long term side effects that it can cause, such as depression,

suicidal thoughts, heart diseases, and diabetes. It states that “75% of students with autism say

they have been bullied” and that “70% of those with a physical disability say they have been

bullied”. As a teen, a large amount of girls and boys are prone to hearing sexual name-calling

and many people who experience bullying don’t report it to anyone. The kids who do report

bullying often report it to a teacher, the video encourages more students to do so.