BULLIES AND BULLYING

The light colored fowl in the middle is the guinea.

Last fall my daughter-in-law gave me three Ameraucana hens that lay blue and green eggs. My motley flock of old mixed hens had dwindled to four. I’d long wanted to have a few Araucana (or Ameraucana) hens for the uniqueness of their eggs. Mine all lay brown eggs. At first the three hens, a buff colored one and two dark ones, stayed away from the others. For those of you who don’t know, chickens have a pecking order in which one hen gets picked on more than others. The one picked on in my four was a silver laced black and white hen. She was missing feathers on her back and tail, but since she seemed to be getting along okay or at least dealing with the bullying, I didn’t worry about it.

Then several weeks ago the largest Araucana hen started picking on one of the dark Araucana hens. I’d hear horrible squawks coming from the chicken coop. I tried putting up tall fencing in one corner to keep the bully away from the others. She escaped. Then I tried putting fencing around the bullied hen and the bully got in there. Finally, I captured the bully with a large fishing net and put her in one of the pony’s stalls when they were out in the pasture. There was no way the hen could get out of there. She had food and water and found a place to roost on an old feeder in a corner. I thought my problem was solved. Not to be.

That evening after putting food and water in each stall, I opened the gate and let the ponies go to their stalls, and closed the stall doors. In moments, I heard Phoebe snorting and pawing. I saw her standing at attention with ears cocked staring at the critter perched in the corner. Even though in the summer the hens will wander into their pasture, she had never had one in her stall. I closed the barn doors, let her out and captured the hen. I put it back with the other hens and tried to lead Phoebe back into her stall. Even for the feed and apples, she didn’t want to go back. Finally, with some nudging from a broom she did.

This experience got me to thinking about bullying and why people or animals bully. I had my ideas, but decided to go online and see what information I could find. I found so much information I could write a thesis paper on the topic. Certainly there was too much for a blog so I’ll compress the information as much as possible since we all know what bullying is.

Much has been studied about the problem of bullying in schools, but it also happens in the workplace, home, playgrounds, the military, sports and in nursing homes. Research conducted in the UK by Ian Rivers of Brunell University, found that bullies were more likely than non-bullies to live in families without two biological parents which could imply the children bully because they don’t receive enough attention. Bullies were at a high risk for alcohol and substance abuse, and also at higher risk for mental health problems, including depression, anxiety and hostility. They tend to pick on others who are not as good in sports, or school work, or who they perceived as being gay or lesbians. Because society places a lot of value on possessions, “envy can become a motivator,” Rivers said. He also found bullies tend to have a negative view of themselves, thus suggesting they pick on others to feel better about themselves.

The reasons for bullying are many. In a culture fascinated with winning, power, and violence, some experts suggest culture might influence bullying. If the home, school or workplace doesn’t have high standards against bullying there is a greater likelihood of bullying.  There’s also the fact some people get more social recognition for negative behaviors than positive ones. This is shown in reality TV and many comedies. In school, the student who acts out gets more attention than the ones who don’t. Jealousy, envy and a lack of personal and social skills can cause bullying. Also, families not warm and supportive or with an abusive parent are more likely to have children who bully.

Some research indicates the very fact of having power may make some people wish to wield it in a noticeable way, or some people may be given power without being trained in leadership skills that will help them wield it wisely.

Jennifer Ralston has researched the problem and written articles about it discussing the impact on children being bullied, and how sometimes it causes them to become violent. Of course, we’ve read of the many suicides caused by bullying. She identifies three main forms of school bullying: verbal, physical and relational bullying. Verbal is “name calling, taunting and racial slurs.” This kind is the “most common and can have the longest lasting impression on the bullied. Relational bullying “consists of gossiping, ignoring and isolating the bullied. Ralston’s main argument demonstrates the correlation of these types of school bullying to tragic events like the Columbine shooting. The two teens were constantly teased, picked on and tormented by the school’s athletes and other students. Due to the constant torment, they went into deep depression and hatred towards the school.

The National Association of School Psychologists and the U.S. Department of Justice “estimate that 160,000 students miss school every day because they are fearful of being bullied.” A study performed by the National Mental Health and Education Center states: “Bullying is the most common form of violence in our society and between 30% and 50% of students are bullies or victims.”

Ralston believes bullying is a “learned behavior” and thinks schools should implement bully prevention programs geared to influence and change the social norm of bullying. One school I substituted in had such a program and I think more and more schools are instituting such programs now.

Is bullying getting worse? I was never bullied in school, but when my younger brother, who was small for his age, started first grade before he turned six, some older boys on the bus started teasing him. I’ve never been a confrontational person, but I stood up and yelled at those boys for making fun of my brother.  I only remember one case in my classroom when the boy, who always sat in front of me and was shy, was teased by the large boy behind me. Our last names started with “H” so many classes we sat in that same order. I never liked him because he seemed like a bully so one day I called him on it and it never happened again, although it probably did when I wasn’t around.

So what caused the Araucana hen to suddenly start bullying? Well, as with people, victims of bullying often end up bullying others. Because of the cold and snow, I coaxed my last remaining old male guinea fowl into the coop with the hens. Guineas are known as guard birds because of the loud noise they make when strangers come. They lower their heads, spread out their wings and dash at the intruder, even if, as in the case of my old bird, the so called intruder is my barn cat, my dog or me. They never quite attack, but fake the intruder out. Although my older hens have wintered with the guinea before and hung around him when they were out in the summer, the new hens had no relationship with him so he upset the social order they’d established.  

What has been your experience or thoughts on bullying?