The Current State of Relational Aggression
Information updated September 2006

Federal and state governments are updating the definition of bullying and introducing legislation and anti-bullying mandates for schools.
Tragic school shootings in the late 1990s prompted many legislators and educators to look at bullying in schools. The very definition of bullying in schools speaks to the social, emotional and intellectual development of children:

• New Jersey: “Bullying, like other disruptive or violent behaviors…disrupts both a student’s ability to learn and a school’s ability to educate its students in a safe environment.”
• Vermont: “Students who are continually filled with apprehension and anxiety are unable to learn and unlikely to succeed.”

Currently, 23 states in the U.S. have laws that specifically address bullying in their state code.¹ A number of states have board of education policies that address bullying, but do not specifically address bullying in their state codes.

Many schools mandate anti-bullying programs and teacher training in bullying prevention. On August 11, 2004, legislation was introduced to congress to amend the Safe and Drug Free Schools Act to specifically include bullying and harassment. This would require all schools receiving federal funding to actively prevent and appropriately respond to all instances of bullying and harassment. ²

It should be noted that schools acting solely at the discretion of state or federal legislation are acting at a disadvantage. To create safe social climates in schools for the long term, it takes more than a mandate - it takes a personal commitment from the teachers, parents and community leaders who work with youth to end the cycle of peer aggression in schools and provide children with the tools they need to deal with relationally aggressive situations.

Awareness about relational aggression has increased drastically in recent years.
The day after Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris stormed their Colorado high school to kill fourteen classmates and wound countless others, America sat in shock, asking: “Why did this happen?” What followed was a media storm of articles, television specials and primetime headlines which attempted to answer that question.

Stemming from this initial taste of school violence came endless reports of emotional bullying and harassment. When the light fixed on relational aggression, it struck a chord with teachers, parents and youth alike. Books, articles and Web sites increased awareness of social aggression. Relational aggression became a buzz word – the latest teen issue sweeping the nation.

Relationally aggressive behaviors, such as spreading malicious gossip, excluding others and taunting with the intent to harm someone else’s relationships, are often erroneously referred to as “normal" behaviors and means of interacting. Relational aggression has been passed off as a typical phase of growing up.

The belief system that we have adopted as a society is damaging and hurtful to us all. Peer aggression cannot be passed off as “normal” when you examine its harmful effects and consider its implications in future adult relationships.³ In some cases, the lasting effects of relational aggression are considered more hurtful than those of physical aggression.

Research has shown that childhood aggression is a major predictor of both concurrent and future social-psychological and behavioral difficulties; including depression, school drop-out, substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, maladaptive eating patterns, suicidal ideation, delinquency and criminal behavior.

Technology is allowing relational aggression to become more covert and seemingly consequence-free.
Peer aggression is soaring to new heights of sophistication and cunning as technology continues to advance. No form of aggression is consequence-free, but when one uses a faceless medium to bully and does not witness the humiliation and pain a victim feels, an aggressor does not internalize remorse or empathy for that victim.

This form of aggression, referred to as cyberbullying, is the epitome of covert aggression; it is anonymous, destructive, and now, instantaneous. According to a new poll commissioned by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids of 1,000 students from across the country, one in three teens and one in six preteens have been bullied in cyberspace. Fight Crime: Invest in Kids estimates that more than 13 million children ages 6 to 17 have been victims of cyberbullying.⁴

The costs of social aggression are increasing for schools and workplaces.
In our increasingly litigious society, incidents of peer aggression often leave the schoolyard and the conference room and end up in the court room. Schools and employers are faced with defending themselves against lawsuits, resulting from a failure to check and prevent the harmful effects of peer aggression within their organizations.

Each year, the number of parents filing lawsuits in the United States on behalf of their children who are being bullied or physically abused at school is increasing. The insurance industry says that this year, school districts nationwide will pay at least 20 to 40 percent more for coverage. In some communities, this means a raise in property taxes or program cuts. A typical elementary school in 2003 paid $350,000 for insurance. In subsequent years, the same policy will cost at least 50 percent more.⁵

¹Clemson University, Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life, 2005
²American Counseling Association, 2004
³Parker & Asher, 1987; Van Shoiack-Edstron, Frey & Beland, 2002; Crick et al., 1997
⁴Spero, National Wire Service, 2006

⁵Insurance Information Institute

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