CEFS 620 Week 4 DB Forum 2 Example

Discussion Board Forum 2: Thread and Two Replies

CEFS 620 Counseling Children, Adolescents, and Their Families, Discussion Board Forum 2 (thread and two replies)

Thread by [Student Name]

The prompt and the classmates' posts are composites standing in for the course's own forum; the textbooks, Scripture and published studies are real, and every journal source is from the last five years as the guide requires; the requirements follow Liberty's public course guide for CEFS 620.

Thread

Bullying is one of the most common risks children and adolescents face at school, and it no longer stops at the school door. Li et al. (2024), in a meta-analysis of 42 studies with 266,888 participants, estimated average victimization rates of about 24 percent for traditional bullying and 11 percent for cyberbullying. The two forms overlapped heavily: roughly a third of traditional bullying victims were also bullied online, and only about a third of cyberbullying victims escaped bullying in person. Victims of either form had higher odds of depression, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts and self-harm, and the risks were greatest for young people bullied both ways.

Why does victimization lead to depression? Isolation is one likely pathway. Dunn and Sicouri (2022), combining 44 studies with more than 27,000 children and adolescents, found a medium correlation of .48 between loneliness and depressive symptoms, with no difference by age or gender. A bullied student often withdraws or is excluded, and the loneliness that follows may carry much of the harm. McWhirter et al. (2017) describe the peer group as a powerful source of both risk and protection, and bullying turns that source against the young person.

Prevention research points to what schools can do. Gaffney et al. (2021), analyzing components of anti-bullying programs, found that whole-school approaches, anti-bullying policies, classroom rules, information for parents, informal peer involvement and work with victims were associated with larger reductions in bullying perpetration, and that informal peer involvement and information for parents were associated with larger reductions in victimization. The number of components did not matter as much as which ones were included, which suggests that schools should choose carefully rather than add everything.

Because most cyberbullying victims are also bullied at school, a counselor who treats online harassment as a separate problem will usually be treating only half of it. I would ask every bullied student about both forms, address the isolation directly through peer and group work, and advocate for a whole-school program that includes parents. Cook-Cottone et al. (2015) emphasize that counselors must work with the adults and systems around a child, and bullying is a clear case.

The psalmist describes being scorned by those around him and finding no one to comfort him (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2016, Psalm 69:20). A bullied student often feels the same, and the counselor's first task is to make sure that is no longer true.

Classmates: how would you ask a reluctant student about cyberbullying without making them feel watched?

Reply to Danielle

Danielle, you proposed starting a peer support group for students who have been bullied, so they can meet others with similar experiences and stop feeling alone. The research on protective factors supports the idea. In their review of research on isolated adolescents, Preston and Rew (2022) found that the factors most often shielding them were ties to family, school and supportive friends, together with self-esteem and a habit of helping others. A group could build several of these at once, especially if it includes chances for members to help one another, which strengthens prosocial behavior and self-esteem.

I would add one caution. A group made up only of victims may reinforce the identity of being a target if it focuses only on what happened. Structuring it around skills, shared activities and service could build connection while also giving members a sense of competence. Practicing how to respond to a hurtful message, how to find an ally and how to tell an adult would give members something to take back into the hallway, not only a place to talk.

Who would you invite to co-lead the group, and would you include students who have not been bullied as peer mentors?

Reply to Andre

Andre, you argued that teachers are the missing piece in most anti-bullying efforts, since students often say teachers do not notice or do not act. A recent large survey suggests that a student's bond with adults at school protects in its own right. Brar et al. (2023), surveying 31,459 eleventh graders, found that higher connectedness to school adults was associated with lower odds of depressive and anxiety symptoms, and that this protection held for students who had experienced dating violence as well as those who had not. Although that study focused on dating violence rather than bullying, it suggests that a student who has a trusted adult at school is better protected from the mental health effects of mistreatment by peers.

Your recommendation stands, and the study adds a second aim: besides teaching staff to step in, a school can work toward every student having an adult they would turn to. Counselors could help identify students without such a connection, perhaps through a simple survey asking each student to name an adult at school they trust, and then match those students with willing staff mentors.

Do you think teachers are more likely to act when the school's policy is clear, or when they have a relationship with the student involved?

References

Brar, P., Shramko, M., Taylor, S., & Eisenberg, M. E. (2023). The moderating influence of school adult connectedness on adolescent dating violence and mental health. Journal of School Health, 93(4), 297-304. https://doi.org/10.1111/josh.13268

Cook-Cottone, C. P., Kane, L. S., & Anderson, L. M. (2015). The elements of counseling children and adolescents. Springer Publishing.

Dunn, C., & Sicouri, G. (2022). The relationship between loneliness and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. Behaviour Change, 39(3), 134-145. https://doi.org/10.1017/bec.2022.13

English Standard Version Bible. (2016). Crossway. (Original work published 2001)

Gaffney, H., Ttofi, M. M., & Farrington, D. P. (2021). What works in anti-bullying programs? Analysis of effective intervention components. Journal of School Psychology, 85, 37-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2020.12.002

Li, C., Wang, P., Martin-Moratinos, M., Bella-Fernández, M., & Blasco-Fontecilla, H. (2024). Traditional bullying and cyberbullying in the digital age and its associated mental health problems in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 33(9), 2895-2909. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-022-02128-x

McWhirter, J. J., McWhirter, B. T., McWhirter, E. H., & McWhirter, A. C. (2017). At risk youth (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.

Preston, A. J., & Rew, L. (2022). Connectedness, self-esteem, and prosocial behaviors protect adolescent mental health following social isolation: A systematic review. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 43(1), 32-41. https://doi.org/10.1080/01612840.2021.1948642