It is vital to be aware that any bullying situation is never just about the bully and the victim it has many more aspects. Inorder for a bullying situation to be resolved all aspects must be dealt with accordingly otherwise the situation will be open to reoccurrence. Leading psychologists in this field believe that if school policies on bullying are to be implemented successfully the views of children must be marked as priority without the understanding of the such views problems cannot be solved.
Children often see bulling as a group activity that is lead by a group leader. Independent research conducted by psychologist Dawn Jennifer on schools in England found that the leader of the group who was classed as the dictator was the true bully while others who were part of the group did not wish to cause others harm but was in fact fearful of the leader and did not wish to upset him/her incase of ridicule themselves. The research showed that most children who participate in group bullying do so inorder to fit in or have a feeling of belonging. Children found that taking part in bullying activities to be uncomfortable and wrong but did not know how to disengage themselves from such situations.
The group leader often forms the group to take the distraction away from themselves and having others around can provide protection and almost mask the bullying activities. The actual finding almost disturbing to the studier herself found that inorder to tackle bullying situations the whole group should be confronted as they may just move on to another group if they cannot fully see the results of their actions. Schools are often reluctant to punish whole groups has this may account for a bigger part of the school than expected. If they just discipline the leader then the situation seems much smaller and the school has a better reputation.
All grownups involved including teacher, parents and those involved in solving bullying must ideally look at how children believe that bully groups evolve. For anti-bullying procedure to work effectively those involed must understand and appreciate the roles of children in their daily lives and how this contributes to their involvement in group bullying. Investigating the roles that children take on will inturn help to understand the roles they take on in the group which therefore will allow these roles to be broken down and such energy put into roles diverted to a more fulfilling life. The study found that girls joined such groups as they did not want to feel lonely but part of something even if that something is wrong . While boys joined such groups as they are considered as followers with the need to feel safe and protected with the added need to feel cool if bullying ever made anyone feel cool.