Deaf Children and Bullying: Directions for Future Research

U.S. schools are currently addressing bullying and its effects on children. Bullying is characterized as repetitive verbal teasing, threatening, physical intimidation, demeaning others, violent acts, torture, and other forms of verbal and physical aggression (Smith & Sharp, 1994a). Little is known about bullying and its impact on deaf children. Measures to describe and quantify bullying factors in this population should be developed and validated that address characteristics of deaf victims and bullies, various types of school settings deaf children attend, bullying dynamics that may be unique to this population and its peers, and other environmental factors. The presence of disabilities besides deafness, social support systems of deaf children and their families, sociocultural background, degree of hearing loss, parental educational levels and occupations, socioeconomic status, and linguistic backgrounds should also be considered. This discussion highlights issues and precautions concerning future directions for studying bullying with deaf children.