In late February, Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, officially launched the Born This Way Foundation to promote tolerance and empowerment among youth.
Susan Swearer, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor of school psychology and an anti-bullying expert, was among a select group of scholars to help lead the kickoff event.
The pop icon's new foundation tapped Swearer to lead one of five discussion topics during an all-day symposium as part of the foundation's official opening event at Harvard University. Swearer was the point person on discussions about putting research into action in the classroom to stem the effects of bullying.
"Lady Gaga's voice reaches billions, and her ability to get anti-bullying messages out into the world is unparalleled. I and others involved are eager to do anything we can to help form and inform those messages," said Swearer.
SHARING EXPERTISE AT THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2011
When Susan Swearer first turned her research toward bullying, few people were discussing it. More than a decade later it’s in the national spotlight.
The UNL educational psychology professor studies psychological risk factors and consequences of bullying, for perpetrators and victims. It’s a mental health problem in which everyone involved can suffer depression and anxiety, she said.
A widely recognized expert, Swearer works extensively with schools nationwide to reduce bullying. She co-founded the Bullying Research Network, an online clearinghouse to support research initiatives in effective prevention and interventions, and organized UNL’s first bullying prevention and intervention conference in 2011.
In spring 2011 Swearer served on an expert panel at the White House Conference on Bullying Prevention. President and Michelle Obama participated along with high-ranking administration officials.
“The first step to changing any behavior is awareness, so this certainly propelled awareness onto the national stage and very emphatically said this is not an OK behavior,” she said.
MULTILEVEL APPROACH IS NEEDED
Many factors influence bullying, from individual psychological health to family and school dynamics to community and societal effects. Today’s approaches focus too heavily on schools and not enough on individual interventions, she said.
Research by Swearer and a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign colleague shows a multilevel approach is most effective. “There’s such a gap between research and practice,” Swearer said. “We know what needs to happen to reduce bullying. Actually having that happen is a lot harder.”
“We know what needs to happen to reduce bullying. Actually having that happen is a lot harder.”
Budget constraints and the issue’s complexity are partly to blame. So is apathy. Many people feel bullying isn’t a problem, Swearer said, and society rewards certain types of bullying behavior in adults, such as aggressive leadership or company takeovers.
Consequences of bullying can be severe and long-term. Victims often suffer mental health problems. Suicides of bullying victims underscore the emotional damage. Some bullies grow up to be adult harassers, which complicates their work and relationships and may even lead to prison.