STICKS N STONES SURVEY

BULLYING AND LIFE ONLINE

2015 CENTRAL OTAGO

REGIONAL SURVEY OF
YOUNG PEOPLE
AGED 11-18

FULL REPORT

1


CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ 3

INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 4
METHOD ............................................................................................................. 5
DATA ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 6
LIMITATIONS ............................................................................................................ 7
RESPONDENTS ......................................................................................................... 7
SEEING IT HAPPEN .............................................................................................. 8
PERCEPTIONS ABOUT BULLYING ...................................................................... 10
SUPPORTING VICTIMS ............................................................................................. 11
SUPPORTING BULLIES............................................................................................... 12
BEING INVOLVED ............................................................................................. 13
BEING ON THE RECEIVING END ....................................................................... 16
G ENDER D IFFERENCES ............................................................................................ 17
TYPE OF BULLYING ................................................................................................. 18
SOURCE OF BULLYING ............................................................................................ 21
RESPONSE TO BULLYING .......................................................................................... 25
PARENTS ............................................................................................................... 28
SCHOOL ............................................................................................................... 30

DEALING WITH BULLYING ................................................................................. 31

CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................. 35

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would like to acknowledge the support of the young people who responded to the
survey and the schools that supported participation of young people from across the
Central Otago region.

We would particularly like to acknowledge the time and support that was given to the
survey by members of the Sticks n Stones team. This included: co-constructing the
survey, testing it, distributing and collecting paper copies of the survey, manually
inputting the data from paper surveys into the Google Spreadsheet, sorting the data in
the spreadsheet and calculating formulas to assist analysis, analysing the survey, working
on this report and giving feedback on earlier versions. Specific thanks must be given to
two of our young people, Ashleigh Smith and Nikki Wheeler who have taken a leadership
role from the beginning in all aspects of this survey.

We would also like to acknowledge the generous support of Facebook. The support from
Facebook was crucial for completing this report and giving meaning to the information
collected. Their funding has enabled us to access professional support and training to be
able to analyse and report on our findings in a clear and professional way. It also allows
us to be able to take our findings to be shared, presented and utilised as evidence for
ongoing work and new ideas.

In addition, we would like to acknowledge the support from Central Otago REAP and
Steve Brown who manages the Sticks n Stones programme. We would like to thank
Google for providing Chromebooks as prizes to schools that supported participation. We
are also grateful for the expertise of Dr. John Fenaughty from the University of Auckland
who supported us with feedback and guidance on both the 2013 and 2015 versions of our
survey.

We have gained an enormous amount from the training and support provided by Angela
Boswell and Synergia and without this expertise, support, guidance and mentoring, we
could not have hoped to gain as much as we have from this process. Sincere thanks for
empowering our young people to understand and care about the role data can play in
calling for change.

INTRODUCTION

Bullying is not new, but technology and social media have changed how it can impact
our lives. The pervasiveness and ubiquity of technology have removed the respite that
heading home used to give from traditional bullying. We can now easily connect with
people all over the world at any time, but this also means it can feel difficult to escape
when things go wrong.

Sticks n Stones was formed in Central Otago in 2013 to empower young people to take
positive action to stop cyberbullying. We wanted the voices of young people to be heard
and valued when considering bullying prevention.

2013 Survey

In 2013, our Project Facilitator in partnership with the Alexandra Districts Youth Trust
created our first survey that collected data around issues relating to young people. The
sections around bullying and life online were in response to TIMMS 2011 data reporting
that 68% of Year 5 and 45% of year 9 students experience bullying behaviours about
weekly or monthly at school. 1 Our project facilitator wanted to collect baseline data to
identify how much of an issue bullying was in our region.

Dr John Fenaughty from Auckland University gave feedback on the questions related to
bullying and also on ethical considerations to be included.

In 2013, 747 young people aged 11-18 completed the survey and 34% of them reported
they had been bullied in the past year. Of those, 39% had been cyberbullied. Almost 87% of
young people responded that they believed cyberbullying was an issue for them and their
peers and 34% did not believe their school taught them about being online and managing
risks.

Lessons from the 2013 Survey

When analysing the 2013 data, we recognised that many of the questions were assuming
behaviours or attitudes as the questions were created by adults.

When we started planning for an updated survey in 2015, co-construction was a key focus.

1 Source: Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2010/11, derived from Chapter 6,
Exhibit 6.11, p. 276 and 278 . See http://timss.bc.edu

We wanted the data to be a more authentic representation of young peoples experiences

and for our young people to be fully involved in all aspects of the data collection, collation
and evaluation.

Our young people took part in training with Synergia and then had support from them to put
together a survey that would gather data from young people in a more meaningful way. Dr
John Fenaughty from Auckland University again provided feedback on the questions and
suggested improvements.

Young people took responsibility for the inputting of the responses from paper surveys
and worked alongside our facilitator for the analysis. Training, mentoring and support
was provided by Synergia on survey data analysis, interpretation and presentation.

Our findings will be broken down into five sections:

Seeing Bullying Happen

Perceptions about Bullying
Being involved in Bullying
Being on the receiving end of Bullying
Dealing with Bullying

We will then present our conclusions and how these impact our work and the
involvement of young people in preventing and addressing bullying.

METHOD
Young people were invited to take part in a short survey either online through a Google
form either in class or in their own time or as a paper copy during form/whnau time.

Responses were provided anonymously for both options. No login or names were
recorded on the Google form. For the paper option, no names were collected and
envelopes were provided to maintain the anonymity as they were collected in.

An incentive was offered for completion. One to schools for promoting the survey (a
Chromebook Computer, kindly sponsored by Google NZ) and one for students in the form
of a prize draw (an iPad Mini and a $100 Prezzy card voucher)

The survey was opened on June 9th and closed on July 1st. Paper survey data was inputted
manually onto the Google Spreadsheet until August 1st.

Of the 1,980 young people aged 11-18 on rolls in Central Otago schools, 1368 completed
the survey. This was a response rate of 69%.

This is a very good response rate for a survey with good response rates ranging from 30%
for online surveys and 50% for paper surveys.2

In total, 10 of the 13 schools with 11-18 year olds across Central Otago took up the
invitation to participate.

Response rates varied from 50% to 100% as seen in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Response rate of participating schools (n=roll of 11-18 year olds)

Omakau Primary (n=1) 100%

Roxburgh Area School (n=94) 97%
Maniototo Area School (n =79) 94%
Clyde Primary (n=39) 92%
Cromwell College (n=367) 72%
Alexandra Primary (n=24) 70%
Dunstan High (n=502) 68%
The Terrace Primary (n=130) 65%
Mt Aspiring College (n= 765) 58%
Poolburn (n=2) 50%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Data analysis

Responses submitted using the paper copies of the survey were inputted into the
spreadsheet manually.

Non responses were excluded from the analysis.

Responses to open ended questions were coded into key themes.

Descriptive statistics were used on categorical data.

2Nulty, D. (2008). The adequacy of response rates to online and paper surveys: what can be done?
Assessment and evaluation in higher education, 33(3), p301-314
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Limitations

It should be noted that there are limitations to the findings of this survey. Research has
shown that survey participants are less likely to admit to socially undesirable behaviours3,
even when the responses are anonymous.

As bullying is a socially undesirable behaviour, our results may underestimate the size of
the issue.

Respondents

The average age of respondents was 13.99 years.

Slightly more females responded (51%) than males (48%).

Most respondents came from the major communities within Central Otago as shown in
Figure 2.

Figure 2: Which community do you live in? (n=1368)

Wanaka 31%

Alexandra 29%

Cromwell 19%

Teviot Valley (Roxburgh) 7%

Maniototo (Ranfurly) 6%

Clyde 3%

Other 3%

Not supplied 2%

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450

The majority of respondents identified as Pakeha/NZE (81%; Table 1).

Comments in other indicated they were New Zealanders or of other European ethnicity.

3
Such as Delroy L. Paulhus work around the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR-6)

Table 1: Which ethnic/culture groups do you identify with? (n=1368)

Ethnicity Number Proportion

Maori 216 16%
Pakeha/NZE 1103 81%
Pacifika 10 1%
Asian 47 3%
Other 50 4%
Not supplied 22 2%

SEEING IT HAPPEN
The most commonly witnessed form of bullying was verbal with over half (56%) of
respondents witnessing verbal bullying (e.g. insults, put downs, threats, spreading
rumours, manipulation etc.; Figure 3). Many people had witnessed multiple forms of
bullying and 12% of respondents had witnessed all three types.

Figure 3: In the past 6 months, have you witnessed any of these kinds of bullying? (n=1266)

Verbal (e.g. insults, put downs, threats, spreading

56%

rumours, manipulation etc)

Cyber (e.g. abusive or insulting text messages,
posts, comments or images shared without your 31%
permission)

Physical (e.g. intimidation, pushing, shoving,
29%
hitting, deliberately tripping someone over etc)

I have not seen any bullying in the past 6 months 32%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Nearly one quarter (24%) of respondents who saw bullying reported taking no action in
response to the bullying. Socially desirable actions to witnessing bullying were also
common: to talk with their mates (to help) (23%), checking in with the person being
bullied to see if they were ok (22%), standing up for the victim (20%), and told someone
who could help (13%; Figure 4).

Figure 4: What action did you take? (n=1345)

None 24%

I talked to my mates about it (to help) 23%

I checked in with the person being bullyed to see
22%
if they were ok
I stood up for the victim 20%
I told someone who could help (e.g. parent,
13%
teacher, youth worker)
I talked to my mates about it (as gossip) 13%
I was directly involved with the bullying from the
3%
beginning
I joined in (e.g. by laughing, liking the post or
2%
adding to the situation)
I have not seen any bullying in the past 6 months 24%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Over half of respondents (51%), to which the question was applicable, noted they would
take the same action if the incident happened again. There were differences depending
on which action they took after witnessing the bullying. Those who stood up for the
victim were most likely to indicate they would do the same again (78%). Of those who
took no action, only 28% indicated they would do the same again although over half
(52%) were not sure (Figure 5).

Figure 5: If the incident happened again, would you take the same action? (n=1009)

None 20% 28% 52%

I talked to my mates (to help) 20% 54% 27%

I checked in to see if they were ok 14% 64% 22%

I stood up for the victim 9% 78% 13%

I told someone who could help 11% 75% 14%

I talked to my mates (as gossip) 18% 42% 40%

I was involved from the beginning 15% 56% 29%

I joined in 20% 55% 25%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

No, I would do something differently Yes I would I'm not sure

A wide range of reasons for taking the action they did was provided with many
respondents indicating multiple reasons.

The most common reason respondents indicated for taking the action that they did was
because the victim was their friend (19%). Other common reasons were; having been in a
similar situation themselves (17%), being around their friends (16%), and being unsure
what to do (16%) (Table 2)

The reasons for taking an action varied depending on the action taken. For example,
among those who did not take any action the most common reason given was not being
sure what to do. Among those who stood up for the victim over half (51%) did so because
the victim was their friend and many (42%) had been in a similar situation themselves
(Table 2).

Table 2: Why did you choose the action/inaction you did?

Reasons for actions taken All respondents Those who took Those who stood
(n=919) no action (n=326) up for the victim
(n=274)

This question does not apply to me 30% 25% 3%

The victim was my friend 19% 3% 51%
I've been in a similar situation myself 17% 4% 42%
I was around my friends 16% 14% 19%
I wasn't sure what to do (and didn't want to 16% 20% 15%
make it worse)
I felt responsible (e.g. as an older or role 10% 2% 30%
model)
I didn't want to be a target myself 9% 14% 10%
Where I was at the time 9% 5% 21%
I didn't think it was my place to do something 8% 16% 5%
I am friends with the person who was 5% 2% 12%
targeting the victim
I was scared 5% 6% 3%
I didn't really like victim 4% 4% 5%
I didn't know the victim 3% 6% 4%
Other 4% 5% 2%

PERCEPTIONS ABOUT BULLYING

Overall, 32% of respondents thought bullying was an issue or a big issue with a further
51% thinking it was a bit of an issue. Females were more likely to consider bullying an
issue or big issue (37%) than males (26%).

There were also differences by schools with 41% of respondents from Cromwell and
Other schools (smaller Primary Schools) feeling that bullying was an issue or big issue
(Figure 6).

10

It should be noted that there was also a high proportion of respondents (27%) from other
schools who did not think bullying was an issue.

Figure 6: How much of an issue do you feel bullying is in your community?

Cromwell (n=207) 13% 28% 44% 15%

Other schools (n=44) 11% 30% 32% 27%
The Terrace (n=33) 6% 30% 58% 6%
Dunstan High (n=283) 8% 27% 53% 12%
Maniototo Area School (n=52) 10% 21% 56% 13%
Mt Aspiring College (n=390) 9% 18% 53% 19%
Roxburgh Area School (n=45) 4% 18% 64% 13%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

A Big Issue An Issue A bit of an Issue Not an Issue

Supporting victims
Respondents were asked what they thought could be done to better support victims of
bullying. Common themes identified in student responses are illustrated below.

General support was the most common followed by having a trusted person available to
approach. There were also many other less common responses which included ideas
such as separating them, understanding the bully, providing a safe space, giving the
person options, receiving an apology, teach them to stand up for themselves, teach
resiliency, a help website, and talking to Sticks n Stones.

General support (24%)

Help them deal with it and be there when they need your help
Trusted teacher or person to approach (12%)

Making sure the school has teachers that are always willing to talk to the victims if
something has occurred. A stronger relationship between the teacher and student
will make them feel as if they can go to them to talk.
Peer support (10%)

To have friends to support them

Counselling (9%)

Have a counselor and a friendly environment to work around at school and casual

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Stop bullying from happening (7%)

Preventive measures, e.g. more monitoring of school grounds by duty teachers and
swift interruption to prevent any fights/assaults becoming serious.
Punish bullies (6%)

Punishments to bully so the victim knows they are safe

Victim support groups (6%)

I know there is sticks n stones but maybe like a club for people being bullied that is
specific to your school
Monitoring the victim and their wellbeing (4%)

The teachers should keep a close eye on that person e.g. ask them if it's been
happening again or something.

Importantly for schools, a small group of student responses indicated barriers to getting
help or counselling. Some also noted that people helping need to listen to the victims as
not all people will want the same support.

Have someone who's willing to listen out in the open. I've been sometimes
tempted to see the counsellor, but have no idea how to get to them! Respect our
wishes, if the victim is scared; don't confront the bully until the victim says you can.
Otherwise you could make matters worse!

Supporting bullies

Respondents were asked what they thought could be done to better support students
who are doing the bullying to change their behaviour. Common themes identified in
student responses are illustrated below. While punishment was the most common
response (20%), most of the responses in the remaining themes illustrate that students
are aware that bullies also need some type of help or support. There were also some
other less commonly identified themes including peer support, a group for bullies,
retaliation, more involvement in extra-curricular activities, and making bullying uncool.

Punishments (20%)

They need to know how serious what they are doing can be and need to be fairly
punished for their actions not just let away with everything
Less access to the internet/Social Media
Counselling (17%)

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Counselling - bullies bully for a reason

Talking (14%)

They could talk to the sticks n stone or a parent maybe a friend to get someone to
help
Explore or address underlying causes (12%)

I don't think there can be a blanket option to cover the support of bullies. This is
because their personal situations could be the cause of the bullying, but one thing I
think could be helpful, is some sort of readily available counselling for bullies. But
not compulsory.
General help (12%)

Help them and tell them what could happen if that don't stop
Education (8%)

Engaging, thought-provoking presentations that will actually get bullies to

contemplate the actions they take and the consequences that those actions have.
Restorative justice (4%)

Give them some time out with the victim(s) with someone keeping an eye on them
to talk it out and let the bully and victim(s) express how they feel.
Support better parents (3%)

Give their care givers assistance to support a healthy family. Because in my

opinion most bullies/abusers come from an unstable family.

BEING INVOLVED
Young people were asked to select from a scale regarding their involvement in bullying
behaviours.

They could choose from Never (1) through to Often (4) for a range of behaviours.

The results from this section more than others differ from our own experiences. For
example, as students we commonly see offensive or insulting posts that have multiple
likes yet 71% indicated they had never liked offensive posts online (Figure 7).

This may be a result of participants not wanting to admit to socially undesirable

behaviour. Alternatively, students may not be able to identify posts which are insulting or
offensive or they may not recall an action which felt small and unimportant.

13

If this were true, it would indicate greater education on bullying could make a large
impact to reducing this problem.

Table 3: How often have you engaged in bullying behaviours

Involvement 1 (Never) 2 3 4 (Often)

Liked offensive
comments or posts
(n=1346) 71% 18% 7% 4%
Made offensive
comments or posts
(n=1349) 85% 12% 3% 1%
Sent or posted offensive
images or videos
(n=1348) 78% 16% 4% 1%
Liked or shared offensive
images or videos
(n=1349) 85% 11% 3% 1%
Deliberately embarassed
or humilated someone
(n=1351) 65% 26% 7% 2%
Sent hurtful text
messages (n=1348) 78% 16% 4% 1%
Verbally confronted
someone (n=1350) 80% 15% 4% 1%
Physically confronted
someone (n=1350) 89% 7% 2% 1%

When asked if they had MADE posts or comments in the past year about someone that
were probably insulting or offensive, almost 85 % of young people responded Never and
only 3.6 % responded More than once or often (Table 3).

It is interesting to note that young people were more willing to admit to deliberately
humiliating or embarrassing someone with 35% identifying they had done this once or more
in the past year (Table 3). This may indicate a greater understanding or recognition of what
this involves compared to bullying behaviours online.

In the past year, 20% of young people identified they had sent text messages that would be
considered hurtful, threatening or made someone feel bad at least once (Table 3).

Just over 18% had confronted someone to insult, abuse, threaten or intimidate them
verbally at least once (Table 3).

Our findings suggest that there are fewer people who have used physical bullying
behaviours than other forms. Almost 90% of young people identified that they had never
confronted someone to insult, abuse, threaten or intimidate them physically. (Table 3)

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When asked why those that were involved in bullying behaviours had taken the
action/inaction they did 57% of young people responded that They had not been
involved in bullying so none of the above.

The most common responses for young people that had been involved in bullying
behaviours was I was around my friends with 16% of young people identifying this as the
reason for their action/inaction (Figure 7).

This was followed by They deserved it (10%) and The victim had bullied me before
(10%) and I was having a bad day (10%). Though both of these are small proportions
they do present a worrying justification for actions/inactions negatively impacting others.

Figure 7: Of those involved in bullying behaviours, why did you take the action/inaction
you did?

I was around my friends 16%

I was having a bad day 10%

They deserved it 10%

The victim had bullied me before 10%

I didn't think it was a problem at the time 9%

I didn't like the person on the receiving end
7%
(victim)
Other 5%

I was bored 4%

Other people were doing it so I joined in 2%

To shift attention away from me 2%

It was easy to get away with 2%

It made me feel in control 1%

0% 3% 6% 9% 12% 15% 18%

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BEING ON THE RECEIVING END

To support young people to understand the difference between bullying and other issues
such as conflict, teasing or one off incidents, we included a definition of bullying and
examples of behaviours involved (see below).

There are lots of different ways that students can be bullied.

Bullying is when these things happen AGAIN AND AGAIN to someone who finds it hard to
stop it from happening:

1. Being ignored, left out on purpose, or not allowed to join in.

2. Being hit, kicked or pushed around.

3. Lies or nasty stories are told about them to make other young people not like them.

4. Being made afraid of getting hurt.

5. Being made fun of and teased in a mean and hurtful way.

BUT when teasing is done in a friendly and playful way we dont call it bullying.

While fighting is not ok, it is not bullying when two students who are AS STRONG AS each
other get into a fight.

Bullying remains a common issue in Central Otago with 33.5% of students (459)
identifying that they had been bullied in the past six months (Infographic 1).

Infographic 1: Have you been Bullied in the past six months?

This is slightly less than the 34% of young people that identified they had been bullied in
2013.

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Gender Differences

Bullying is still experienced by both genders in almost equal measures with a small
difference to the 2013 figures.

In 2013, of the young people that identified they had been bullied in the past six months,
57% were girls (Infographic 2).

Infographic 2: Gender of Young People who had been Bullied in the past six months (2013)

Infographic 3: Gender of Young People who had been Bullied in the past six months (2015)

In 2015, of the young people that identified they had been bullied in the past six months,
55% were girls (Infographic 3).

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Bullying was more of an issue for younger boys with almost half (48%) of eleven year old
boys responding that they had experienced bullying in the past six months (Table 4). This
is concerning and indicates a real need for preventative work prior to High School to
prevent so many of our young men from being affected by bullying.

For young women, bullying peaked at age 14 with almost half (46%) of 14 year olds
experiencing bullying in the past six months.

This indicates a different priority for our Year 9/10 girls to understand the impact of their
words and actions and to change the culture around how they treat one another.

Table 4: People that had been Bullied in the past six months by age and gender

Age

Gender 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
29 42 34 39 25 18 7 4
Male 48% 37% 30% 39% 26% 24% 11% 14%
23 43 54 52 36 23 21 1
Female 31% 39% 23% 46% 30% 31% 28% 13%

Type of Bullying

Young people were asked to select how they had been bullied in the past six months from

Physical ( e.g. being threatened with violence, hit, pushed etc)

Verbal (e.g. being insulted, teased etc)
Cyber (e.g. via text, Facebook, Ask.fm etc)

They were able to select one or more kinds of bullying.

Physical bullying was most common at age 11 with 44% of eleven year olds that had been
bullied in the past six months experiencing physical bullying either in isolation or
alongside verbal or verbal and cyber bullying behaviours. This does reduce as our young
people mature with smaller numbers of 16-17 year olds experiencing physical bullying,
but with both ages still over 20% there is still more work to be done here . It is important
to note that the higher proportion at age 18 is only one person.

It is very noticeable that physical and cyber bullying are not experienced as a combination
unless verbal bullying behaviours are also involved. It is also concerning that between the
ages of 14-16 large numbers of young people are experiencing all three types of bullying
behaviours. This must make a serious impact and make it difficult to escape or have
respite.

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Verbal bullying was most common at age 11 (60%) but also 40% or over of 13, 15 and 16
year olds that had been bullied had experienced verbal bullying. That this continues to be
an issue as young people mature indicates the need for education or intervention that
differs from traditional methods.

Cyber bullying or the combination of verbal and cyber bullying is highest at age 17 or 18
but this is with a smaller number of young people.

Table 5: How have you been bullied in the past six months (age) n= 458

Verbal Physical,
Physical Physical & Verbal
Age Physical Verbal Cyber & Verbal & Cyber Cyber and Cyber
11 (n= 53) 17% 60% 6% 17% 14% 4%
12 ( n= 87) 15% 32% 9% 20% 14% 9%
8%
13 (n= 90) 3% 44% 6% 22% 1% 16%
14 (n= 92) 5% 36% 11% 16% 14% 16%
20%
15 (n= 61) 3% 44% 7% 8% 18%
16 (n= 42) 5% 40% 12% 5% 21% 17%
17 (n= 28) 7% 18% 25% 7% 36% 7%
18 (n=5) 20% 20% 20% 40%

Of those that had been bullied in the past six months 82% of young people had been
verbally bullied, 37% had been Cyberbullied and 34% had been physically bullied (Figure
8).

The prevalence of verbal bullying with 383 young people identifying experiencing this
within the last six months indicates there is still a lot of preventative work and education
needed relating to the impact and effect this has.

The number of young people being physically hurt remains a concern.

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Figure 8: How have you been Bullied in the past six months? (n=467)

Physical 34%

Cyber 37%

Verbal 82%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Types of bullying appear to be more common in particular genders. Physical bullying
continues to be more common among our young men (16%) with no young women
reporting experiencing physical bullying (Figure 9).

Figure 9: How have you been bullied in the past six months by gender

(Males n= 196, females = 253)

37%
Verbal Bullying
43%

5%
Cyber Bullying Male
14%
Female

16%
Physical Bullying
0%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Verbal Bullying is the most common form of bullying across both genders with 43% of
females and 37% of males identifying this as the type of bullying they were experiencing
(Figure 9).

It is also concerning to note that many of our young people are experiencing multiple
types of bullying. Young people were able to select one or more ways in which they had

20

been bullied in the past six months and 42% of young men and 43% of youg women had
experienced 2-3 types of bullying (Figure 10).

When young people experienced two or three types of bullying, the most common for
males was Physical and Verbal bullying with 24% experiencing this combination. For
females, the most common combination was Verbal and Cyberbullying with 23%
experiencing this combination (Figure 10).

Figure 10: Combinations of bullying experienced in the past six months (gender) by gender
(Males n= 196, females = 253)

24%
Physical and Verbal Bullying
8%

7%
Verbal and Cyberbullying
23%
Male
11% Female
Physical, Verbal and Cyberbullying
12%

0%
Physical and Cyberbullying
0.4%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%

Source of Bullying

No obvious trends emerged of those undertaking the bullying with a fairly even split
between A group or squad (34%), One person (34%) or a Range of different people
(30%) as seen in Figure 11.

Without a clear indicator of how bullies are targeting their victims, our preventative work
still needs to address the range of ways bullying behaviours are undertaken, both
individualy and as a group.
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When victims of bullying selected other, the most common answer given as an
alternative was two people.

Figure 11: Who has the bullying been happening from? (n=463)

A group or 'squad' 34%

One Person 34%

A Range of different people 30%

Other 7%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

When asked how long bullying had been happening, almost half (47%) of young people
experiencing bullying identified that it comes and goes (Figure 12).

This may link back to student perceptions that school intervention gives a short respite
but does not solve the problem, in some cases young people believe that it gets worse.
For example one young person commented:

(School would) Probably say to stop and guess what? They'll probably say it again
and again and it WOULD NOT STOP!!

Figure 12: How long has the bullying been happening? (n=484)

22

It comes and goes 47%

More than a Year 11%

More than 6 months 4%

More than 3 months 5%

Several Weeks 9%

More than a month 7%

a Week 0%

Less than a week 10%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

There were a wide variety of actions or behaviours that were part of the bullying
experienced by young people. The most common was being Teased, insulted or put
down with 21% of those bullied identifying this as part of their bullying (Figure 13).

Although this is often more easily dismissed as a minor issue, especially by the school, the
effects of continued teasing, insults and put downs can have longer term impacts.

Figure 13: What behaviours/actions were part of your bullying? (n=463)

23

I was teased, insulted or put down 21%

Lies were told about me and someone tried to make

14%
others not like me
I was deliberately avoided, ignored or left out to hurt
13%
me

Hurtful rumours were spread about me 11%

Someone deliberately tried to hurt me by trying to

8%
break up a friendship I had
My secrets were told to others to deliberately hurt
8%
me
Others deliberately tried to hurt me by not talking to
6%
me
I was told someone else wouldn't like me unless I did
5%
what they said

I was made to feel afraid that I would get hurt 5%

I have been deliberately hurt physically by another

5%
student
I have been deliberately threatened physically by
4%
another student

A group decided to hurt me by ganging up on me 4%

Someone deliberately tried to frighten or threaten

4%
me by continually staring at me

Other 1%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Also common were Lies were told about me and someone tried to make others not like
me with 14% and I was deliberately avoided, ignored or left out to hurt me with 13%.

Most respondents (30%) identified only one action or behaviour made up their bullying
but 13% identified that there bullying was made up of seven or more actions (Figure 14).

The number of young people affected by multiple bullying behaviours is concerning.

Over half (70%) of those bullied were affected by two or more bullying behaviours.

This raises the question of the impact on the victim when there are multiple bullying
behaviours involved.

Figure 14: How many behaviours made up the bullying you experienced? (n=463)

24

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

One Action 30%

Two Actions 15%

Three Actions 10%

Four Actions 11%

Five Actions 7%

Six Actions 6%

Seven or more Actions 13%

Response to Bullying

Almost half (48%) of young people who experienced bullying took no action following the
bullying, instead ignoring it and hoping it would go away (Figure 15). Ignore it is a
common piece of advice given in response to bullying but may not offer a long term
solution. There is also a perception that taking action or seeking support will not change
or improve the situation, especially from the school. For example, one young person
indicated a lack of confidence in their schools response to bullying:

They would probably make it worse to be honest. Teachers suck at solving issues.

Of those who responded, 29% replied, retaliated or confronted the bullies. Often this
kind of reaction can be done in the heat of the moment and can escalate situations or
make them worse. Only 27% shared what was going on to get help.

These responses show us that work still needs to be done to support our vulnerable
young people to seek help when bullying occurs and to understand how things can
potentially escalate when you reply or retaliate.

Figure 15: What action did you take following the Bullying (n=464)

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None, I ignored it & hoped it would go away 48%

I replied, retaliated or confronted the bullies 29%

I shared what was going on to get help 27%

I reported it online 6%

Other 3%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

When asked who they sought support from following bullying 41% of young people
responded that they did not seek any support following the bullying, instead choosing to
keep it to themselves(Figure 16).

This builds on the findings from Figure 15 where 48% of young people took no action. It
reinforces the importance of ensuring young people understand the range of support
available and can access this easily in a variety of ways.

Of those that responded, 38% asked friends for support and 34% asked their parents or
other family members for support.

Figure 16: Who did you seek support from following the bullying? (n=454)

No-one, I kept it to myself 41%

I asked my friends for support 38%

Asked Parents/Family for support 34%

A counsellor in person 8%

Reported it online, eg facebook 4%

Other 3%

A counsellor online or over the phone 2%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

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Despite the high number of young people that are not seeking support following bullying,
63% of young people who experienced bullying felt there was enough support available to
them to deal with it.

There is still room for improvement here with 37% of young people feeling there is not
enough support available. When they are not seeking support from Parents, family or
friends, there appears to be a lack of knowledge of who else can help.

Of those that had been bullied in the past six months, 46% answered that the bullying had
been resolved but 35% answered that it had not yet been resolved (Figure 17). The
persistence of bullying behaviours is also a concern, especially when young people are not
accessing help or support.

Figure 17: Has the Bullying been Resolved? (n=448)

Other 18%

No 35%

Yes 46%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Of the 18% of young people that answered with other responses, the majority of these
were variations of Kind of, Sort of , In a way or It comes and goes.

There were some other responses worth noting that also highlight the need for greater
knowledge of the support that is available and for action to be taken when support is
sought.

Not really, but people will always be queerphobic so there isn't really anything I
can do, and the rest from other people is "a hostel thing" where it happens to
everyone and they don't really mean it so there's no point in saying anything.

I prefer to keep things to myself and if does get worse then I will tell and ask for
help but right now I want to keep things to myself, people aren't even aware that I
feel being bullied by them.

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Parents

Almost half (49%) of young people who had been bullied did not seek support from their
parents following the bullying.

The examples of the ways parents were able to support young people were positive and
young people were able to emerge feeling safe and happy.

When asked how their parents supported them after they had shared details of the
bullying, 61 young people responded with comments which demonstrated that when
parents are approached they provide a positive response which helps the young people
emerge feeling safe and happy. The three key themes in these responses are:
Communicating with teachers, Deans or the school generally (41%)

They came into the school and had a meeting with the teachers. They made sure
that if the bully and I were to have a meeting they would have to be there.
Providing help, support or advice (33%)

Talking to me about it, helping me to come over the fear of going to school, how I
could reply to them in a non-hurtful way and telling me stories how they used to get
bullied at school and how they stopped it from happening.
They asked me questions about what happened and then they gave me choices on
how we could resolve the issue.
They gave me advice and told me to keep my head held high and if it got worse
she would go straight to the school and sort it out.
Speaking to the Parents of the Bully (7%)

They made me feel safe and happy. They spoke to the bullies parents and tried to
help.
Other responses included: They went to the police, they made me feel safe and happy,
they were just there for me to talk to, they told me to make other friend who care about
me

Some responses indicated that there was an expectation for the school to support the
parents and student to manage the issue and there was dissatisfaction when this did not
take place, for example:

They phoned the school but it did nothing about it so I was told if someone hits
you hit them back twice as hard so I do and they don't bully me as much now.
In three responses the parents engaged with the bully to stop them from targeting their
child, e.g. They scared the bully or They gave the bully a good strong warning.

There were a large number of young people (49%) that did not share details of their
bullying with their parents and they had a variety of reasons for not doing so.
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Of the 32 responses submitted, the most common reason given (34%) was variations of
It would get worse including:

They would confront the bully

I would get bullied more

Because they will want to go into details and if I told them they would come to the
school to tell the bullies off which would make them bully me more.
I didnt want them to talk to the other persons parents
They would take over

The next most common (21%) were related to the issue itself and the potential reaction
of parents, these included:

Im scared

Because I was scared that they would start yelling and just being really loud.
It was too embarrassing
I wouldnt feel comfortable
I didnt want them to worry
They would start yelling
They would get angry
They will say I am in the wrong
Parents would get paranoid

Other reasons related to nothing being gained from talking to parents, these included:

It didnt matter
It would make no difference
Why bother?

Young people were asked what advice they would give parents approached by their
children to report bullying. Over half of the 56 responses submitted (52%) was for
parents to Be there, listen and support your child or variations of this.

To actually listen to them because some people cry themselves to sleep.

Dont get angry, just support them.
They need to have a calm reaction to the situation and deal with it in a calm
manner. If you overreact your child will shut you out and will not approach you
again as they will feel insecure about your reactions.

The next most common suggestion was that parents approach teachers or the school to
speak with them (25%).
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Make sure that you child/children are informed about the steps you take to stop
the bullying and also if there is any minor problem that is occurring that they talk to
a teacher/dean to let them know what is going on, so if they can, keep an eye out
that person.
School

The majority of young people (70%) who were bullied did not report the bullying to the
school. There are clear perceptions that informing the school yields very little result.

This suggests that more work needs to be done to encourage young people to share
details of bullying, where appropriate, with the school.

Of those young people that did inform the school, the majority (69%) of them felt they
dealt with it positively. It would be great to see all students have a positive experience
and this may encourage greater numbers to approach their school.

When asked what they would like schools to do when informed of bullying, 105 young
people answered. The most common was Take action.

A range of other themes were also identified

Take action or variations of this including: Do something, Stop it, Something other
than just saying Dont do it again (33%).

Take action and do something so they wont do it again.

I have seen this bullying on so many levels that it almost feels normal, which is
horrible to think, as it is not normal and not okay and never will be. These bullies
spread throughout the school thrive on the power they have been given. These
bullies should not have the power over other students or teachers. It should be shut
down as soon as the bullying arises.
Warnings, consequences or punishments for the bully (12%)

I would like for them to do something else other than ignore them and teach them
that their actions have consequences.
The school can often put students in a worse position than they were in before
trying to confront the bullies. This is due to teachers not taking a serious stand on
the situation, meaning that students think they can get away with bullying without
any consequences. This means that the bullying escalates to an intensified level
because harsh words from a teacher will never stop a bully. Some Teachers and
staff often know that bullying is taking place but do nothing about it as if they
themselves are scared of dealing with the bullies.
Providing support for the victim (11%)

Help the victim feel safe and happy try to help them deal with the bullying.

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Speaking with the Bully and providing them with assistance (10%)

Sit down and talk to them. Sometimes people bully people because they think its
Cool and maybe they have been bullied or hurt so they take it out on you.

DEALING WITH BULLYING

There is room for schools to be more open to addressing bullying incidents. Just under
two thirds (63%) of students said they would go to their school if they witnessed bullying.
This does differ from the 70% of young people who were bullied in the past 6 months that
chose not to go to the school (Section 6.2). This shows a difference between what young
people think they would do and what they actually do when they experience bullying
behaviours.

More students from smaller schools than larger schools indicated they would go to their
school if they witnessed bullying (Figure 18).

Figure 18: Would you go to your school if you witnessed bullying? (n=1031)

The Terrace (n=33) 88%

Other schools (n=44) 82%

Roxburgh Area School (n=45) 80%

Maniototo Area School (n=52) 77%

Mt Aspiring College (n=369) 63%

Cromwell College (n=205) 60%

Dunstan High (n=283) 55%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Yes (%)

When asked what action they thought would occur in response to a report of bullying 668
students provided a response with 71 (11%) indicating they did not know or were unsure.

The following themes were found in student responses:

School would investigate the report or respond to the incident (27%)

They'd assess the situation accordingly and take the proper steps to resolve the
situation in a way that ensures the matter will not happen again and the
relationship between the students is fixed.
31

School would talk to the bully, usually to tell them to stop (26%)
Just warn them or tell them off, that's it.
I think they would isolate the bully and make sure he knows he has done wrong.
Nothing or not much (18%)
None or very little, our school doesn't express any concern for our students mental
health.
Other responses such as raising bullying as an issue to the whole school, offer
counselling, be angry you reported something, response depends on who the
bully is or the level of severity, treat report anonymously (10%)
Punish the bully in some form, often detention (9%)
They would give them a detention and then the bullies would keep going
Talk with the victim, often to check they were alright (7%)
Firstly, check to see if victim is okay and help them.
Bullying would continue, escalate, or they would become another target (6%)
Try to hurt you, and bully you for telling on them
Talk to the student but they always continue to bully
School would tell someone else, often parents (6%)
Talk to the parents and deans and principal

These responses demonstrate that many students consider their school has a greater
focus on responding to the bully rather than helping the victim or addressing the
wellbeing of their students. Responses also frequently noted that although the school
might take action, it would not be sufficient to have any lasting impact on the bullying:

They would take action but it would only go as far as an apology. The bullying
would then carry on when the teacher has heard the apology and thinks it is all
resolved. Counsellor at school is not very private.
Probably say to stop and guess what? They'll probably say it again and again and
it WOULD NOT STOP!!
Punishing the offenders only making it worse for the victims
Students also felt there should be more measures available when dealing with the Bully.

School based punishments had the highest number of students that thought it should be
available (37%). Social media bans or blocks and internet restrictions were thought to be
measures that should be available by around a quarter (25% and 24%) of students (Figure
19).

32

Students who had witnessed Cyber bullying were not any more likely to think social media
bans or blocks (25%) or internet restrictions (21%) should be available.

Figure 19: What other measures do you think should be available when dealing with the
Bully once the matter has been investigated? (n=1091)

School based punishments 37%

Restorative Justice 32%

Compulsory counselling 29%

Social Media bans or blocks 25%

Internet restrictions 24%

Community service 14%

Mediation 12%

Home detention 9%

Fines 8%

Restraining Oders 7%

None needed 7%

Legal means 6%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%

When asked what they thought could be done to STOP bullying from happening so often
332 students provided a response with 33 (10%) indicating they did not know or were
unsure.

The following themes were found in student responses:

Punishments (19%)
Strict attitudes towards bullying in primary and secondary school and have more
severe repercussions for the bully
Addressing incidents (15%)
Tackle the problem and make sure it has been resolved before forgetting about it
A change in culture towards greater social inclusion and less tolerance of
bullying (15%)
A culture change (which I believe has already begun) that alienates bullying and
where society (whether online or in real life) are intolerant of such actions.

33

Let them join your game or something like that so they dont feel left out because
some people bully people because you and your friends dont let them join the
game
If people learnt to respect people and if everyone was accepted
Education and awareness on bullying and its effects (14%)
More awareness. More teaching on the subject Try and bring it into conversation
more often.
School staff being more aware (8%)
Teachers should be more aware of what happens when they are not listening, as a
senior student, I hear what goes on in the classrooms and see how unaware the
teacher is in this situation.
Nothing it cant be stopped (5%)

Help people so they dont bully (4%)
Sort out whats going out behind the scenes.
Technology measures (3%)
Social media banned at school as that is when I have witnessed the most bullying
via posts and videos
Sticks n Stones (2%)
Sticks n stones in primary school programs are a great start and SNS in general is
making great change
Other responses (7%) included bully free school policy, students standing up for
themselves, better parenting, keeping students busy, and a perception that
schools are the problem:
To give student a part say in future classes
No school no problems

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CONCLUSIONS
From our survey we can see that bullying remains a serious issue in Central Otago. We
now know that it is not just one form of bullying that is impacting young people in our
community but rather several different forms, the most common of these being verbal
bullying.

Victims experience multiple bullying behaviours and are not comfortable approaching the
school for support. Young people believe more needs to be done and would like to see
schools taking action when informed of bullying. Almost half of the young people
experiencing bullying do not inform their parents for fear of the bullying increasing or
getting worse.

When young people are witnessing bullying behaviours, many of them take no action.
Witnesses or bystanders to bullying have the ability to play an important role in
supporting the person being bullied or condemning the actions of the bully. Though
there were similar numbers of young people taking a range of proactive steps, there is
still more to be done to encourage young people to better undersatnd how they can
provide support or take action that is constructive.

The responses to questions about taking part or engaging in bullying behaviours,

especially when compared with the experiences of our representatives, indicate that
young people may not fully understand what actions or behaviours constitute bullying.

A lot of behaviour is considered banter when this may in fact may be causing hurt or
distress.

Considerations for Sticks n Stones

The results of this survey have highlighted for Sticks n Stones that more education is
needed around what actions or behaviours are part of cyberbullying. There is still
preventative work to be done to support young people to interact more positively and
understand the impact their words and actions have on others. There is also practical
work to be done so that young people experiencing bullying understand what actions they
can take rather than ignoring it or hoping it wiould go away.

The survey also identifies an important role for us to advocate for schools to address the
whole issue including the victim, the underlying causes of the bullying, and working on
prevention. Preventative work can support young people to make better choices and give
young people the chance to understand the impacts of their words and actions. Feedback
from young people who have been a part of our Year 8 ambassador programme or have
taken part in our workshops indicate more of an understanding of what actions or
35

behaviours contribute to bullying behaviours and strategies for supporting others being
bullied.

In addition, the findings identify the importance of making information about support
more accessible to our young people so that they understand the different options
available to them if bullying occurs and they choose not to, or receive little support from
parents or school.

Considerations for Schools

The responses indicate a need for schools to improve the availability of support and for
this to be more easily accessed. Though the majority of students responded with
intentions to inform the school if bullying occurs, the small number of students
experiencing bullying that inform schools indicates that there are steps that can be taken
to improve the support and perceptions of the support available through school.

There is also a need for clear systems to be in place to handle incidents that are reported
and for there to be consequences for the bully. Involving young people in giving feedback
and ideas for the schools bullying policy could be a positive way of engaging them and
encouraging them to be more open to approaching the school. There is a MOE
expectation that schools have their bullying policies available and these findings show
that young people have good ideas to be considered in this process that could add value.
Including a clear process that is followed when a school is informed of incidents would be
a positive step as young people want a bullying policy to be acted upon rather than just
created by senior mangement and then filed and forgotten.

The majority of young people see a need for the bully to also be provided with restorative
options as well as punishments or punitive consequences.

Young people see education as an important step to reduce bullying and there are a
number of ways schools can access support to provide this. Working alongside Sticks n
Stones and other partnership opportunities such as Positive Behaviour for Learning, the
Police and Health Nurses among others can support schools to involve their students in
having their voices heard regarding preventing and responding to bullying behaviours.

Young people have clear views and opinions around bullying and involving them in
preventative work as well as having a say in how bullying is addressed schoolwide values
these views and enables young people to be part of the solution and take ownership and
responsibility for the part they play. The Positive Youth Development in Aotearoa 2011
document also provides support for the notion that young people have the ability to solve
their own problems.

36

Moving forward

Through this process Sticks n Stones has gained ideas on how to improve our next survey
which will continue to be conducted biannually to gain insights into bullying in Central
Otago and any changes that occur. This means that we can chart the fluctuations in the
data and track along with our programmes to see which have had the best effect.

We have already started using the data from this survey to make information about
available support clearer and more accessible.

We are developing two flyers, one for young people and one for parents to show the
support that is available, how services can be contacted and what services they provide if
a young person is experiencing bullying behaviours, feeling anxious or depressed.

Though we have had some great successes since we started working in Central Otago in
2013, this survey indicates there is still a lot of work to be done to prevent bullying and
deal with incidents in ways that have greater success. It also highlights the importance of
partnerships with schools and other groups, support and organisatons NZ wide to
collaborate to achieve the same goal.

37

APPENDIX

Paper Version of the Survey

Note: Google Form version allowed students to skip questions that did not apply to them
based on their responses

Life Online Survey 2015

Your chance to win an iPad or $100 CASH for less than 10 minutes of your
time?

WHAT'S THE CATCH????

NO CATCH- We want to hear from young people in Central Otago to find out
about what life online is like and how much of an issue bullying is in our
community.

This survey has been created BY YOUNG PEOPLE and we hope that means we
will understand more about the sorts of things you do and see online and living
here in Central Otago.

Your responses will be ANONYMOUS so that you can answer questions honestly,
it is really important that you are able to share your information truthfully so that
we know what is really going on.

We have provided an envelope for you to use to keep your responses

anonymous.

Visit: http://tinyurl.com/2015sns-draw to enter the Prize Draw OR TEAR OFF THE

SLIP AT THE END OF THE SURVEY AND GIVE IT TO YOUR TEACHER

Only One Entry per person. Responses need to be received by July 1st.

If any of the questions raise issues for you or cause you concern, please take the
time to speak to someone you trust (family, friends, teacher, guidance counsellor,
sports coach etc). It is important that you feel safe and have someone to talk to.

Remember you can always phone Youthline if you want to talk to someone who is
trained and will support you without knowing you.
Call 0800 376633 or Free TXT 234

*$100 Cash is awarded as a Prezzy Card Prepaid VISA which can be used like
cash online or in shops-there are TWO available.
38

PLEASE TICK THE BOXES THAT APPLY TO THE QUESTIONS BELOW!!!

39

40

Sometimes we can get confused about what is bullying and what is conflict or
teasing. Please READ the definition below and then answer the questions on the
next page

41

42

43

44

45

If Yes, please answer the questions below, if no, please MOVE TO THE NEXT
SECTION- Standing up to Bullying which is OVER THE PAGE

46

47

48

IF YES, PLEASE ANSWER THE QUESTIONS BELOW, IF NO Please go to the next

page

49

What would you like to see change about the way schools deal with
bullying?

50

ALMOST DONE

The following questions are optional, it is up to you whether you would like to share your
point of view but your responses are appreciated

What do you think could be done to better support victims of bullying?

What do you think could be done to better support bullies to change their
behaviour?

51

What do you think could be done to STOP bullying from happening so often?

Thank you for filling out the 2015 Sticks' n Stones Survey

To enter the draw to win an IPAD OR $100 CASH go to: http://tinyurl.com/2015sns-draw

and enter your details OR CUT OFF THE ENTRY BELOW AND GIVE IT TO YOUR
TEACHER

Like us on Facebook for another chance to win www.facebook.com/onlinesticks

PRIZE DRAW ENTRY

NAME:

SCHOOL:

PHONE NUMBER:

52

REMEMBER IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR RESPONSES TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS,

TEAR THIS PAGE OFF AND GIVE IT TO YOUR TEACHER TO ENTER THE PRIZE
DRAW

POP THE REST OF THE SURVEY IN THE ENVELOPE PROVIDED and WRITE SNS
SURVEY ON IT

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