WHAT CAN BE DONE TO HELP THE CHILDREN?

Could bullying prevention be fun for children, as well as easy for administrators and elementary teachers to provide?

Bullying has been a recognized social issue for years now. Significant evidence based research has been conducted and reviewed  regarding the causes, predictors, effects of, and ways of intervening and preventing bullying.  Based on program research compiled by the US Dept. of Justice, what strategies for bullying prevention and intervention have been determined to be effective?  How is bullying different than other forms of aggressive behavior?  Since students are often reluctant to report social problems, what skills should we prepare them with?  How does Being Buddies inspire children and community members to participate in bullying prevention activities?


What’s up with bullying?

Bullying occurs in an ongoing relationship where there is a real or perceived imbalance of power, and stems from the intent to cause harm, fear and distress and is repeated. It’s a tool for achieving social dominance that can be physical, verbal, social or psychological, resulting in immediate physical, emotional symptoms as well as long-term mental health issues, panic disorders and depression. According to recent meta analysis of research, the Office of Justice reports that those who are bullied have a 33% increase of violence later in life, and those who bully have fewer mental health issues but are 66% more likely to be violent as adults, and have issues of substance abuse, compared to bystanders.  (Seriously, this is from the US Dept. of Justice!)


Which school efforts have been misdirected?

Awareness raising events have been found insufficient. Policies such as zero tolerance deprive students who need pro-social involvement the most. Therapeutic treatments for the bully are often based on faulty assumptions that fail to address the motivating social factors and group treatments tend to reinforce antisocial behavior. (Cook et all 2010)


Which efforts work?

The strongest indicators of being victimized are social competence and peer status. Contextual factors with the largest effect on bullying include community factors and peer influence. The reduction of school bullying and victimization was accomplished most effectively with a curriculum approach with a focus on 1) awareness of bullying and intervention skills through group role plays, 2) an increase of empathy, practicing strategies for bystanders to support the victim and increasing coping skills. (Linber 2003) Effective elements of programs that were found to significantly decrease bullying in a school include the following: parent training, more supervision on playgrounds, cooperative group work, discipline methods, videos and work with peers. (Hofi and Farrington 2009)

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What’s so wonderful about Being Buddies?

Let me count the ways.  Check out the program descriptions and photos of the children to start counting the ways yourself.