Bullying is a hot topic in education right now. And for good reason: 28% of adolescents report being bullies over the last 6 months. (Center for Ed Stats, 2006)
There are 4 main ways that bullying can be inflicted on victims:
Physical, verbal, indirect, and sexual.
All definitions of bullying include these four factors:
Imbalance of power, Intent to cause harm, Repetition and Unequal levels of effect
Peer social support is the only variable that predicts lower levels of bullying, fighting, anger, and victimization. Therefore, having friends decreases the likeliness a student will engage in bullying.
What Works to Reduce Bullying?
Most research now points not at anti-bulling programs aimed at bullies, but at multi-tier systems of support such as a 3-Tier PBIS model. Koi Education is one provider of PBIS training and professional development for schools. (Disclosure, this is my company). PBIS focuses on teaching universal awareness and proactive intervention to the whole school as well as targeting small groups for additional social skills training and individual interventions for individual students.
YouTube video
One school that had done a great job of presenting a school-wide response to bully prevention is Cypress Ranch High School. Check out their You Tube video: “Cypress ranch high school anti-bullying lip dub”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waAqJ6727Hk?rel=0