Many schools throughout the world have engaged in the difficult task of countering bullying among students Numerous anti-bullying programmes have been developed and implemented in schools. In general, they have been only modestly effective (see Rigby, 2002). Reductions in children being bullied by their peers have been, on average, less than 20%, and some have been quite unsuccessful.
Yet, one bright spark of hope remains. We find it in several evaluations of anti-bullying interventions carried out in Norway (Roland,1989, 1993), England (Smith & Sharp, 1994) ) and Finland (Salmavalli, 2001). In each of these interventions very positive outcomes were reported for some of the schools in the programmes. For example, Smith reported an 80% reduction in reported peer victimisation in one school. How then have some schools provided extremely positive outcomes ?
An examination of the schools in which a great deal of success was obtained showed that they tended strongly to be ones in which the programmes had been thoroughly and rigorously implemented. Evidently, it was not the details of the programmes that mattered most, but the solid commitment of the staff.
Why then do some schools not commit themselves wholeheartedly to intervention programmes ? After many years of talking with teachers about bullying in their schools, I am convinced that it is because teachers are often divided in their views on the subject of bullying and what, if anything, should be done about it. Some believe that bullying is an unimportant issue; some believe that it is of enormous importance. Some believe that it can be stamped out by punitive means; some think that you can reason with bullies, get on their good side; some think you can't - bullies are psychopaths; some feel that victims can be taught to stand up to the bullies; some think that nothing will work.
Typically, when programmes are introduced, some staff members are enthusiastic whilst others are sceptical or even (usually quietly) opposed to what is being done. If I am right, the most important work in developing an effective anti-bullying policy is in the discussion preceding the formulation of policies and procedures. This involves getting everybody to say honestly what they think - without the fear of not conforming to a politically correct agenda.
Hence everyone must be encouraged to say what they really think about the 'problem' and what should be done about it. Democratic leadership moving to a consensus is desperately needed before much headway can be made - or alternatively the great luck of having a group of staff members who actually think alike. We know how rare this is.
I have developed a series of questions which aim at getting teachers to examine and state their positions on a number of key matters that are relevant to developing policy against bullying. They are intended to help teachers to consider where they stand on bullying in schools and what approaches they favour. Let us all say what we think - then there will be a good chance that we will be genuinely engaged in the discussion of what needs to be done. The chances then become much higher then of a committed, wholehearted approach to countering bullying. The 'whole school approach' may become less an empty slogan or mindless mantra and mean something.
References
Rigby, K 2002, A meta-evaluation of methods and approaches to reducing bullying in pre-schools and in early primary school in Australia, Commonwealth Attorney-General's Department, Canberra. (In Australia phone 1800 703 777 for free copies; outside Australia, phone 02 62550998 or fax 02 62418261
Roland, E 1989, 'Bullying: the Scandinavian tradition', in DP Tattum & DA Lane (eds) Bullying in schools, (pp 21-32) Trentham Books, Stoke-on Trent.
Roland, E 1993, 'Bullying: a developing tradition of research and management', in DP Tattum (ed) Understanding and Managing Bullying, (pp15-30) Heinemann Educational, Oxford.
Salmivalli, C 2001, 'Combating school bullying: a theoretical framework and preliminary results of an intervention study', paper presented at an International Conference on Violence in Schools and Public policies, Paris, 2001
Smith, PK & Sharp, S (eds) 1994, School bullying: Insights and Perspectives,, London.
Smith, PK, Morita, J, Junger-Tas, D,Olweus, D, Catalano, R & Slee, PT 1999, The nature of school bullying: a cross-national perspective, Routledge, London.
Handling bullying: a staff
questionnaire (word document): please print the document and work through
the questionnaire