(continued from previous page)

How Common Is Bullying?

Bullying is widespread. According to a survey funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, bullying affects nearly one in every three American schoolchildren in grades six through ten.

The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (April 25, 2001), is the first large-scale national study to document the actual extent of bullying in the U.S.

Almost 30 percent of the 15,686 public school students surveyed for the study reported occasional or frequent involvement in bullying, either as a bully, a victim, or both. Boys were more likely than girls to be both bullies and targets of bullying. (See Survey Findings, p.3.)

How Can Bullying Be Stopped?

Research and experience suggest that comprehensive efforts that involve teachers
and other school staff, students, parents, and community members are likely to be more effective than purely classroom- based approaches.

One successful program that uses such comprehensive methods is the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, which has been recognized as a model program by both the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention and the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.

The program uses a combination of school-wide interventions, classroom-level interventions, and individual-level interventions. (See Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, p.4.)

The goal of the program is to create a social environment that is characterized by warmth and positive adult involvement, firm limits for unacceptable behavior, consistent use of sanctions for rule violations, and a recognition that adults are the authorities.

Scientific evaluations have shown that students who participated in the program reported a 30 to 70 percent reduction in being bullied and bullying others. Evaluations also have shown significant reductions in student reports of general antisocial behavior such as vandalism, fighting, theft, and truancy, and significant improvements in classroom order and discipline.

Schools and communities across the country are using this and other programs to address the causes and consequences of bullying. Recently, The Challenge had an opportunity to check in with several school districts to find out what they are doing to reduce and prevent bullying and to create positive school climates. Following are some examples of what we found.

Mesa County, Colorado

Colorado has legislated that schools and districts must have policies in place to address bullying as part of their school safety plans. In response to this legislation, Mesa County Valley School District #51 has designed several initiatives to prevent and reduce bullying while strengthening students’ relationships and feelings of school connectedness.

Mesa County is offering a series of staff/parent trainings on the use of science-based programs, policies, and practices to reduce and prevent bullying. The school district is also using the Peace Builders Program to build student skills. The goal is to engage students in strengthening social skills that can neutralize or prevent bullying behaviors and create new social cultures. Mesa County has focused on fostering connectedness between children and adults, building relationships through service-learning, and developing peer mentoring programs at the high school level. Students, parents, and staff have responded positively to the program, expressing that they feel involved in the planning process, and that they believe that the multiple strategies approach is making a difference.

<continued on the next page: Bullying Prevention in the School>