Wherever groups of children interact, bullying has a way of rearing its head. The phenomenon is widespread—but it’s also avoidable. Schools can take action against bullying behavior by working to change culture. With focus and commitment, anti-bullying programs can lead to long-term change.
Bullying affects a reported 15 to 25 percent of students in the United States. It can be physical, verbal or psychological. It is characterized by an imbalance of power, repeated incidents between the same children, and an intent to cause distress or harm.
And harm it does. Victimization can have profound effects on children’s physical, psychological, and emotional health. And these effects can carry over to schools and communities. Every day, more than 160,000 students miss school for fear of being bullied. Prolonged attacks may lead bullied students to drop out of school permanently, abuse drugs, develop violent or antisocial behaviors, or grow dependent on public assistance—societal costs that could have been avoided if bullying were stopped.
Many school leaders see bullying behavior as a problem without a solution. A rite of passage. Just part of growing up. But recent research into the long-term consequences of bullying reveals an issue schools can no longer afford to ignore.
In a meta-analysis of more than 50 anti-bullying initiatives, bullying and victimization were reduced by 17 to 23 percent in one year in schools with programs, compared to those without. Programs that worked shared a number of key characteristics.
In this series of four blog posts we’ll look at 6 tips to help ensure program success for schools considering an anti-bullying program.
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