Stop the Violence in Latin America: A Look at Prevention from Cradle to Adulthood by Laura Chioda

Author:Laura Chioda
Language: eng
Format: epub

BOX 4.1: A promising strategy to address bullying and other unintended consequences of keeping youths from dropping out

Extending schools days or delaying dropping out of at-risk youth may yield unintended consequences such as increased bullying and violence in schools (Anderson, Hansen, and Walker 2013; Jacob and Lefgren 2003). These consequences do not invalidate the benefits of the additional schooling, but call for a more nuanced policy design, such as anti-bullying programs.

The Olweus Bullying Program (Olweus 1993, 1994, 1995) is viewed as one of the most consistent and effective school-based interventions to reduce aggressive behavior in the United States, and has been labeled as one the “promising” programs by the Blueprints Initiative.a The program seeks to reduce bullying in schools using a multifaceted approach, with training for students, teachers, and parents. The program has been shown to be effective and offers curricula for several school grades ranging from late childhood (age 5–11) to early adolescence (12–14) and late adolescence (15–18).

The program seeks to address the problem of bullying by first dispelling myths. For example, bullying does not result from larger class sizes, failure in school, or differences in students’ appearances. Instead, bullies are marked by their generally aggressive and antisocial dispositions; this observation has implications for interventions.

At the school level, teachers receive training to better diagnose and monitor bullying behavior. They also are taught how to induce better social skills among their students. In class, students engage in role-playing scenarios and cooperative groups to practice better social interactions. When bullying does occur, either in the classroom or on the playground, teachers have serious discussions with both the bully and victim, and report the problems to the students’ parents, who also play an important role in discouraging bullying behavior. It is considered paramount that teachers not allow even minor incidents of bullying behavior to persist.

At the family level, parents receive training on how to identify the signs of aggression and bullying at home and are expected to maintain consistent rules and disciplinary practices to deter their children from aggressive behavior. They learn to identify even minor signs of bullying and aggression, such as damaged schoolbooks and cuts or bruises, which can be indicative of victimization, and should be reported to teachers and staff during parent-teacher meetings. In addition, parents should keep track of their child’s friends and social activities, which help teachers identify which students are involved.

Olweus (1994) evaluated the effectiveness of the program based on a large sample of students in Norway from grades 4 to 7, following them over 2.5 years. Bullying declined by more than 50 percent, and general antisocial behavior fell markedly, leading to an improved school environment. Teachers reported more positive peer interactions, and better attitudes toward schoolwork. While other reviews have reported smaller effect sizes, the program has consistently recorded reductions in bullying behavior (Limber 2006). Moreover, the program appears to build momentum, with effects tending to strengthen over time (Olweus 2005). While possible mediators of these effects are not as yet well understood, the consensus

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.