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What
are the best ways of tackling bullying in school?
A Scottish anti-bullying
pack for schools ('Bullyproofing Our School') points out
that the atmosphere and character of a school (broadly speaking
its ethos) is very important in preventing and tackling
bullying. A school can create the right ethos by: sending
clear and consistent messages that bullying will not be
tolerated; asking staff, pupils and parents to agree on
a definition of bullying; thinking about things in the school
which might encourage bullying and finally making sure that
the behaviour of teachers and staff structures do not act
as models for bullying behaviour.
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Article details
A McLean (1994) 'Background
Reading for Schools', Book 8 in the pack 'Bullyproofing
Our School. Promoting Positive Relationships', Strathclyde
Regional Council, Department of Education. This article
can be viewed here.
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 Author
details
At
the time of this study, Alan McLean was Principal Psychologist
based at the Education Department Psychological Service
in the former Strathclyde Regional Council. His particular
interests in the area of bullying include: links between
bullying and motivation; the thinking processes and self-esteem
of the bully.
He can be contacted
at by email.
According to the anti-bullying
pack ('Action Against Bullying') which was sent to all schools
in Scotland, the most important thing a school can do to
tackle bullying is to have a clear policy which pupils,
staff and parents support. A school can also use the curriculum
to raise awareness and to get the message across that bullying
is unacceptable. A key message of the pack is to encourage
a feeling of openness in the school, one which encourages
children to speak up if they are being bullied.
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Article details
M Johnstone, P Munn
and L Edwards (1992) 'Action Against Bullying: a support
pack for schools', Edinburgh: Scottish Council for Research
in Education.
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 Author
details
Professor Pamela Munn
is Dean of Moray House School of Education at The University
of Edinburgh. She is also Director of the Anti-Bullying
Network and the Scottish Schools Ethos Network, which are
both based at The University of Edinburgh. She has been
involved in research projects on bullying, discipline and
truancy for a number years. Among her many publications
on these topics are two major anti-bullying support packs
which were sent to all schools in Scotland and which have
received enthusiastic international attention. You may visit
the website of Moray
House School of Education and also the website of the
Scottish
Schools Ethos Network.
An important message
to come out of a Scottish study is that if a school is to
reduce bullying it must encourage openness and encourage
children to tell if they are being bullied. This would involve
letting children see that if they do speak up, it will be
taken seriously and will make a difference. It is pointed
out that if this is to work, the children must feel part
of things, they should be asked about what is going on and
this should feed into the school policy.
.........................................
Article details
A Mellor (1997) 'Finding
Out About Bullying'. SCRE Spotlight, Number 43, Edinburgh:
Scottish Council for Research in Education. This paper can
be downloaded
here.
.........................................
 Author
details
At the time of the
study, Andrew Mellor was a practising teacher who had received
funding from the Scottish Education Department to carry
out this project. He has been actively involved in anti-bullying
work in Scotland for almost 15 years, speaking at conferences,
writing for academic and non-academic audiences and running
in-service courses for teachers. He is now manager of the
Anti-Bullying Network, which is funded by the Scottish Executive
and based at The University of Edinburgh.
An approach which
is used in many schools in Scotland is the Praise and Reward
System. Teachers have reported that the system has had a
positive effect on pupil behaviour and the general atmosphere
of the school. As the name suggests, there is a special
emphasis on rewarding good behaviour and effort. This would
involve formal and public recognition, for example receiving
an award at a school assembly. The system also includes
punishments for unacceptable behaviour. A successful system
would usually involve teachers and pupils agreeing on a
short list of rules for the school and the classroom. Pupils
might also be involved in drawing up a list of sanctions
and punishments to be applied if the rules were broken.
Although the Praise and Reward System is not specifically
aimed at bullying, it can help to discourage it by creating
a positive school ethos, which encourages children to value
themselves and others.
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Article details
P Munn (2000) 'Information
About Praise and Reward Systems', Information Sheet Number
12, Edinburgh: The Anti-Bullying Network. This information
sheet can be downloaded
here.
.........................................
Author
details
Professor Pamela Munn
is Dean of Moray House School of Education at The University
of Edinburgh. She is also Director of the Anti-Bullying
Network and the Scottish Schools Ethos Network, which are
both based at The University of Edinburgh. She has been
involved in research projects on bullying, discipline and
truancy for a number years. Among her many publications
on these topics are two major anti-bullying support packs
which were sent to all schools in Scotland and which have
received enthusiastic international attention. You may visit
the website of Moray
House School of Education and also the website of the
Scottish
Schools Ethos Network.
One of the most widely
used anti-bullying programmes is the 'Bullying Prevention
Programme' designed by Dan Olweus. There are a number of
different parts to this programme including: the involvement
of adults, the use of the Bully/Victim questionnaire to
find out about bullying in the school, a school conference
day, better supervision at break times, class rules about
bullying, regular class meetings, serious talks with bullies,
victims and parents of involved pupils. To succeed, it is
very important for the school to have very clear limits
regarding unacceptable behaviour, and to make it a positive
place where caring, prosocial behaviour is encouraged and
bullying is firmly discouraged. The programme has had dramatic
results. Bully/victim problems were cut by at least half
and general anti-social behaviour (eg truancy and vandalism)
was also reduced. There were also great improvements in
discipline, pupil relationships and attitudes to school
work and to the school generally.
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Comment
The Olweus programme,
unlike others, has been extensively evaluated in Scandinavia.
This has been possible because of the high profile the issue
has had there for the last 30 years. Researchers in other
countries have found it difficult to attract the level of
funding which would allow them to carry out such an extensive
research programme. However, the Scandinavian work has inspired
many similar, albeit smaller, programmes to be set up across
the globe. In most cases, these have been adapted to take
account of organisational and cultural differences.
The development of
anti-bullying strategies is a dynamic process which has
benefited hugely from international co-operation but it
seems unlikely (Professor Olweus might disagree!) that any
one programme will satisfy the needs of all schools in all
countries.
(Andrew Mellor)
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Article details
D Olweus, S Limber
and S F Mihalic 'History and Description of the Bullying
Prevention Program' in 'Blueprints for Violence Prevention',
The Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence at the
University of Colorado at Boulder, USA. This paper can be
downloaded
here. Click on 'video segment' for an interesting video
clip about the project.
The information in
this paper was taken from D Olweus, S Limber and S F Mihalic
(1999) 'Blueprints for Violence Prevention. Book Nine: Bullying
Prevention Program', Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and
Prevention of Violence.
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 Author
details
Professor Dan Olweus
was the first person to carry out a thorough research project
on bullying. This large, long term study which began in
Sweden in 1970, was to provide the inspiration for many
who felt that bullying in schools should be challenged rather
than accepted. Since the 1970s, his work in this area had
continued with force. Indeed, in 1997-99, he led a group
in a large project which introduced the widely respected
Olweus (anti-bullying) programme to schools in Norway. Professor
Olweus is based at the Research Centre for Health Promotion,
University of Bergen in Norway and can be contacted by email.
In the early 1990s,
a number of schools took part in a large study which looked
at anti-bullying work in the schools and whether it was
making a difference. The main part of the programme in each
school was the anti-bullying policy. Other ways of tackling
bullying included training lunchtime supervisors, drama
work, assertiveness training and the playground environment.
It was found that after introducing the anti-bullying policy
and at least one of the other approaches, bullying levels
did decrease (particularly at primary school level). Results
found that of the extra interventions, the training of lunchtime
supervisors was seen as the most important. This was followed
by drama work, assertiveness training, playground environment,
video work, Pikas approach (a specific, non judgmental way
of handling group bullying), quality circles, literature
and peer counselling.
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 Article
details
P
K Smith (1999) 'England and Wales', chapter in the book
'The Nature of School Bullying: a cross-national perspective',
London: Routledge. Click the book graphic to buy this book
online.
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 Author
details
Professor Peter K
Smith is Head of the Unit for School and Family Studies,
Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, London. He
has been involved in bullying research for a number of years
and has published widely on this topic.
Peter Smith may be
contacted by email,
and the website of the Unit for School and Family Studies
at Goldsmiths College may be found
here.
In the early 1990s,
16,000 children from primary and secondary schools in Strathclyde,
Scotland answered questions about bullying. They described
what they thought schools could and should be doing to prevent
and tackle bullying. Their suggestions for preventing bullying
included: taking it seriously, encouraging pupils to report
it, encouraging discussion about it, improving supervision
in the playground and within the school building, making
break times more enjoyable and safer, improving communication
and relationships between pupils and between teachers and
pupils, introduce code of behaviour and dress. Their suggestions
for reacting to bullying included support for the victims.
While some pupils suggested punishing the bullies, others
suggested taking a supportive role and felt that punishment
would only make matters worse.
.........................................
Article
details
A McLean (1997) 'Bullyproofing
Our School: what do the pupils think?', Topic 2, Issue 17.
National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER). This
article can be viewed here.
.........................................
Author
details
At the time of this
study, Alan McLean was Principal Psychologist based at the
Education Department Psychological Service in the former
Strathclyde Regional Council. His particular interests in
the area of bullying include: links between bullying and
motivation; the thinking processes and self-esteem of the
bully.
He can be contacted
at by email.
It has been suggested
that one way of tackling bullying in schools is to focus
and work on the behaviour and role of not just the bully
and victim, but of all those pupils who are around when
bullying takes place. These could be pupils who are directly
encouraging the aggressive behaviour, those who are standing
back and letting it happen and those who are actively trying
to stop it. The children are given information about how
groups operate and are encouraged to look at their own behaviour
and role within the group, and to consider if it might somehow
be encouraging the bully. Through role-play and drama (possibly
using peer helpers) they can explore the feelings of those
involved and develop assertiveness techniques to help them
take a stand against bullying. It has been suggested that
peer helpers could also be important as counsellors, who
would offer support to the victims and encourage all those
involved to say no to the bullies.
.........................................
Article
details
C Salmivalli (1999)
'Participant Role Approach to School Bullying: implications
for interventions' in 'Journal of Adolescence', Volume 22,
pages 453-459.
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 Author
details
Dr Christian
Salmivalli works at the Department of Psychology in the
University of Turku, Finland. Her research interests include
aggression in children and young people, bullying in school
and interventions to prevent it and also self-esteem and
social skills.
For more
information go
here.
Circle time is used
in many schools across Britain. During a circle time session,
pupils and teacher sit in a circle and in an open, positive
atmosphere each person is given a turn (taken only if desired)
to contribute to the discussion. It not only encourages
children to discuss issues (for example bullying) and but
also to come up with solutions. In the case of bullying
it can be used to help schools prevent it or to deal with
a particular problem as it occurs. As part of a school's
anti-bullying programme, circle time is used to raise pupil
awareness and understanding of the problem, and to come
up with ways of tackling it. A very important part of circle
time is that it helps children learn how to listen and how
to consider the feelings of others. These skills not only
help the individual children but help to make the whole
school a more caring, positive place.
.........................................
Article
details
A Mellor (2000) 'Information
for Teachers About the Use of Circle Time', Information
Sheet Number 11, Edinburgh: The Anti-Bullying Network. This
sheet can be downloaded
here.
.........................................
Author
details
At the
time of the study, Andrew Mellor was a practising teacher
who had received funding from the Scottish Education Department
to carry out this project. He has been actively involved
in anti-bullying work in Scotland for almost 15 years, speaking
at conferences, writing for academic and non-academic audiences
and running in-service courses for teachers. He is now manager
of the Anti-Bullying Network, which is funded by the Scottish
Executive and based at The University of Edinburgh.
A technique which
can be used to tackle bullying in school is the No Blame
Approach. As the name suggests, one of the most important
things about this approach is that it deliberately avoids
accusations, blame and punishment. The first step is to
interview the victim, with the aim of finding out how he/she
feels. The child will be asked to draw a picture or write
something to communicate his/her distress. With the child's
full knowledge and approval, the next step involves getting
together the children involved in the bullying (including
bystanders) and perhaps some non-involved children. This
group (which does not include the victim) will then be made
aware of the victim's distress and will be encouraged to
take responsibility for their actions and to come up with
ideas for making the bullied person feel happier. It should
be mentioned that the No Blame Approach (which may mistakenly
be viewed as a technique which condones bullying) can also
be described as the Support Group Approach.
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Comment
It is difficult to
argue that serious, intentional, repeated, physical bullying
should not be met with the imposition of some sort of sanctions.
Indeed physical violence such as this is a crime - and schools
are subject to the law of the land. However, this type of
bullying is far less common than name-calling and exclusion,
although we know from the testimony of victims the hurt
which can be caused by being taunted and deliberately isolated.
Many parents, pupils
and teachers expect "bullies" to be punished,
but in many cases punishment will be ineffective or inappropriate
- and children cannot be punished for refusing to play with
another child. That is why schools are increasingly adopting
new reactive strategies such as No Blame, (which is now
often called the Support Group approach) and the related
Shared Concern method. These strategies allow effective
intervention in situations where guilt cannot be proved,
or where it is unclear whether what has happened is bullying
or a relationship problem.
The 'shared concern'
method is a Swedish technique which has much in common with
the "No Blame Approach". It has not been widely
used in Britain, perhaps because it is more elaborate and
time consuming. Both of these methods have been criticised
for failing to allocate blame but both aim to bring an early
end to episodes of bullying and to encourage young people
to accept responsibility for their actions.
It should be noted
that the No Blame Approach is particularly useful in dealing
with group bullying and name-calling. However, it may be
an inappropriate response to other types of bullying. It
should only be applied with the full agreement of the bullied
child and after a professional judgement has been made about
whether the bullying children are capable of understanding
the hurt they have caused. A small number of children who
bully others have serious social, emotional and behavioural
problems. In such cases, the No Blame Approach could expose
the victim to the possibility of even more bullying.
(Andrew Mellor)
.........................................
Article
details
Research article by
S Young (1998), 'Educational Psychology in Practice', volume
14. Reproduced here.
PeaceBuilders is an
American/Australian programme for primary schools which
aims to reduce and prevent violence. By helping to encourage
positive behaviour and by helping children to develop academic
and life skills in their early years, it aims to reduce
aggressive behaviour not only in the school years but beyond.
PeaceBuilders has 5 main messages: give up put-downs; praise
people; seek wise people; notice hurts and right wrongs.
.........................................
Article
details
S Petrie and G Christie
(1998) 'Reducing Violence through Community-based Programs:
a case for PeaceBuilders'. The article can be found on the
PeaceBuilders
website (see the list of article titles).
Many schools in Scotland
have introduced ways of encouraging positive behaviour and
discipline. Each school's approach is different, as is the
place of anti-bullying work in each school. A recent publication
describes the action taken by a number of Scottish schools
to promote positive discipline. In most of the reports from
schools there is only a brief reference to bullying, but
it would be surprising if a marked improvement in behaviour
generally did not also have an impact on bullying. For example,
one of the reports describes how two primary schools focused
on playground activities, equipment and supervision. As
a result, there was a large fall in the number of playground
fights. Another school, which has also improved the playground
environment, specifically mentions a drop in bullying levels
as a result. Yet another school describes its work on positive
discipline. In its report it identifies six main features
of its work (including rewards for good behaviour and also
new ways of dealing with cases of indiscipline). Although
not specifically mentioned in this first list, the school
does identify anti-bullying work as an important future
area of the broader positive behaviour programme. For another
two schools however, tackling bullying was an early priority
when the school reviewed its discipline policy. Also the
report from a local authority lists a number of features
which can promote positive behaviour and discipline in schools.
One of these key features is anti-bullying work.
.........................................
Article
details
P Munn (editor) (1999)
'Promoting Positive Discipline: whole school approaches
to tackling low level disruption', Edinburgh: Moray House
Publications. This is now out of print, but a copy can be
downloaded
here.
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Author details
Professor
Pamela Munn is Dean of Moray House School of Education at
The University of Edinburgh. She is also Director of the
Anti-Bullying Network and the Scottish Schools Ethos Network,
which are both based at The University of Edinburgh. She
has been involved in research projects on bullying, discipline
and truancy for a number years. Among her many publications
on these topics are two major anti-bullying support packs
which were sent to all schools in Scotland and which have
received enthusiastic international attention. You may visit
the website of Moray
House School of Education and also the website of the
Scottish
Schools Ethos Network.
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