Middle School Students’ Preferences for Anti–Bullying Interventions
Laura M. Crothers, Jered B. Kolbert And William F. Barker
Crothers, L. M., Kolbert, J. B., & Barker, W. F. (2006). Middle school students’
preferences for anti-bullying interventions. School Psychology International, 27(4), 475-487.
doi:10.1177/0143034306070435
1. Make the classroom so that bullying can’t happen by having the teachers know what is
going on at all times.
2. Teach kids how to make bullies leave them alone.
3. Tell your parents and the parents of other bullies and victims.
Teacher participation is highly valued when dealing with bullies. In a study of middle school
students by Crother, Kolber, and Barker (2006), showed that the top 3 rated interventions all
included the participation of a teacher or school staff member. They surveyed 285 students
providing them with 15 different bully intervention studies and the top rated was “make the
classroom so that that bullying can’t happen by having the teachers know what is going on at all
times” followed by teaching kids how to handle bullies and contacting parents of bullies and
victims (Crother et al., 2006).
Teachers are an authority figure in classroom settings and vulnerable victims of bully’s expect
the teacher to help keep them safe in bully situations. It is important that teachers find successful
techniques to help prevent bullying before it happens and effectively handle a bully situation
when it occurs. I believe that prevention is the key to decrease the occurrences of bullying and
this study shows that student also realize this.
How teachers respond to school bullying: An examination of self-reported intervention
strategy use, moderator effects, and concurrent use of multiple strategies
Christoph Burger, Dagmar Strohemeier, Nina Sprober, Sheri Bauman, Ken Rigby
It is therefore important, that anti-bullying efforts target the whole system, aiming for a
supportive and respectful school climate where students can feel safe an secures. This is best
done by so called whole-school approaches where school educators and student are committed to
creating a bullying-resistant climate.
Teachers might employ an authority-based approach, which can be described as a control-
oriented strategy. Teachers applying this strategy mainly use their personal authority to establish
firm limits with verbal reprimands, and if unsuccessful, other disciplinary means including all
kids of sanctions. The use of authority-based interventions is considered important in many
prevention programs, and there is an ongoing debate in which situations this approach is
justifiable and effective. While clear verbal reprimands were found to decrease bullying
incidents when used in combination with other non-punitive interventions, solely authority-based
strategies are harmful as they have been show to achieve only short-term behavioral change
regarding the bullies’ behavior, lead to more subtle and indirect (but not less aggressive) forms
of bullying which are much harder to recognize and control and in the long run increase the
school’s overall violence levels. Even in the very sever cases of bullying and school violence, it
has been shown that sanctions such as temporarily removing the bully from the class or school
were not effective in stopping bullying incidents in the long run.
https://doi-org.hal.weber.edu/10.1016/j.tate.2015.07.004
The effectiveness of school-based bullying prevention programs: A systematic review
Caroline B. R. Evans, Mark W. Fraser, Katie L. Cotter
Fekkes, M., Pijpers, F. I. M., & Verloove-Vanhorick, S. P. (2004). Bullying: who does what,
when and where? Involvement of children, teachers, and parents in bullying behavior.
Health Education Research, 20(1), 81-91. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/cyg100
https://af5ss8ab4n.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-
2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-
8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3A
kev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Bullying%3A+who+does+what%2C+whe
n+and+where%3F+Involvement+of+children%2C+teachers+and+parents+in+bullying+behavior
&rft.jtitle=Health+Education+Research&rft.au=M.+Fekkes&rft.au=F.+I.+M.+Pijpers&rft.au=S.
+P.+Verloove-Vanhorick&rft.date=2005-02-
01&rft.pub=Oxford+Publishing+Limited%28England%29&rft.issn=0268-1153&rft.eissn=1465-
3648&rft.volume=20&rft.issue=1&rft.spage=81&rft.externalDocID=784812991¶mdict=en-
US
16.2% of children were bullied several times a month or more often and more than 7% reported
being bullied several times a week. Children from a lower school grade were bullied more often
than children from a higher grade.
5.5% of children reported bullying other children several times a month. 31.9% indicated that
they had bullied another student at least once during the current term.
Only 53% of the regularly bullied children told their teacher that bullying that took place, and
67% told their parents that they were bullied.
57.1% of the teachers knew and tried to help stop bulling. They were successful 49% of the
cases.
Bauman, S., Rigby, K., & Hoppa, K. (2008). Us teachers’ and school counsellors’ strategies
for handling school bully incidents. Educational Psychology, 28(7), 837-856.
https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410802379085
https://www-tandfonline-
com.hal.weber.edu/doi/full/10.1080/01443410802379085?scroll=top&needAccess=true
7. I would make it clear to the bully that his or her behavior would not be tolerated. 83
1. I would insist that the bully “cut it out.” 65
13. I would ask the school counsellor to intervene. 61
4. I would discuss the matter with my colleagues at school. 56
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume
number(issue number if available), page range. doi:0000000/000000000000 or
https://doi.org/10.0000/0000
Olweus Bullying Prevention Program Website
• School-wide, classroom activities, individual interventions
• “change the climate of the school and the social norms with regard to bullying”
• It must become normative for staff and students to notice and respond when a child is
bullied or left out
• Bullying is not the sole responsibility of any single individual at school
• 4 rules: We will not bully others, we will try to help students who are bullied, we will try
to include students who are left out, if we know that somebody is being bullied, we will
tell an adult at school and an adult at home.
• Long term commitment, no end date, daily part of school life
• Teacher training
