stop bullying in school essay

Essay on Bullying in Schools

School bullying can be defined as the situation in which one or more students (The Bullies) single out a child (victim) and intend in behavior intended to cause discomfort or harm the child. A bully will repeatedly target the same victim several times. Under all circumstances, bullies have an advantage over the victim as they possess more power. Compared to the victim, bullies usually have physically stronger with a large circle of friends or higher social standing. Bullying can inflict emotional distress, humiliation, and physical harm. More than 95% of learning institutions experience bullying globally. Bullying must be meet a specific rationale to be considered bullying. Such requirements include repetitiveness, recurrent imbalance of power, and provocation. Bullying can occur in schools, on campus, or the outskirts of school, but its setting must have been created within the school. Regardless of the position, all the stakeholders in a school context, such as parents, educators, children, and community members, are required to contribute to the prevention of bullying in schools. School bullying is increasingly becoming a social problem in modern society. Ideally, there are several types of school bullying attached to different causes. The effects of school bullying can be classified in psychological, economical, and academic dimensions.

Types of Bullying in Schools

The common types of bullying in a school setting include verbal, sexual, cyber, psychological, physical, and higher education bullying. Notably, victims in a learning context can experience bullying regardless of age. The aforementioned types of bullying are further classified as either direct or indirect bullying. Direct bullying is defined as an attack that is openly targeted to a victim. Direct bullying is either verbal or physical. Contrary, indirect bullying involves different forms of relational aggression that leads to social isolation through defaming one’s reputation and manipulating the conscience of others into falsehood. Indirect bullying is usually hard and subtle to detect in a school setting (Goodwin et al. 330). If undertaken by a group of bullies, direct and indirect bullying can be referred to as pack bullying. The different types of bullying can be defined either directly or indirectly relative to the implication to the victim.

Physical bullying occurs when there is unwanted physical contact between the victim and the bully. Physical contact can be hand to hand or tripping and throwing items at others that can cause physical harm. The second is emotional bullying. Emotional bullying can be defined as hurting others emotionally by negatively influencing their moods and psyche. The primary examples of emotional bullying include; belittling, spreading false information, and defamation. Verbal bullying can be defined as the usage of slanderous language or statements causing emotional distress to other people. Examples of verbal bullying include harassing, mocking, teasing, and threatening to cause harm. Finally, Cyberbullying is attached to the evolution of the internet and computers. The use of computers in bullying at schoolyards is on the surge. In most instances, schools experience difficulties in controlling cyberbullying as experiences are beyond the school fraternity.

The other common types of school bullying are sexual bullying and higher education bullying. Sexual bullying is either non-physical or physical, grounded on the gender or sexuality of the victim. In most instances, sexual bullying is undertaken by the male gender. The United States department of education reports an average of 60% of expulsions and suspensions from learning institutions attached to sexual bullying (Goodwin et al. 328). In most instances, the young ones are frames into tricks to share their nudes, after which there are forced to fulfill specific sexual demands at the expense of exposure. Higher education bullying occurs at the campus or college level. Around 95% of students have reported having been bullied at the college level. Higher education bullying results in depression and suicide in most cases.

Measures to Control Bullying

The main approaches in controlling bullying in school settings include the implementation of educative programs, creating a positive school climate, engaging parents, encouraging open communication and punishments. These techniques, however, vary depending on the learning level and the prevalence of bullying in the particular period. Education programs involve creating awareness to parents, students, and teachers regarding what constitutes bullying. Educative programs are instrumental in creating insight into the harmful nature of whichever kind of bullying. All the stakeholders within the school fraternity are enrolled in sessions of creating awareness on the signs of bullying and the most appropriate intervention criteria. The most common ways in educating on bullying include role-play, identification and reporting discussions, and other approaches to decline being involved in bullying. Nickerson(19) argued that educative programs are 62% effective in curbing the prevalence of bullying in learning institutions.

Secondly, schools can help in the prevention of bullying by promoting a positive school climate. Schools with a positive climate are presumed to have a healthy development, while the negative school climate results in a surge in bullying cases, unsafe feelings, victimization, and aggression. While the elements of positive school culture vary from norms relative to power, relationships, and feelings, it’s evident that a positive climate is a product of a conscious process that becomes self-reinforcing (Goodwin et al. 330). The main determinants of a positive climate include leadership and integrity in learning institutions. Therefore, the ability to have cognitive leaders is an advantage of coping with bullying in schools.

Third, schools should engage parents. Parents spend most of their time with children at the primary level. While there are many stakeholders involved in the lives of the children, parents play an essential role in understanding their behavior. Engaging parents in bullying scenarios means initiating communication on the progress of the children in terms of behavior and performance. Integration between parents and teachers is essential in providing consistent approaches that help yield a more productive and appropriate behavior (Nickerson 22). Parents can help their children recognize while being bullied by others. However, the approach is not viable in urban schools as parents experience difficulties establishing trust with schools.

Finally, schools should initiate open communication techniques. Open communication is essential in building rapport. Having open communication means that students can disclose their problems to teachers. Open communication helps the teachers gain more insight into existing bullies in the school (Nickerson 20). For instance, classroom meetings in grade 4 will enable teachers to obtain crucial information in enacting more controls to curb bullying in schools. Teachers are expected to listen carefully during the class meetings to avoid inflicting fear on the learners. Students should be assured of confidentiality and privacy of the information obtained as any disclosure might attract further bullying.

Effects of School Bullying 

The effect of school bullying can be categorized in psychological and academic dimensions. Bullying results in poor performance in school. More than 70% of learners subjected to bullying ends up recording a decline in academic performance. The results are more severe at a young age. Bullying would result in fading of interest and participation of learners in school activities as it results in unexplained injuries linked to affecting concentration (Menesini and Christina 246). The impact of bullying on educational performance is increasingly becoming imminent. Bullying installs fear in learners from attending school regularly, thus affecting their consistency and concentration in class. Based on this explanation, it’s evident that bullied students will experience difficulties in achieving their academic goals. Moreover, bullying is linked with an unsafe learning environment that creates a negative climate of fear and insecurities and the perception that teachers do not care about the welfare of learners, thus decline in quality of education.

Secondly, bullying is associated with psychological problems. While bullying to individuals helps them enhance their personality and perceptions as they grow, it’s presumed that bullying can risk an individual developing an antisocial personality disorder linked to committing crimes. Bullying leads to depression, anxiety, and psychosomatic symptoms, which often leads to alcohol and substance abuse by the victims at a later stage in their lives. It’s argued that victims of depression feel free and open to share their experience with others, unlike in bullying, where the victims would choose to shy talking about the feeling in fear of being bullied again. In the short run, bystanders of the bullying experience may develop the fear, guiltiness, and sadness, and if the experience persists, they might get psychologically drained (Sampson). Therefore, the victims of bullying experiences struggle with insomnia, suicidal thoughts, health problems, and depression. Bullying does affect not only the students but also their classmates and family. Feeling powerless, parents and immediate family members might fall victim to depression and emotional distress. Some parents would invest more time in protecting their children, thus affecting them psychologically and economically.

Causes of Bullying

There are numerous causes of school bullying attached to religion, socioeconomic status, race, and gender. Understanding the reasons why students chose to bully their classmates is significant to teachers in combating bullying. The National Center for Educational Statistics report established that 25% of Blacks, 22% of Caucasians, 17% of Hispanics, and 9% of Asian students were bullied in 2017 (Divecha). Some of the students that bully others have higher levels of courage and confidence and can respond aggressively if threatened by the behavior. Students at the college level get bullied on sexual matters. For instance, the subscribers to LGBTQA sexual orientation get bullied based on their decision as gay or lesbians. Moreover, bullying in schools is caused by other factors attached to families. Students from abuse and divorced families are likely to bully others due to jealousy, anger, and despair.

From the above discussion, it’s evident that school bullying in whichever capacity is detrimental to human dignity. School bullying is increasingly becoming a social problem in modern society. Ideally, there are several types of school bullying attached to different causes. The effects of school bullying can be classified in psychological, economical, and academic dimensions. The primary forms of school form such as verbal, sexual, cyber, psychological, physical, and higher education bullying are categorized into direct and indirect bullying. The intervention strategies to curb bullying should involve all the stakeholders, such as parents, teachers, and students. The main approaches in controlling bullying in school settings include implementing educative programs, creating a positive school climate, engaging parents, and encouraging open communication and punishments.

Works Cited

Divecha, Diana. “What Are the Best Ways to Prevent Bullying in Schools?”  Greater Good , https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_are_the_best_ways_to_prevent_bullyi ng_in_schools

Sampson, Rana. “Center for Problem-Oriented Policing.” Arizona State University,  https://popcenter.asu.edu/content/bullying-schools-0

Menesini, Ersilia, and Christina Salmivalli. “Bullying in schools: the state of knowledge and effective interventions.”  Psychology, health & medicine  22.sup1 (2017): 240-253.

Goodwin, John, et al. “Bullying in schools: an evaluation of the use of drama in bullying prevention.” Journal of Creativity in Mental Health 14.3 (2019): 329-342.

Nickerson, Amanda B. “Preventing and intervening with bullying in schools: A framework for evidence- based practice.”  School Mental Health  11.1 (2019): 15-28.

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Essay on Anti Bullying

Students are often asked to write an essay on Anti Bullying in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Anti Bullying

What is bullying.

Bullying is when someone hurts or scares another person repeatedly. The person being bullied finds it hard to defend themselves. Bullying can be physical, verbal, or online. It can include hitting, name-calling, threatening, and spreading rumors.

Effects of Bullying

Bullying can hurt a person’s feelings and make them sad or scared. It can lead to low self-esteem and poor school performance. In severe cases, it can also cause depression or anxiety. The person being bullied may feel alone and unwanted.

Anti-Bullying

Anti-bullying means actions taken to stop bullying. This can include telling a trusted adult about the bullying or standing up for the person being bullied. Schools can also have anti-bullying programs to teach students about the harm caused by bullying.

Role of Students

Students play a crucial role in anti-bullying. They can support the person being bullied and include them in activities. They can also tell the bully to stop if it is safe to do so. Being kind and respectful to everyone can help prevent bullying.

Bullying hurts people and is never okay. Everyone has the right to feel safe and respected. By standing up against bullying, we can create a kinder and more inclusive world. Remember, your actions can make a big difference.

Also check:

• Paragraph on Anti Bullying

250 Words Essay on Anti Bullying

Bullying is a bad behavior where one person hurts or scares another person on purpose. The person being hurt may have a hard time defending themselves. This can happen many times or just once.

Why is Bullying Wrong?

Bullying is wrong because it hurts people. It can make a person feel sad, scared, or angry. It can also make them feel alone. This can lead to problems like low self-esteem, depression, or even thoughts of suicide.

The Importance of Anti-Bullying

Anti-bullying is about stopping this bad behavior. It is important because everyone deserves to feel safe and happy. Schools, parents, and kids can all play a role in stopping bullying.

What Schools Can Do

Schools can teach about the harm of bullying and how to stop it. They can also make rules against bullying and make sure to enforce them. Schools can also give support to kids who have been bullied.

What Parents Can Do

Parents can teach their kids about respect and kindness. They can also watch for signs of bullying and talk to their kids about it. If their child is being bullied, they can talk to the school about it.

What Kids Can Do

Kids can stand up against bullying if they see it happening. They can also be a friend to someone who is being bullied. Most importantly, they should always tell an adult if they or someone else is being bullied.

Remember, bullying is never okay. Everyone has the right to feel safe and happy. Together, we can stop bullying.

500 Words Essay on Anti Bullying

Understanding bullying.

Bullying is when someone keeps doing or saying things to have power over another person. Some of the ways they bully other people are by: calling them names, saying or writing nasty things about them, leaving them out of activities, not talking to them, threatening them, making them feel uncomfortable or scared, or hurting them physically.

Why is Anti-Bullying Important?

Anti-bullying is important because everyone deserves to feel safe and happy in school, in their neighborhood, or online. Bullying can make people feel lonely, unhappy, and scared. It can affect their concentration and lower their self-esteem. Sometimes it can make them feel so bad that they don’t want to go on living. That’s why we need to stop bullying.

Steps Towards Anti-Bullying

There are many steps we can take to stop bullying. First, we must understand that everyone is different and that’s okay. We should respect others’ differences and treat everyone kindly. If you see someone being bullied, it’s important to stand up for them. Tell a trusted adult about the bullying. Don’t just stand by and watch; it’s important to take action.

Role of Schools in Anti-Bullying

Schools play a big role in stopping bullying. They can teach students about the harms of bullying, encourage them to speak up about it, and take action when it happens. Schools can also provide a safe and friendly environment where everyone is treated with respect.

Role of Parents in Anti-Bullying

Parents too have a big role in stopping bullying. They can teach their children about the importance of respecting others. They should also encourage their children to talk about their feelings and any problems they may be having. If their child is being bullied, parents should take it seriously and take steps to stop it.

In conclusion, bullying is a serious problem that we need to stop. Everyone has the right to feel safe and happy. We all have a role to play in stopping bullying. By understanding, standing up against, and taking action to stop bullying, we can make our schools, neighborhoods, and online spaces safer and happier for everyone.

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Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education

What Are the Best Ways to Prevent Bullying in Schools?

All 50 U.S. states require schools to have a bullying prevention policy.

But a policy, alone, is not enough. Despite the requirement, there’s been a slight uptick in all forms of bullying during the last three years. Bullying can look like experienced basketball players systematically intimidating novice players off the court, kids repeatedly stigmatizing immigrant classmates for their cultural differences, or a middle-school girl suddenly being insulted and excluded by her group of friends.

Bullying occurs everywhere, even in the highest-performing schools, and it is hurtful to everyone involved, from the targets of bullying to the witnesses—and even to bullies themselves. October is National Bullying Prevention Month, so it’s a good time to ask ourselves: What are the best practices for preventing bullying in schools? That’s a question I explored with my colleague Marc Brackett from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, in a recent paper, Rethinking School-Based Bullying Prevention Through the Lens of Social and Emotional Learning , that reviewed dozens of studies of real-world bullying prevention efforts.

As we discovered, not all approaches to bullying prevention are equally effective. Most bullying prevention programs focus on raising awareness of the problem and administering consequences. But programs that rely on punishment and zero tolerance have not been shown to be effective in the U.S.; and they often disproportionately target students of color. Programs like peer mediation that place responsibility on the children to work out conflicts can increase bullying. (Adult victims of abuse are never asked to “work it out” with their tormentor, and children have an additional legal right to protections due to their developmental status.) Bystander intervention, even among adults, only works for some people—extroverts, empaths, and people with higher social status and moral engagement. Many approaches that educators adopt have not been evaluated through research; instead, educators tend to select programs based on what their colleagues use.

We found two research-tested approaches that show the most promise for reducing bullying (along with other forms of aggression and conflict). They are a positive school climate, and social and emotional learning.

Building a positive school climate

School climate can be difficult to define, though possible to measure . It is the “felt sense” of being in a school, which can arise from a greeting, the way a problem is resolved, or how people work together; it is a school’s “heart and soul,” its “quality and character.” Schools with a positive climate foster healthy development, while a negative school climate is associated with higher rates of student bullying, aggression, victimization, and feeling unsafe.

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The elements of a positive climate may vary, but may often include norms about feelings and relationships, power and how it is expressed, and media consumption. Social norm engineering is a conscious process that builds a positive culture among student peers and school adults that becomes self-reinforcing. Like a healthy immune system, a positive school climate promotes optimal health and reduces the chances of dysfunction or disease.

Leadership is key to a positive climate. Is bullying minimized as a “normal rite of childhood,” or is it recognized as the harmful peer abuse that it is? Do leaders understand that uninterrupted, severe bullying can confer lifelong negative consequences on targets of bullies, bullies, and witnesses? Are school leaders committed to promoting all children’s positive psychological health, or do they over-rely on punishing misbehavior? Can they discern between typical developmental processes that need guidance versus bullying that needs assertive intervention? Are educators empathic to their students, and do they value children’s feelings?

Next, are teachers prepared to deal with bullying? Students consistently report that teachers miss most incidents of bullying and fail to help students when asked. A majority of teachers report that they feel unprepared to deal with classroom bullying. Some teachers bully students themselves , or show a lack of empathy toward children who are bullied. Teachers report that they receive little guidance in “classroom management,” and sometimes default to the disciplinary strategies they learned in their own families growing up.

However, reforming school climate should involve all stakeholders—students and parents, as well as the administrators and teachers—so a school’s specific issues can be addressed, and the flavor of local cultures retained. School climate assessments can be completed periodically to track the impact of improvements.

Advancing social and emotional learning

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is well known, and involves teaching skills of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsible decision making, and relationships management. (Full disclosure: Brackett and I are affiliated with the SEL program RULER .)

Evidence-based SEL approaches have been shown to deliver cost-effective, solid results. Numerous meta-analyses , research reviews , and individual studies of hundreds of thousands of K-12 students show that SEL improves emotional well-being, self-regulation, classroom relationships, and kind and helpful behavior among students. It reduces a range of problems like anxiety, emotional distress, and depression; reduces disruptive behaviors like conflicts, aggression, bullying, anger, and hostile attribution bias; and it improves academic achievement, creativity, and leadership.

A 2012 study of 36 first-grade teachers showed that when teachers were more emotionally supportive of students, children were less aggressive and had greater behavioral self-control, compared to the use of behavior management, which did not improve student self-control. One 2018 meta-analysis showed that developing emotional competence was protective against becoming a victim of bullying; social competence and academic performance were protective against becoming a bully; and positive peer interactions were protective against becoming a bully-victim (one who has been bullied and bullies others). A series of longitudinal studies showed positive effects into midlife (e.g., fewer divorces, less unemployment) and even cross-generational effects of early SEL. Compared to a matched control group, the children of the adults who participated in the Perry Preschool Project had less criminal involvement and higher educational and employment achievement. A cost-benefit analysis of six SEL programs found them to be good investments, with $11 saved for every $1 spent.

Teachers also benefit from SEL. Those with emotional and social skills training have higher job satisfaction and less burnout, show more positive emotions toward their students, manage their classrooms better, and use more strategies that cultivate creativity, choice, and autonomy in their students. Teachers report that they want more SEL support to cultivate their own emotional and social skills, and to better understand their students’ feelings. But few teacher training programs focus on growing the teachers’ emotion regulation skills.

Bullying at different age levels

SEL approaches should be developmentally wise , since what is salient and possible for children changes at different ages.

For example, preschoolers are expelled from school at the highest rates of all, but the neurological hardware for their self-control is only just developing. Only then are the connections between the emotion circuitry and the more thinking regions of the prefrontal cortex beginning to be myelinated (insulated for faster connectivity), something that will take until the mid 20s to complete. An SEL program like PATHS or RULER that teaches young children language for feelings, and strategies for thinking before acting, can develop better self-regulation.

Sometimes, adults confuse normal developmental processes with bullying. For example, children begin to reorganize their friendships midway through elementary school, something that can naturally create hurt feelings and interpersonal conflict. It should not be misconstrued as bullying, though, which involves intentional, repeated aggression within an imbalance of power. Normal development also includes experimenting with power, and these normal dynamics should be guided safely toward developing a healthy sense of agency, rather than a hurtful exertion of power over someone else.

Finally, the onset of puberty marks the beginning of heightened sensitivity to social relationships, an especially important time to cultivate skills for kinder, gentler relationships. Unfortunately, this is the period when bullying spikes the highest. And while some strategies work well for younger children (for example, advising them to “tell a trusted adult”), this option may fail with teens, and the breakpoint seems to be around the eighth grade. Older teens require approaches that are less didactic and leverage their need for autonomy, while affirming their values and search for meaning. Physiologically, the brain changes during puberty confer a second chance for recalibrating their stress regulation system. That opportunity should be constructively seized.

Approaches should also take into account individual differences between children. Even SEL programs can stumble here, over-relying on just one or two emotion regulation strategies, like breathing or mindfulness. But children vary in their temperaments, sensitivities, strengths, and vulnerabilities. The best SEL approaches guide students toward discovering strategies that work best for them—strategies that are emotion- and context-specific, personalized, and culturally responsive. This approach requires unconventional flexibility on the part of the educators.

And, finally, approaches work best if they are not standalone pedagogies or from kits that end up in the classroom closet at the end of the year. In order to be effective, skills should become fully embedded across the curricula and the entire day, in all settings, and implemented by all adults—in other words, infiltrating the ecosystem. Only approaches used and taught as intended are successful.

Schools can’t do this alone

Families matter, too. Bullying in schools sometimes arises from harsh parenting practices or sibling bullying at home.

Even parents’ workplaces matter. Adults experience bullying in their workplaces at about the same rate as children in schools, and it’s even found among teachers and in senior living communities . In other words, bullying is not just a childhood problem; it is a pervasive human problem. And children are not buffered from the wider social world—bullying of children who belong to groups targeted in the national political discourse has spiked on playgrounds nationwide.

Ultimately, we need a substantial shift in our mindsets about the importance of children and their feelings. Children are more likely to thrive when we nurture their humanity, and offer them language and strategies and values to help them identify, express, and, thus, regulate their feelings. When parents, teachers, and administrators gain new awareness into the complex roots of bullying and adopt new strategies for addressing it, schools can lead the way. The kids are counting on us.

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About the Author

Diana Divecha

Diana Divecha, Ph.D. , is a developmental psychologist, an assistant clinical professor at the Yale Child Study Center and Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, and on the advisory board of the Greater Good Science Center. Her blog is developmentalscience.com .

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Bullying in Schools

How it works

• 1 Introduction
• 3 Conclusion
• 4 Reference List

Introduction

Bullying has negative influences on children, consequently, need to be prevented in schools. Bullying is usually described as intentional abuse or intimidation having an aspect of actual or perceived strength imbalance and repetition over time (Nickerson, 2019 stated in Shamsi, Andrades & Ashraf, 2019). Bullying can be detrimental to a child’s health and well-being (US. National Centre for Statistics, 2001). Children who are bullied can end up depressed and have low self-confidence and self-esteem (Williams, Forgas & Von Hippel, 2013). However, further bullying can result in self-harm and suicide (Kim & Leventhal, 2008).

A retrospective study showed that over 25000 children have been bullied during the school year (Egan & Perry, 1998, cited in Ribgy, 2003). Bullying has also resulted in absenteeism from school with 19% of boys and 25% of girls (Tritt & Duncan, 1997, noted in Rigby 2003).

Bullying is an emerging serious problem in schools worldwide resulting in physical and mental health problems in children (Shamsi, Andrades & Ashraf, 2019). The, types of bullying include physical bullying, verbal bullying and cyberbullying (Lien, Green, Welander-Vath & Bjertness, 2009, cited in Shamsi, Andares & Ashraf, 2019) and the incidence of bullying varies from groups to places. Bullying is firstly common in early childhood years and continues to top in the secondary school years (Gini & Pozzoli, 2009, cited in Shamsi, Andares & Ashraf, 2019). The incidence of bullying is common on the way to and from school, lunch breaks and locations such as playgrounds, cafeterias, toilets, hallways and even in the presence of teachers in classrooms.

The most frequent occurrence of bullying is outside the schools, which is 65.4%, whereas 32% occurs in school canteens, 25.5% happens in classrooms and 11.8% takes place in toilets (Konstantina & Dimitrus, 2010, cited in Shamsi, Andares & Ashraf, 2019). Bullying in the course of early childhood years can moreover persist into teen years and leave lifelong scars. Bullying can also lead to issues such as bed-wetting, stomach-ache, headache, low self-esteem and depression. Feelings of depression is the most common outcome for bullying, which 73.9% are reported, alongside with 69.6% of headaches, 68% of low self-esteem and 24.8% of suicidal thoughts (Shetgiri, 2013, cited in Shamsi, Andares & Ashraf, 2019).

Bullying in schools is consequently being recognized as an essential public health problem worldwide. Bullying is increasingly posing enormous challenges to the educational system inflicting a negative impact on academic performance, student health and well-being and safety (Lai, Ye & Chang, 2008, cited Shamsi, Andares & Ashraf, 2019). Therefore, teachers must continue to be at the frontline to deal with behavioural problem in children. This means that they must have considerable expertise of dynamics of school bullying for correct identification, intervention and prevention of such incidents. Research shows, that teachers’ ability to identify bullies and victims is influenced by means of the age of students, frequency of contacts with students, the nature or type of bullying behaviour, knowledge and understanding of the degree of bullying and their responsiveness towards children (Maunder, Harrop & Tattersall, 2010, cited in Shamsi, Andares & Ashraf, 2019).

Teachers should, therefore, be considered as useful resources in encouraging school and community-based healthcare providers to screen for health-related risk factors in victims of bullying (Konstantina & Dimitrus, 2010, cited in Shamsi, Andares & Ashraf, 2019). Regarding the definition of bullying 81% of teachers were able to answer correctly, which 84.3% of physical bullying was reported, alongside with 30.1% verbal bullying and 32% cyberbullying. They are placed in a position to recognize bullying early on and liaise with the healthcare providers for timely intervention. Healthcare providers help screen for physical and psychiatric illnesses, counsel families, and be convincing advocates for bullying in schools (Stephens, Cook-Fasano & Sibbalucca, 2018, cited Shamsi, Andares & Ashraf, 2019).

A range of meta-analyses exist that synthesise the findings of a significant number of evaluations of anti-bullying interventions. These meta-analyses include evaluations from a range of countries, and in both primary and high schools. They point out that anti-bullying interventions can be effective at reducing bullying in schools, although the findings are mixed. A number of clear themes emerge from the research that point out what types of strategies are likely to have the strongest effect on reducing and stopping bullying in schools. Evidence suggests that successful anti-bullying interventions: take a holistic, whole-school approach, include educational content that supports students to develop social and emotional competencies, and learn appropriate ways to respond to bullying behaviours, provide support and professional development to teachers and other school staff on how best to maintain a positive school climate, ensure systematic program implementation and evaluation.

The strategies that schools take to counter bullying can be classified as either ‘preventative’ or ‘responsive’. Preventative strategies aim to stop bullying from happening in the first place, whilst responsive strategies are the steps taken to resolve the problem after bullying has occurred. The two strategies are not completely distinct: responsive strategies also aim, for example, to prevent bullying behaviours from taking place again in future. Nonetheless, the two types of strategies are discussed one by one here for the sake of clarity.

In order to be effective, however, school anti-bullying policies need to be sufficiently comprehensive. A number of content analyses of schools’ anti-bullying policies suggest that there are gaps in many policies (Marsh, McGee, Hemphill & Williams 2011; Smith, Smith. Osborn & Samara 2008)

There are 9 points that school anti-bullying policies must address: whole-school, collaboratively developed policies, plans and structures for supporting safety and wellbeing, clear procedures that enable staff, parents, carers and students to document confidentially any incidents or situations of child maltreatment, harassment, aggression, violence or bullying, clearly communicated strategies for staff to follow when responding to incidents of student harm from child maltreatment, harassment, aggression, violence, bullying or misuse of technology, agreements for responsible use of technology by staff and students, regular risk assessments of the physical school environment (including off-campus and outside school hours related activities), leading to the development of effective risk-management plans, established and well-understood protocols about appropriate and inappropriate adult-to-student contact and interactions within the school context, effective strategies for record keeping and communication between appropriate staff about safety and well-being issues, a representative group responsible for overseeing the school’s safety and wellbeing initiatives, protocols for the introduction of casual staff, new staff and new students and families into the school’s safety and wellbeing policies and procedures (Australian Government Department of Education and Training 2016).

Bullying prevention is effective at reducing bullying in schools and other institutions. Bullying, especially physical can result in absenteeism from school, depression and eventually death. Intervention from pre-school years is designed to reduce bullying in all institutions. However, bullying prevention can be successful if anti-bullying packages are comprehensive. There is also evidence to suggest that bullying prevention aims to stop the occurrence of bullying in the first place. Importantly, the nine anti-bullying policies should be effective in either preventing or reducing bullying in institutions. Therefore, bullying be avoided in institutions, and comprehensive interventions are needed to prevent bullying from an early age.

Reference List

• Australian Government Department of Education and Training 2016, National Safe Schools Framework, Student Wellbeing Hub, viewed 23 May 2017, https://www.studentwellbeinghub.edu.au/ educators/nssf#/element/policies-and-procedures/characteristics.
• Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation 2017, Anti-bullying interventions in schools – what works? Viewed 22 September 2019
• Egan, S. K., & Perry, D. G. (1998). Does low self-regard invite victimization? Developmental psychology, 34(2), 299.
• Gini, G., & Pozzoli, T. (2009). Association between bullying and psychosomatic problems: A meta-analysis. Pediatrics, 123(3), 1059-1065.
• Kim, Y. S., & Leventhal, B. (2008). Bullying and suicide. A review. International journal of adolescent medicine and health, 20(2), 133-154
• Konstantina, K. A. P. A. R. I., & Pilios-Dimitris, S. T. A. V. R. O. U. (2010). School traits as predictors of bullying and victimization among Greek middle school students. International Journal, 94.
• Lai, S. L., Ye, R., & Chang, K. P. (2008). Bullying in middle schools: An Asian-Pacific regional study. Asia Pacific Education Review, 9(4), 503-515.
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