Bullying Prevention Program
Contact: Position/Title: Phone Number: Address:
Email:
Dan Olweus, Ph.D.or Susan P. Limber, Ph.D. Program Developer 47–55–58–23–27 (Olweus) (864) 656–6271 (Limber) Olweus: Research Center for Health Promotion, Bergen, Norway Or Limber: Institute on Family and Neighborhood Life Clemson University 158 Poole Agricultural Center, Clemson, SC 29634–5205 olweus@psych.uib.no; slimber@clemson.edu
Purpose
The Bullying Prevention Program is a universal intervention for the reduction and prevention of bully/victim problems. The main arena for the program is the school, and school staff has the primary responsibility for the introduction and implementation of the program. The program aims to effect systematic changes of the ―opportunity‖ and ―reward structures‖ for bullying and similar behavior in the school and other relevant contexts. In addition, positive, friendly, and prosocial behaviors are encouraged and rewarded.
Program Background
The Bullying Prevention Program, developed in 1983 in Bergen, Norway, is a schoolwide violence prevention program that seeks to reduce the incidence of bully/victim problems among primary and secondary school children. It is based on a child-rearing model applied in a school setting to reduce low level aggression and conflict. The program’s developer, Dan Olweus, designed it to increase awareness and knowledge about bullying behavior in the school community; to promote the active involvement of parents, teachers and other responsible adults; to help establish clear rules against bullying; and to provide support and protection for victims. The Bullying Prevention Program is built around a limited set of key principles and findings derived chiefly from research on the development and modification of problem behaviors, particularly aggressive behavior. More specifically, the program strives to develop a school (and ideally, a home) environment that: is characterized by warmth, positive interest, and involvement by adults; has firm limits on unacceptable behavior that are clearly stated; consistently applies non-hostile, nonphysical negative consequences in cases of violations of rules and other unacceptable behaviors; and,
provides positive adult role models and adult authority.
Scope of Program
The program serves students in elementary, middle, and junior high schools. All students within a school participate in most aspects of the program. Additional individual interventions are targeted at students who are identified as bullies or victims of bullying.
Specific Problems/Risk Factors Targeted
Bullying is characterized by the following three criteria: 1) it is aggressive behavior or intentional ―harmdoing;‖ 2) it is carried out repeatedly over time; and 3) it occurs within an interpersonal relationship characterized by an imbalance of power. One might add that bullying behavior often occurs without apparent provocation. A student is being bullied or victimized when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other students. Such negative actions include intentionally inflicting, or attempting to inflict, injury or discomfort upon another. These behaviors can be carried out physically (e.g., hitting, kicking, pushing, choking), verbally (e.g., by calling names, threatening, taunting, malicious teasing, spreading nasty rumors), or in other ways, such as making faces or obscene gestures, or intentional exclusion from a group. In order to be considered bullying, there should also be an imbalance in power or strength (an asymmetric power relationship). In other words, students who are exposed to the negative actions generally have difficulty in defending themselves and are somewhat helpless against the student or students who harass. Bullying can be supported by peers who witness, egg on, or reward bullying behavior
Program Operations
Core components of the program are implemented at the school level, the class level, and the individual level: Schoolwide components include the administration of an anonymous questionnaire to assess the nature and prevalence of bullying at each school, a school conference day to discuss bullying at school and plan interventions, formation of a Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee to coordinate all aspects of the school’s program, and increased supervision of students at ―hot spots‖ for bullying. Classroom components include establishing and enforcing class rules against bullying and holding regular class meetings with students. Individual components include interventions with children identified as bullies and victims and discussions with parents of involved students. Teachers may be assisted in these efforts by counselors and school-based mental health professionals.
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An important premise of the Bullying Prevention Program is that bullying behavior can be checked and redirected into a more prosocial direction through a systematic restructuring of the social environment. Among other outcomes, this restructuring is expected to result in fewer opportunities for bullying behavior and fewer or smaller rewards (e.g., in the form of prestige or peer support) for displaying such behavior.
Determining Your School’s Readiness for the Program
Before program implementation, schools administer the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire to students. Results are used to assess the severity of the school’s bullying problem by age and gender, to focus the attention of adults on the need to address the problem, and to pinpoint the physical locations where bullying incidents are most likely to occur. The data provide a baseline against which improvement can be measured. Once this information has been gathered, the program provides a framework for intervention at the school, class, and individual levels.
Getting Training to Begin the Program
A coordinating committee to oversee the program should be established at the school or district level and should include a school administrator, teacher representatives from each grade, a guidance counselor, a school-based mental health/social service professional, and parent and student representatives. Committee members and program coordinators receive at least one to two days of professional training from expert consultants before implementation. These individuals lead a half- to one-day in-service training for all school staff. During the first year of implementation, classroom teachers hold 13 to 16 discussion groups for 90 minutes each. Yearly ―booster‖ professional development sessions are also provided to all staff members.
Program Costs
In addition to the cost of funding an on-site coordinator (part time or full time), program costs include release time for professional development, approximately $130 per school for the questionnaire and computer scoring program to assess bullying at school, and about $60 per teacher for classroom material.
Other Resources Required to Implement the Program
Community outreach—e.g. PTA meetings or informal telephone contacts—are also recommended as an important way to achieve home-school cooperation and to provide parents with information about bully/victim problems and proposed solutions.
Modifying for your School/Classroom Context
The information gathered in the questionnaire is used to create a school plan, to coordinate counseling and other social services, and to prevent problems by ensuring adequate adult supervision during lunchtime, break periods, and other non-classroom time. The plan is individually tailored to meet the needs of the school based on the results of the questionnaire.
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Program Components that cannot be Modified or Excluded
Not known.
Program Outcomes
Data gathered from schools in Bergen, Norway, between 1983 and 1985 show substantial reductions (by 50 percent or more in most comparisons) in student reports of bullying and victimization. A marked reduction in general antisocial behaviors, such as vandalism, fighting, theft, alcohol use, and truancy, was also noted. Significant improvements were also observed with respect to school climate, as reflected in reports by students of improved order and discipline, more positive social relationships, and a more positive attitude toward schoolwork and school. The reported effects of the intervention were found across teacher, student selfreport, and peer-report measures. These effects are expected to be generalizable, given the very large and diverse population of the study.
Possible Negative Outcomes Related to Implementation
Although the Bullying Prevention Program is currently operating at several U.S. sites, the program’s ability to provide technical assistance to start-up sites is very limited.
References
Limber, S. P., (2001, Spring). Understanding and preventing bullying among children. National Dropout Prevention Center/Network Newsletter, 13(2) [Special issue]. Olweus, D., Limber, S. & Mihalic, S.F. (1999). Blueprints for Violence Prevention, Book Nine: Bullying Prevention Program. Boulder, CO: Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence
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