Overview

One in five students report being bullied, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics (2019). Students who are bullied are at a higher risk of depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, decreased academic achievement, suicide ideation, and suicide attempts. Research also shows that adults and peers often recommend actions to the person being bullied that actually makes the bullying worse, such as expressing how they feel, asking the bully to stop, or pretending they indifferent to the bullying behavior.

The goal of this training program is to help healthcare providers and community members recognize bullying behavior, understand the risk factors of bullying, and learn about research-based bullying prevention techniques and policies. Schools, families, and communities can work together to encounter bullying behavior and decrease the adverse outcomes of bullying and peer victimization among youth.

Objectives

This program was designed to achieve the following goals:

• Recognize the concept of bullying and its different forms.
• Understand bullying from different theoretical perspectives.
• Understand the social, familial, psychological, and school-based risk factors of bullying.
• Understand the consequences of bullying.
• Learn about international bullying prevention and reduction programs.
• Learn about bullying assessment processes and tools to plan for intervention.
• Understand bullying interventions based on a psychosocial approach, e.g. building self-awareness, social awareness, anger management, and strong relationships.
• Recognize the role of policies in bullying prevention and reduction at schools.

Program Delivery

The training consists of a two-day, 8-hour workshop, split into 4 hours per day delivered at our center.

Statistics

• One out of five students (20.2%) report being bullied (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019).
• 41% of students who report being bullied at school say they believe bullying will happen again (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2019)
• School-based bullying prevention programs decrease bullying by up to 25% (McCallion & Feder, 2013)
• Students who experience bullying have a higher risk of experiencing depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, lower academic achievement, and dropping out of school (Centers for Disease Control, 2019)
• The percent of individuals who have experienced cyberbullying at some point increased from 18% to 37% from 2007 to 2019 (Patchin & Hinduia, 2019).
• Students who experience peer victimization are 2.2 times more likely to have suicide ideation and 2.6 times more likely to attempt suicide (Gini & Espelage, 2014).
• Both students who engage in bullying and who are bullied are at a higher risk for suicide-related behavior (Centers for Disease Control, 2014).
• Students who merely observed bullying reported increased feelings of helplessness and decreased sense of connectedness and support from responsible adults (Centers for Disease Control, 2014).
• Self-actions that make the bullying behavior worse (telling the person to stop, walking away, faking indifference) are often used and recommended to youth (Davis & Nixon, 2010).