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Dr. Steve Burnett, Washington County Public Schools supervisor of school counseling, center, said Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, which WCPS has adopted, is "the gold standard" among programs of its type. Julie Matheny, left, and Shelly Telemeco are certified trainers of the program. (By Joe Crocetta/Staff Photographer) |
According to Burnett, the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program has been more thoroughly evaluated than any other bullying prevention/reduction program so far. Six large-scale evaluations involving more than 40,000 students produced the following documented results:
For students in grades four through seven, most of these positive results can be seen after only eight months of intervention work, given reasonably good implementation of the program, Burnett noted. For students in grades eight through 10, it might take somewhat more time — maybe two years — to achieve equally good results.
Burnett said the anti-bullying program is designed for students in elementary and middle schools. All students participate in most aspects of the program, while students identified as bullying others or as targets of bullying, receive additional individualized interventions.
“We are measuring the success of the program by conducting systemwide surveys to all students participating in the program,” Burnett said. “We obtained baseline data this past May for first-year implementing schools and the data was compared to national level. Specifically, boys and girls nationally report being bullied 16.4 percent of the time as compared to our Washington County Public Schools data of 16.3 percent.”
Types of bullying
The following are the types of bullying, as identified by the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program:
- Average reductions of 20 percent to 70 percent in student reports of being bullied and bullying others. Peer and teacher ratings of bullying problems have yielded roughly similar results.
- Marked reductions in student reports of general antisocial behavior, such as vandalism, fighting, theft and truancy.
- Clear improvements in the classroom social climate, as reflected in students’ reports of improved order and discipline, more positive social relationships and more positive attitudes toward schoolwork and school.
For students in grades four through seven, most of these positive results can be seen after only eight months of intervention work, given reasonably good implementation of the program, Burnett noted. For students in grades eight through 10, it might take somewhat more time — maybe two years — to achieve equally good results.
Burnett said the anti-bullying program is designed for students in elementary and middle schools. All students participate in most aspects of the program, while students identified as bullying others or as targets of bullying, receive additional individualized interventions.
“We are measuring the success of the program by conducting systemwide surveys to all students participating in the program,” Burnett said. “We obtained baseline data this past May for first-year implementing schools and the data was compared to national level. Specifically, boys and girls nationally report being bullied 16.4 percent of the time as compared to our Washington County Public Schools data of 16.3 percent.”
Types of bullying
The following are the types of bullying, as identified by the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program:
- Verbal bullying
- Social exclusion or isolation
- Physical bullying
- Bullying through lies and false rumors
- Having money or other things taken or damaged
- Threats or being forced to do things
- Racial bullying
- Sexual bullying
- Cyber bullying
