Bullying, Interventions, and The Role of Adults (continued)

• Adults need to discourage grouping together children who are similarly aggressive and engage in bullying. When troubled children are together, they reinforce each other for deviant behavior and in that way train each other to become more aggressive (11).
• Within the classroom, teachers should avoid the practice of having children determine their own working groups. Instead, teachers need to take responsibility for working groups to ensure that they are balanced, with a mix of students who are highly skilled for the particular assignment and other students, who will bring strengths in other specific domains. By taking responsibility to organize and reorganize children’s social groupings, teachers can avoid embarrassment and humiliation for students who have not been chosen by any group.
• Children need consistent lessons to develop the complex skills required for healthy relationships. They can only learn these skills in the context of positive relationships with the adults in their lives and with their friends and other peers. Solutions need to focus on promoting relationship skills for all children involved in bullying: those who bully, those who are victimized, as well as those who are bystanders. By supporting children’s healthy social and emotional development and by providing an environment that promotes healthy relationships, we can lay a foundation for healthy adaptation and positive relationships that last a lifetime.

References

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2. Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Oxford: Blackwell.
3. Farmer, T. W., Estell, D. B., Bishop, J. L., O’Neal, K. K., & Cairns, B. D. (2003). Rejected bullies or popular leaders? The social relations of aggressive subtypes of rural African American early adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 39, 992-1004.
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9. Pepler, D., Jiang, D., Craig, W., & Connolly, J. (2008). Developmental trajectories of bullying and associated factors. Child Development, 79, 325-338.
10. Craig, W. M. & Pepler, D. J. (2003). Identifying and Targeting Risk for Involvement in Bullying and Victimization. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 48, 577-583.
11. Craig, W. M., Pepler, D. J., & Atlas, R. (2000). Observations of bullying on the playground and in the classroom. International Journal of School Psychology, 21, 22-36.
12. Dishion, T.J., Andrews, D.W., & Crosby, L. (1995). Antisocial boys and their friends in early adolescence: Relationship characteristics, quality, and interactional process. Child Development, 65, 139-151.
13. Atlas, R, Pepler, D.J., & Craig. W. (1998). Observations of bullying in the classroom. American Journal of Educational Research, 92, 86-99.
14. Pellegrini, A., & Long, J. (2002). A longitudinal study of bullying, dominance, and victimization during the transition from primary school through secondary school. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 20(2), 259-280.
15. Pepler, D., & Craig, W. (2007).Binoculars on bullying: A new solution to protect and connect children. Voices for Children Report. February 2007.