Real Bullying Prevention
October 29, 2019The Topic: Real Bullying PreventionThe News Story: What Are the Best Ways to Prevent Bullying in Schools?The New Research: The Fatherless Victims of Bullying October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and multiple media stories this month have focused on the ill effects of bullying, how to identify bullies, and strategies to cope with such behavior. In a short article out of Berkeley on ways to prevent bullying in schools, two psychologists from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence summarized their research. They discovered that “not all approaches to bullying prevention are equally effective,” particularly those that “rely on punishment and zero tolerance.” Instead, the authors recommend two alternative strategies: First, building a positive school climate, or “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"; second, advancing social and emotional learning, which “involves teaching skills of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, responsible decision making, and relationships management.” “In order to be effective,” the authors conclude, “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.” But research suggests that the “ecosystem” goes deeper than the school setting, right back to the child’s family structure. And when it comes to bullying, the natural family goes a long way toward protecting kids. (Source: Diana Divecha, “What Are the Best Ways to Prevent Bullying?”, Greater Good Magazine, UC Berkeley, October 29, 2019.) The New Research: The Fatherless Victims of Bullying Few problems have captured the attention of school officials in recent years more than that of bullying, including on-line cyberbullying. To combat this problem, these officials typically develop school-b
Categories:
