Bullying in Private Schools: Can Training Middle School Students to Intervene Reduce Bullying Perpetration and Victimization?

Abstract

We implemented and examined the effectiveness of a brief, bullying bystander intervention (STAC) among middle school students (N = 79) enrolled in a private school using a single-group, pre-/post-test design. Results indicated that students reported significant increases in bullying knowledge, STAC strategy knowledge, and confidence intervening in bullying situations. Students also reported using the STAC strategies post-training. Finally, students reported decreases in bullying victimization and perpetration. We discuss implications for school counselors in private school settings.

Keywords

bullying bystander defending behavior STAC private schools

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American School Counselor Association . (2019). ASCA national Model: A framework for school counseling programs (4th ed.). American School Counselor Association.

American School Counselor Association . (2022). The school counselor and bullying/harassment prevention and the promotion of safe schools. ASCA Position Statements. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-the-Promotion-of-Safe-Sch

Bauman

Yoon

Iurino

Hackett

(2020). Experiences of adolescent witnesses to peer victimization: The bystander effect. Journal of School Psychology, 80, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2020.03.002

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . (2020). Youth violence prevention: Bullying. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/youth-violence/about/about-bullying.html

Christensen

James

(2008). Research with children: Perspectives and practices (2nd ed.). Routledge.

Cohen

(1969). Statistical power analysis for the behavioural sciences. Academic Press.

Dempster

A. P.

Laird

N. M.

Rubin

D. B.

(1977). Maximum likelihood from incomplete data via the EM algorithm. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B, 39(1), 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2517-6161.1977.tb01600.x

DeSmet

Rodelli

Walrave

Soenens

Cardon

De Bourdeaudhuij

(2018). Cyberbullying and traditional bullying involvement among heterosexual and non-heterosexual adolescents, and their associations with age and gender. Computers in Human Behavior, 83, 254–261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.02.010

Doumas

D. M.

Midgett

(2021). The association between witnessing cyberbullying and depressive symptoms and social anxiety among elementary school students. Psychology in the Schools, 58(3), 622–637. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.22467

10.

Doumas

D. M.

Midgett

Peck

(2023). Gender differences in defending behavior among elementary school students training in a bullying bystander program: Is self-esteem a moderator? Journal of Applied School Psychology, 39(3), 244–267. https://doi.org/10.1080/15377903.2022.2152917

11.

Eliot

Cornell

Gregory

Fan

(2010). Supportive school climate and student willingness to seek help for bullying and threats of violence. Journal of School Psychology, 48(6), 533–553. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2010.07.001

12.

Evans

Smokowski

P. R.

Rose

R. A.

Mercado

M. C.

Marshall

K. J.

(2018). Cumulative bullying experiences, adolescent behavioral and mental health, and academic achievement: An integrative model of perpetration, victimization, and bystander behavior. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(9), 2415–2428. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-1078-4

13.

Farina

K. A.

(2019). Promoting a culture of bullying: Understanding the role of school climate and school sector. Journal of School Choice, 13(1), 94–120. https://doi.org/10.1080/15582159.2018.1526615

14.

Faul

Erdfelder

Lang

A. G.

Buchner

(2007). G*Power 3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences. Behavioral Research Methods, 39(2), 175–91. https://doi.org/10.3758/bf03193146

15.

Gaffney

Ttofi

M. M.

Farrington

D. P.

(2021). What works in anti-bullying programs? Analysis of effective intervention components. Journal of School Psychology, 85, 37–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2020.12.002

16.

Gold

M. S.

Bentler

P. M.

(2000). Treatments of missing data: A Monte Carlo comparison of RBHDI, iterative stochastic regression imputation, and expectation-maximization. Structural Equation Modeling, 7(3), 319–355. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15328007SEM0703_1

17.

Goodman-Scott

Doyle

Brott

(2013). An action research project to determine the utility of bully prevention in positive behavior support for elementary school bullying prevention. Professional School Counseling, 17(1), 120–129. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X1301700101

18.

Hemphill

S. A.

Tollit

Kotevski

Heerde

J. A.

(2015). Predictors of traditional and cyber-bullying victimization: A longitudinal study of Australian secondary school students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 30(15), 2567–2590. https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260514553636

19.

Hikmat

Suryani

Yosep

Jeharsae

(2024). KiVa anti-bullying program: Preventing bullying and reducing bulling behavior among students - a scoping review. BMC Public Health, 24(1), 2923. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-20086-8

20.

Klein

Cornell

Konold

(2012). Relationships between bullying, school climate, and student risk behaviors. School Psychology Quarterly, 27(3), 154–169. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029350

21.

Limber

S. P.

Olweus

Wang

Masiello

Breivik

(2018). Evaluation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program: A large scale study of US students in grades 3–11. Journal of School Psychology, 69, 56–72. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2018.04.004

22.

Low

VanRyzin

(2014). The moderating effects of school climate on bullying prevention efforts. School Psychology Quarterly, 29(3), 306–319. https://doi.org/10.1037/spq0000073

23.

Lynn

G. G.

(2015). Comparison of bullying in gradeschool children enrolled in public and private schools in Iloilo City year 2014. The Filipino Family Physician, 73–85.

24.

Machimbarrena

J. M.

Garaigordobil

(2017). Bullying/cyberbullying in 5th and 6th grade: Differences between public and private schools. Anales de Psicología, 33(2), 319–326. https://doi.org/10.6018/analesps.33.2.249381

25.

Mariani

Webb

Villares

Brigman

(2015). Effect of participation in student success skills on prosocial and bullying behavior. The Professional Counselor, 5(3), 341–353. https://doi.org/10.15241/mm.5.3.341

26.

Menard

Grotpeter

J. K.

(2014). Evaluation of bully-proofing your school as an elementary school antibullying intervention. Journal of School Violence, 13(2), 188–209. https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2013.840641

27.

Midgett

Doumas

D. M.

(2019). Witnessing bullying at school: The association between being a bystander and anxiety and depressive symptoms. School Mental Health, 11(3), 454–463. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12310-019-09312-6

28.

Midgett

Doumas

D. M.

(2020). Acceptability and short-term outcomes of a brief, bystander bullying program implemented in an ethnically blended school in low-income community. Contemporary School Psychology, 24(4), 508–517. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40688-020-00321-w

29.

Midgett

Doumas

D. M.

Peralta

Bond

Flay

(2020). The impact of a culturally adapted bullying intervention on reducing depressive symptoms among bystanders. Journal of Prevention and Health Promotion, 1(1), 80–103. https://doi.org/10.1177/2632077020942959

30.

Midgett

Doumas

D. M.

Sears

Lundquist

Hausheer

(2015). A bystander bullying psychoeducation program with middle school students: A preliminary report. The Professional Counselor, 5(4), 486–500. https://doi.org/10.15241/am.5.4.486

31.

Midgett

Doumas

D. M.

Johnston

A. D.

(2017). Establishing school counselors as leaders in bullying curriculum delivery: Evaluation of a brief, school-wide bystander intervention. Professional School Counseling, 21(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X18778781

32.

Midgett

Doumas

D. M.

Trull

(2017). Evaluation of a brief, school-based bullying bystander intervention for elementary school students. Professional School Counseling, 20(1), 172–183. https://doi.org/10.5330/1096-2409-20.1.172

33.

Midgett

Doumas

D. M.

Trull

Johnston

(2017). A randomized controlled study evaluating a brief, bystander bullying intervention with junior high school students. Journal of School Counseling, 15(9), 1–34. https://www.jsc.montana.edu/articles/v15n9.pdf.

34.

Midgett

Moody

Reilly

Lyter

(2017). The phenomenological lived experience of student-advocates acting as “defenders” to stop bullying. Journal of Humanistic Counseling, 56(1), 53–71. https://doi.org/10.1002/johc.12044

35.

Moore

S. E.

Norman

R. E.

Suetani

Thomas

H. J.

Sly

P. D.

Scott

J. G.

(2017). Consequences of bullying victimization in childhood and adolescence: A systematic review and meta-analysis. World Journal of Psychiatry, 7(1), 60–76. https://doi.org/10.5498/wjp.v7.i1.60

36.

Moran

Midgett

Doumas

D. M.

(2020). Evaluation of a brief, bystander bullying intervention (STAC) for ethnically blended middle schools in low-income communities. Professional School Counseling, 23(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1177/2156759X20940641

37.

National Center for Educational Statistics . (2019). Student reports of bullying: Results from the 2017 school crime supplement to the national crime victimization survey (NCES 2017-015). U.S. Department of Education. https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019054.pdf

38.

National Center for Education Statistics . (2024). Student bullying. In Condition of Education. U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/a10

39.

Olweus

(1996). The Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire. University of Bergen, Research Center for Health Promotion. (HEMIL Center).

40.

Peck

Doumas

D. M.

Midgett

(2023). Gender differences in defending behavior among elementary school students trained in a bullying bystander intervention. Journal of Child and Adolescent Counseling, 10(1), 29–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/23727810.2023.2281041

41.

Reisen

Viana

M. C.

Santos-Neto

E. T. D.

(2019). Bullying among adolescents: Are the victims also perpetrators? Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry, 41(6), 518–529. https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-4446-2018-0246

42.

Richardson

J. T. E.

(2011). Eta squared and partial eta squared as measurements of effect size in educational research. Educational Research Review, 6(2), 135–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2010.12.001

43.

Salman

Sharjeel

Abdullah

M. S.

(2021). Prevalence, associated factors and awareness of bullying among students of public and private schools of Lahore, Pakistan. Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal, 71(4), 1446–1450. https://doi.org/10.51253/pafmj.v71i4.3989

44.

Salmivalli

Lagerspet

Björkqvist

Österman

Kaukiainen

(1996). Bullying as a group process: Participant roles and their relations to social status within the group. Aggressive Behavior, 22(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1098-2337(1996)22:1<1::AID-AB1>3.0.CO;2-T

45.

Salmivalli

Voeten

Poskiparta

(2011). Bystanders matter: Associations between reinforcing, defending, and the frequency of bullying behavior in classrooms. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 40(5), 668–676. https://doi.org/10.1080/15374416.2011.597090

46.

Sansait

J. R. M.

Aguiling-Saldaña

G. F.

Retiracion

P. M. A.

(2023). Does the type of school matter in preventing bullying? Knowledge, experience, and readiness to face bullying by students enrolled in public and private schools in the Philippines. Social Sciences and Humanities Open, 8(1), Article 100530. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2023.100530

47.

Schneider

S. K.

O'Donnell

Stueve

Coulter

R. W.

(2012). Cyberbullying, school bullying, and psychological distress: A regional census of high school students. American Journal of Public Health, 102(1), 171–177. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2011.300308

48.

Shujja

Atta

Shujjat

J. M.

(2014). Prevalence of bullying and victimization among sixth graders with reference to gender, socio-economic status and type of schools. Journal of Social Sciences, 38(2), 159–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/09718923.2014.11893246

49.

Solberg

M. E.

Olweus

(2003). Prevalence estimation of school bullying with the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire. Aggressive Behavior, 29(3), 239–268. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.10047

50.

Waasdorp

T. E.

Bradshaw

C. P.

Dowdy

(2018). Examining variation in adolescent bystanders’ responses to bullying. School Psychology Review, 47(1), 18–33. https://doi.org/10.17105/SPR-2017-0081.V47-1

51.

Waasdorp

T. E.

Clary

L. K.

Bradshaw

C. P.

(2022). School climate and bullying bystander responses in middle and high school. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 80, Article 101412. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2022.101412

52.

W. C.

Luu

Luh

D. L.

(2016). Defending behaviors, bullying roles, and their associations with mental health in junior high school students: A population-based study. BMC Public Health, 16(1), 1066. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3721-6

53.

Yang

Chan

M.-K.

T.-L.

(2020). School-wide social emotional learning (SEL) and bullying victimization: Moderating role of school climate in elementary, middle, and high schools. Journal of School Psychology, 82, 49–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2020.08.002