In a school setting, the negative behavior first must be recognized, discussed in group sessions with
all the student's instructors, building administrators, school social worker, and parents to devise a
plan of action to deal effectively with the student's violent tendencies. Young people often inflict
violent behavior on other youngsters as a response to blame, shame, culpability, and hopelessness.
The bully may, themself, be a victim of such behavior from other peers, parents, or even from teachers and school administrators. According to Kieth Sullivan, "In order to avoid public exposure, bullying often goes underground and becomes hard to detect. It is therefore essential that all schools have a complete anti-bullying policy in place and that all teachers have immediate access to a one-step backwards (rather than knee-jerk) reaction." (Sullivan, p.141)
When a parent comes to an institution where their child is in
attendance, there are some things that are essential that the organization do to address and
eliminate the problem:
- Listen to the complaint
- Objectively diagnose the issue
- Intervention - need to change the social dynamic such as the "No Blame Approach"
- Pay attention to particular locations where bullying is prevalent - cafeteria, classroom, bathrooms, hallways, busses, playground.
- Put policy of zero-tolerance into action by a quick response, based on pre-determined guidelines
- Discipline the offender with unwavering firm understanding
- Evaluate and re-evaluate the success of any program with each case frequently to determine its successfulness
Some other effective ways to steer students away from aggressive behavior
toward others is to:
1. Harness student leadership into positive productive avenues
2. Schoolwide participation in social theater by involving the students in
development of effective anti-bullying strategies
3. Peer mentoring
4. Big Brother/ Big Sister organizations
