Reducing bullying in high schools: An evaluation of schoolbased initiatives for the prevention and management of bullying

Reducing bullying in high schools: An evaluation of schoolbased initiatives for the prevention and management of bullying

AARE 2008 International education research conference: Brisbane: Papers collection

• Wurf, Gerald Charles Sturt University, Australia

• Jeffrey, P. L.

Melbourne

Australian Association for Research in Education

2008

Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE). Conference (2008: Brisbane)

• B Human Behaviour
  • BE Behavioural Problems, Unruly & Criminal Behaviours, Juvenile Delinquency, Children & Youth at Risk, Triad Society
• A Human Growth & Development
  • AH Adolescence Development

Bullying Intervention Whole School Approach International Schools Pretests Posttests Program Evaluation Secondary Education Year 7 Hong Kong

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Secondary Education

Whole-school anti-bullying programs are widely recognised as the best, evidence-based approaches to reducing school bullying. Despite this, few published studies have been conducted within high schools to systematically evaluate anti-bullying interventions using a control group design. To this end, a quasi-experimental study of anti-bullying interventions was conducted in four international secondary schools in Hong Kong. The four secondary schools were randomly assigned to: (a) a whole school curriculum intervention, (b) a combined Year 7 curriculum and shared concern intervention, (c) a shared concern only intervention and (d) a control school. The sample consisted of 549, year 7 students who anonymously completed a pre-test / post-test questionnaire. Results were analysed using several ANOVA procedures. When post-test composite bullying scores were adjusted for pre-test school differences, a highly significant main effect for schools was found (F = 7.70 p < .001). In further comparisons, a repeated-measures ANOVA showed the most significant reduction in bullying composite scores occurred when a whole school intervention was used (F = 10.73 p < .001). Bullying levels increased from pre-test to post-test over the school year for both the control school and the school that adopted a shared concern only approach. These results provide strong support for the need for high schools to adopt a whole-school preventative and management approach if they are to be effective in reducing student bullying.
[Copyright of Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE) at http://www.aare.edu.au]

• English

Conference Papers

• 13249339 (Web)
• 13249320 (CD ROM)

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/bibs/335490e6

2010-11-29