2-035 - Using a Social-Ecological Model to Inform School-Based Bullying Prevention in Adolescence

Session Type: Paper Discussion Symposium

Integrative Statement

Effective bullying prevention requires a multi-pronged effort. School staff need to have appropriate policies and procedures in place and need to know best practices for working with students involved in bullying. But another critically important part of tackling the problem is focusing on developing the social-emotional skills of youth. These skills enable adolescents to become socially competent citizens within the school environment and help build an overall positive school climate. Attention to these skills will support the development of healthier, students who are ready to learn and contribute to a safer environment. Additionally, a social-emotional skills-based approach should be accompanied by student- and adult-focused bullying-specific components designed to change the climate of the school and classroom and reduce the peer rewards that can otherwise reinforce the aggressive behavior among youth (Farmer & Xie, 2007; Perren & Alsaker, 2006).

This symposium will highlight how taking a social-ecological perspective to bullying prevention can be effective in changing the school climate. Specifically the papers in this symposium examine how (a) social-emotional learning (SEL) operates as a foundation for bullying prevention in Canadian secondary school, and in turn contributes to reductions in bullying, (b) how a comprehensive bullying prevention program that also teaches social emotional skills increases early adolescents’ prosocial behavior and decreases positive attitudes toward bullying, and (c) how factors (e.g., barriers) related to school-wide, staff program adoption influence program implementation of an online bullying prevention training program in five diverse US schools.

Sub Unit

• School / Educational Context

Chair

• Tia Kim, Committee for Children

Individual Presentations

• Social-Emotional Learning as a Foundation for Bullying Prevention - Presenting Author: Shelley Hymel, Faculty of Education, UBC; Jessica Trach, Doctoral Student, Faculty of Education, UBC; Chiaki Konishi, McGill University

• A Pilot Evaluation of the Second Step Social-Emotional Learning Program and Bully Prevention Unit among Early Adolescent Students - Presenting Author: Dorothy Espelage, university of illinois, urbana champaign; Matthew T King, university of illinois, urbana champaign; Cassandra Colbert, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; Todd D. Little, Texas Tech University; Tatiana Carter, university of illinois, urbana champaign

• Barriers to Implementing an Online Bullying Prevention Training Program for Principals, Teachers, and Non-Certificated Staff - Presenting Author: Lyscha Marcynyszyn, Committee for Children; Tia Kim, Committee for Children

Discussant

• Susan Swearer, University of Nebraska - Lincoln