The 2010 meta-analysis showed that, overall, school-based anti-bullying programs decrease bullying and victimisation by around 20%, with similar reductions for cyber-bullying. In the meantime, schools should exercise caution in using this approach.īystander involvement can make bullying worse. School programs may encourage students with poor skills to get involved which may escalate the situation.įuture research may explain differences between effective and ineffective bystander actions. The effectiveness in natural situations may rely on who the student bystander is and their relationship with those involved in bullying. There may also be crucial differences between naturally occurring bystander actions and those encouraged by schools. We know from previous research that actions that seem effective in the short-term can have harmful long-term effects. The meta-analysis included studies that examined bullying weeks or months later. We don’t know if bullying resumed the next day.
Firstly, in the observational study the effect on bullying was judged in the few seconds after the bystander action. There are several ways to explain these different findings. Is your child less likely to be bullied in a private school? This study was a meta-analysis, meaning it pulled together results of well-designed studies conducted at that time on the effectiveness of anti-bullying programs. Since then, many school-based anti-bullying programs have emphasised bystander action.īut a 2010 synthesis of many studies found programs encouraging students to help actually made bullying worse. Overall, the study showed bullying often stops when students spontaneously stand up for a bullied peer. Most (57%) interventions stopped the bullying. In the 2001 study, researchers observed 58 children aged 6-12 intervene in bullying. Observational studies are where researchers observe behaviour in a natural setting, rather than placing participants in certain experimental conditions. The theory behind using bystanders to address bullying goes back to an observational study conducted in 2001.
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