Decreasing Bullying Behaviors through Discussing Young-Adult Literature, Role-Playing Activities, and Establishing a School-Wide Definition of Bullying in Accordance with a Common Set of Rules in Language Arts and Math
Author: Holmgren, Jennifer
Date: 2011-05-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Intervention,Bullying,Action Research,Teacher Surveys,Student Surveys,Parents,Grade 7,Adolescent Literature,Behavior Modification,Student Behavior,Role Playing,Educational Environment,Language Arts,Mathematics Instruction,Grade 6,Racial Differences,Behavior Problems,Antisocial Behavior,School Safety,Middle Schools,Aggression

This action research project report was conducted at a middle school from August 30, 2010 to December 17, 2010. The purpose of this research project was to decrease bullying behaviors through discussing literature, role-playing, and establishing a definition of bullying in accordance with a common set of rules. There were four teacher researchers and student participants consisted of 190 students who were in 6th or 7th grade in language arts and math class. To document the problem they used a teacher survey, a parent survey and student survey along with a map. The teacher survey showed that a total of 95 behaviors were checked by the 25 teachers who participated. The parent survey showed that a total of 448 behaviors were checked by the 91 parents who participated. The student survey showed that a total of 476 behaviors were checked by the 119 students who participated. The most common behavior was kicking/hitting, followed by teasing, calling people names, dirty looks and gossiping. During the research project, the teacher researchers used several intervention strategies to decrease bullying behaviors. First, the teacher researchers lead students through a series of discussions to determine a common definition for bullying that described both the intention of bullying and the behaviors that are exhibited during bullying.  Once a common definition was in place, students created posters and pledge sheets. Then, the teacher researchers began looking at examples of bullying found in literature and students were able to empathize with different characters. Students then began role-playing through a several skits; these situations had students acting out how bullying situations develop and can be defused. Students created their own and presented these to the class.  One of the most notable changes was the increase in the number of students who often or always felt safe at school. This in turn resulted as a noticeable decrease of the amount of students who sometimes or never felt safe at school. Another noticeable change was the increase in the percentage of bullying in the gym and locker rooms. This resulted in a decrease in the percentage of bullying occurring in the classroom. Students appeared to decrease in their responses to bullying situations. They were also very inconsistent in distinguishing bullying behaviors. The students seemed to be more aware of bullying behaviors as seen and heard in their peer interactions. Appended are: (1) Teacher Survey; (2) Parent Survey; (3) Student Survey; (4) Student Map Survey; (5) Bullying Definition Poster; (6) Bullying Pledge; (7) Bullying Books Bibliography; (8) Bullying Play: Scrabble; (9) Bullying Play: Masks; and (10) Bullying Situations. (Contains 7 tables and 16 figures.)