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The effects of a school counseling bullying curriculum on bully behavior in an urban K-5 elementary school
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the formulated researched-based K-5 School Counselor's Bully Curriculum in an elementary school. Developed for the purpose of the study and implemented by an elementary school counselor, the curriculum focused on communication, social skills/friendship, anger management, conflict resolution, feelings/empathy, bullying information, strategies to handle a bully and practice of the strategies. The curriculum was tested on a sample of 465 students in grades kindergarten through five in a diverse urban elementary school. The 22 item Kindergarten Bully Survey, Bully Survey for Grades 1 and 2, and Bully Survey for Grades 3, 4 and 5 were developed to assess the impact of the curriculum on self-report victimization and self-report bullying. Other bullying behavior topics were investigated over time and by grade level including: frequency and types, location, victim reaction and reporting, tardiness, and absenteeism. Results indicated that the bullying curriculum, as it was presented, did not effectively reduce overall self-report victimization and self-report bullying. Overall grade level differences in self-reporting and instances of increased self-reporting were found. An increase in mean-name calling and teasing occurred in third through fifth grade as compared to younger students, which would suggest that verbal bullying doesn't remain constant. Generally, more bullying behavior was seen or heard in the intermediate grades as compared to the primary grades. Other findings included: bullying behavior frequently occurred in areas with less structure and supervision, elevated percentages of students indicated bullying occurs in classrooms, students most frequently told their mothers about bully behavior and fifth graders told their friends with similar frequency, and students in all grade levels most frequently reported using assertive and passive problem-solving techniques when confronted by a bully. Data analysis lead to recommendations for school personnel including: improving planning practices and class management strategies in order to increase student engagement and time on task to create a trusting and safe environment where optimal active learning can occur.
Subject Area
Curriculum development|School counseling|Elementary education
Recommended Citation
Fuller, Susan N, "The effects of a school counseling bullying curriculum on bully behavior in an urban K-5 elementary school" (2006). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI3208051.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3208051