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“Without
the necessary social skills to solve problems in a positive way, they
are likely to respond to social and academic pressures with verbal and
physical aggression,” says Institute for Behavioral Research Fellow
Pamela Orpinas.
Orpinas, a professor
in the College of Public Health’s department of health promotion and
behavior, has worked in the area of prevention of youth violence and
bullying for 15 years.
She and
Andy Horne, a professor in the College of Education’s department of
counseling and human development services, have written a book called
Bullying Prevention: Creating a Positive School Climate and Developing Social Competence that
is based on the notion that bullying is a preventable health problem.
“We present a model that helps readers understand what bullying is and
how to prevent it,” she said.
Orpinas
insists that effective teachers have fewer problems with bullying. “You
need a classroom climate where students and teachers are respectful of
one another and do not accept even small put-downs," she said.
"Teachers must stop them right away, talk about it, and teach an
alternative way of interacting. Through this process, students come to
know that teachers really care about them.”
Students
learn social, emotional and cognitive skills to handle conflict and
initiate positive behavior using the model. “We help them give
compliments and say positive things to each other,” Orpinas explains.
“Teachers are fascinated at how kids change. Just like adults, kids
don’t like being bullied. They enjoy a positive, respectful atmosphere.”
Of course, bullying is a problem whose roots extend beyond school.
Violent behavior is the result of the interaction of many factors at
work in a child’s life, from individual characteristics to the family
to the culture at large, particularly as it is reflected in the media.
Orpinas mentions several video games based on children and adolescents
bullying others.
“It’s
unbelievable that we have these games," she says, "but they are less
likely to influence the behavior of a child who has positive
influences. A kid with more risk factors may be impacted in a more
dramatic way by these games.”
Orpinas and
Horne have been involved in a CDC-funded project to evaluate
interventions most likely to reduce aggressive behavior in middle
school students. Offered to students identified by teachers as having
behavior problems, these students and their families attended weekly
multi-family group meetings where they discussed parenting skills,
family problem solving, communication skills, and family support for
appropriate behavior at school. The results will be presented in
January.