Why School Anti-Bullying Programs Don't Work

Reviews / Votes

This is an important book. Building on years of K-12 school-based research and school improvement efforts, the authors describe a framework and a series of linked goals that are both wise and practical. In fact, Twemlow and Sacco were two of the first people in America to focus on the critical role that bystanders play in bully-victim behavior . If you truly care about promoting safe, caring and responsible schools, read this book. -- Jonathan Cohen Ph.D., Co-President, International Observatory for School Climate and Violent Prevention Stuart Twemlow and Frank Sacco have devoted decades to understanding conscious and unconscious individual and group processes that lead to aggressive behavior and tragedy in schools. In this book they send us a clear message: It is not any one violence prevention method that is important; it is how people-students, parents, teachers, administrators, community leaders-implement it that matters. They suggest no quick-fix, but delve deeper, exploring how emotional attitudes and actions of persons or groups dovetail to set the stage for either tragic outbreaks or an atmosphere of safety in schools. What makes this book powerful and refreshing is the authors' outspoken discussion of issues that are usually denied. These topics range from an examination of the consequences of shame and humiliation, to the fallacy of the "zero tolerance concept," to the role of the internet in changing today's youth culture...Not only should this book be read by anyone who is concerned with school safety, it has value for anyone who wishes to understand how destructive human behavior can be inflamed or tamed. -- Vamik D. Volkan, professor emeritus of psychiatry, University of Virginia; Emeritus President of the International Dialogue Initiative; author of Enemies on the Couch; five-time Nobel Peace Prize nominee Preventing school violence and bullying is one of the most important priorities for educational systems in the developed countries. This book sets out interesting viewpoints, and practical steps, focussing strongly on the kinds of relationships involved in bullying behaviours. It will be useful for all concerned with taking action in this area. -- Peter K Smith, PhD, head, Unit for School and Family Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London, U.K. Representing a decade and a half of conscientious bully prevention research and program development, Twemlow presents an excellent overview of their Peaceful School Program intervention and impact. They illustrate myths and fallacies of bullying and explain in detail how to develop effective connections and collaboration with schools - program buy-in - that is essential for any program to have an impact. They provide an overview of understanding the process of creating school climate change and teacher engagement including approaching the problem by understanding power struggles and how the entire social climate must change to impact the problem. They explain the concept of mentalization and how important this construct is for impacting bullying, and methods to engage in indentifying, evaluating, and acting to reduce the problem of bullying in classrooms and schools. Their specific steps for establishing a game plan of clear, easy to follow, and well-studied processes guide educators through the course ofaction for effective change. They also describe how to discuss undiscussables - those touchy subjects, such as teacher or administrator bullying, that maintain the problem and have to be understood for comprehensive change to occur. Their review of mea -- Arthur Horne PhD, interim dean, College of Education, University of Georgia Drs. Twemlow and Sacco cogently and provocatively address the "undiscussables" in the bullying intervention literature. This book challenges us to think about the complexity of bullying behaviors and not to over-simplify the challenges facing educators, students, and parents. To truly stop bullying, we have to embrace a cultural shift where compassion, respect, and altruism are the solid underpinnings of every school climate, and all adults and students collectively "live" these ideals. Under these conditions, bullying simply will not exist. -- Dr. Susan M. Swearer, associate professor of School Psychology, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, co-editor: Bullying in American Schools: A Social-Ec We learned that what you [do] to change a school [is] secondary to how you [do] it, and that the most powerful tool in changing a school is the 'buy in' of teachers." Society has to 'buy in' too. This book is eye opening and gives a stark view of social systems where, in large sectors of our youth, violence is power and power dynamics govern the behaviors of many among them. The authors emphasize that the actions of crime-perpetrators and victims are facilitated and contained, even while they are mentalized, by its bystanders. Bystanders at all levels of social groups are, passive or not, participants of crime. While the authors do not say so, it leads one to ask if the bystander is nearly as much responsible for a crime as the perpetrator.

The study on which this book reports addressed "ways of changing a school's climate using a randomized, controlled study ...[which involved] nine schools and thousands of children." The book, dedicated to "Educators all over the planet...," is rich in powerful insights into what really makes for a safe school and an unsafe school. For those who think they know, this is a wake-up call. Things are not always what they look like from a surface sweep. Twemlow and Sacco deserve society's attention and psychoanalysis' praise. Educational administrators, educators at all levels - principals, teachers and coaches - , as well as social scientists - sociologists, socially concerned psychiatrists, psychologists and psychoanalysts -, social historians, clergy and others have to read this book. And, oh yes, State Governors and City Mayors would be wizened by it. -- Henri Parens, MD Representing a decade and a half of conscientious bully prevention research and program development, Twemlow presents an excellent overview of their Peaceful School Program intervention and impact. They illustrate myths and fallacies of bullying and explain in detail how to develop effective connections and collaboration with schools - program buy-in - that is essential for any program to have an impact. They provide an overview of understanding the process of creating school climate change and teacher engagement including approaching the problem by understanding power struggles and how the entire social climate must change to impact the problem. They explain the concept of mentalization and how important this construct is for impacting bullying, and methods to engage in indentifying, evaluating, and acting to reduce the problem of bullying in classrooms and schools. Their specific steps for establishing a game plan of clear, easy to follow, and well-studied processes guide educators through the course of action for effective change. They also describe how to discuss "undiscussables" - those touchy subjects, such as teacher or administrator bullying, that maintain the problem and have to be understood for comprehensive change to occur. Their review of measures of bullying, and the examples of surveys, are very informative and user-friendly. In short, this is a book for all people interested in reducing bullying in schools and communities.

The authors' use of clear examples from their work in schools ranging from kindergarten to high school, combined with their focus on changing the school climate through respectful and conscientious engagement with teachers, and a program carefully constructed to address the concerns of the specific school, provides the reader with an excellent understanding of the current state of bullying in schools as well as hands-on methods for engaging schools and communities to effectively address the problem. This is an excellent engagement in the bully prevention process and one -- Arthur Horne PhD, interim dean, College of Education, University of Georgia It is by now widely recognized that bullying is both a major form of school violence, and a major cause of even more violent responses on the part of the victims, from suicides to homicides. Traditional attempts to minimize how damaging bullying is have ranged from one extreme to the other - from "It never happens here" to "Bullying occurs universally and always has, so it can't be too bad." Fortunately, thanks in part to the work reported over the past several years by the authors of this book, most of us now realize how badly both of those rationalizations distort reality.

This new book by some of the leading experts and pioneers in the field of bullying prevention...is a welcome addition to the literature on this subject: it is the product of extensive experience, perceptive observation and wise reflection, and should be of immense practical help to everyone concerned with this problem, which ultimately includes all of us - parents, teachers, school boards, administrators, and most of all, our children - who are, after all, our future. I commend this book to everyone who cares about the future of this country and, indeed, every country. -- James Gilligan, MD, professor, New York University; author, <I>Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic and Preventing Violence<I> [This book] is a comprehensive look at the myths related to past programs, and it presents a new, radically different program....With an academic tone, each chapter tackles a challenging aspect of understanding bullying and violence....Drawing on numerous international studies, this book's universal appeal is both provocative and in-depth....a rich resource for addressing both the dynamics and the personal nature of bullying. * Foreword Reviews *