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Partnership Program Targets Bullying, Intimidation, and Harassment

NCJ Number
200084
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 70 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2003 Pages: 24-26
Author(s)
James W. McMahon
Date Published
April 2003
Length
3 pages
Annotation
This article describes the development of an instructional video designed to help reduce bullying, intimidation, and harassment by high school students in the Shenendehowa Central School District of New York State.
Abstract
To gain a better understanding of the bullying problem and develop a more effective prevention program, students, representatives of the New York State Police, the school psychologist, a teacher, and representatives of the school administration cooperated in developing the School-Based Partnership project. The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) of the U.S. Justice Department offered the SARA research model for use in the project. This model identifies recurring incidents through preliminary review of information; uses several sources of information to determine why a problem is occurring, who is responsible, who is affected, where the problem is located, when it occurs, and what form the problem takes; and tailors a response to the problem. The project used three data sources: unstructured interviews with school administrators, students, and law enforcement personnel; a survey of student perceptions of victimization and offending in the school; and a survey of faculty and staff perceptions of school violence, fear of crime, and areas on school property where there was a concern about potential violence. Survey data revealed that bullying was a more significant problem than most observers realized, as over 10 percent of responding students reported being picked on repeatedly. After the survey results were analyzed, team members considered many responses, including increasing awareness of the school's peer mediation program; however, mediation had to remain voluntary, and many students did not like coming forward and expressing their vulnerabilities. Eventually, the team adopted a prevention response that includes a series of instructional videos that focus on various levels of school violence. Specific issues that were identified in the survey data are addressed in the videos. The video series can elicit the emotions that are experienced by victims of bullying and show powerful images of the impact when bullying is allowed to persist in schools.