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The Friendly Schools Project: An Empirically Grounded School-based Bullying Prevention Program

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 February 2016

Donna Cross ,
Yolanda Pintabona ,
Margaret Hall ,
Greg Hamilton ,
Erin Erceg  and
Clare Roberts
Donna Cross*
Affiliation:
Curtin University of Technology, Australia
Yolanda Pintabona
Affiliation:
Curtin University of Technology, Australia
Margaret Hall
Affiliation:
Curtin University of Technology, Australia
Greg Hamilton
Affiliation:
Curtin University of Technology, Australia
Erin Erceg
Affiliation:
Curtin University of Technology, Australia
Clare Roberts
Affiliation:
Curtin University of Technology, Australia
*
Western Australian Centre for Health Promotion Research, School of Public Health, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth WA 6845, Australia. Email:[email protected]
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Abstract

There exists limited empirical evidence of the effectiveness of universal school-based interventions to reduce or prevent children's bullying. The Friendly Schools project was a 3-year longitudinal randomised control trial designed to determine the efficacy of a universal holistic intervention to prevent or reduce bullying among primary school children. The trial involved 1968 Western Australian children, their parents and their teachers. This paper discusses the components of the Friendly Schools program, and how empirical, theoretical and “promising” mechanisms of change (mediators) were operationalised to develop a whole-of-school approach to reduce bullying. This paper concludes that further research is needed to determine empirically: (a) which mechanisms of change mediate improvements in children's bullying behaviour and mental health status and (b) the relative contribution of the various components of a whole-of-school approach to bullying prevention and reduction in children.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 13 , Issue 1: Mental Health Issues and Schools , July 2003 , pp. 36 - 46
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

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