Coping with bullying, and promoting well-being and positive peer relations

Abstract

I have been impressed with the urgency of doing. Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Being willing is not enough; we must do. (Leonardo da Vinci) In this chapter, we take to heart da Vinci’s general admonishment and, in relation to the topic of school bullying following decades of research, argue that there is an urgent need to act on what we best know and understand. Overviews of international research are clear that bullying occurs in every school (Craig et al., 2009; Ttofi, Farrington, & Lösel, 2012) and that there are significant negative physical and mental health outcomes associated with it. Extensive meta-analytic reviews (Ttofi et al., 2012) have highlighted the negative sequelae associated with school bullying. In Australia, the prevalence rates for traditional and cyberbullying are not dissimilar to those in other Western countries, with approximately 25–30% of school students reporting they are traditionally bullied (face to face), 15% reporting they are cyberbullied, and 7–8% reporting they are bullied in both ways (Campbell, Slee, Spears, Butler, & Kift, 2012; Hemphill et al., 2012). It is imperative to develop successful intervention strategies to help students cope with bullying, including the emergent form of cyberbullying. Research suggests, however, that students have a very limited repertoire of strategies for dealing with bullying generally (Owens, Shute, & Slee, 2004; Murray-Harvey, Skrzypiec, & Slee, 2012). In this chapter, we review what research tells us about the impact of bullying, including cyberbullying, on students and detail an international school-based intervention program designed to teach students coping strategies.