Friday, October 11, 2013

Bullying Prevention Programs train bullies to be better bullies!

Anti Bullying programs implemented in schools may actually teach bullies how to be bullies and get away with it.  Studies show that incidences of bullying actually goes up in schools that have anti bullying/prevention programs.  Released in September by the University of Texas Arlington, the study found that, "Unintended consequences may result from campaigns designed to education students about the harms of physical and emotional harassment.  Sound familiar? Talk to Domestic Violence advocates and they will tell you that court ordered batterer's intervention programs designed for men who are convicted of domestic violence crimes, actually learn techniques to continue their abuse while getting away with it.  They learn the ins and outs on how to lie to police and blame the victim.  Advocates say these court ordered programs are a recipe for disaster and are more like abuser training programs.  So it makes sense that bullying prevention programs would cause the same end result. 

According to this article found in the Huffington Post:
According to researchers' findings, bullying prevention programs in schools generally increase incidences of physical and emotional attacks among students by teaching kids about the ins and outs of bulling. 
The study’s findings challenge commonly held beliefs about the benefits of bullying prevention programs.
“The schools with interventions say, ‘You shouldn’t do this,’ or ‘you shouldn’t do that.’ But through the programs, the students become highly exposed to what a bully is and they know what to do or say when questioned by parents or teachers,” lead study author Dr. Seokjin Jeong said in a statement released by the university.
Using data from an earlier national study that looked at the well-being of adolescents, researchers found that students in schools with anti-bullying programs are more likely to be victimized. Specifically, they found that male students were more likely to be victims of physical harassment, while girls were more likely to face emotional harassment.
"This study raises an alarm," Jeong told CBS Dallas. "Usually people expect an anti-bullying program to have some impact -- some positive impact.”
Instead, his study recommends that prevention efforts “move beyond individual risk factors and focus on systemic change within the schools.” His report also recommend that researchers “better identify the bully-victim dynamics in order to develop prevention strategies accordingly.”
According to the National Educators Association, approximately half of teens have reported being cyberbullied while one-third of students have reported being bullied in school.

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