Program Profile: Stop School Bullying (Greece)

This is a preventative, school-based program for students in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades (ages 9–12) that sought to reduce rates of bullying and victimization within elementary schools. The program is rated Effective. Evaluation results suggest that the program statistically significantly reduced bullying and victimization rates at schools that implemented the program compared with a control group of schools that did not.

An Effective rating implies that implementing the program is likely to result in the intended outcome(s).

This program's rating is based on evidence that includes at least one high-quality randomized controlled trial.

An Effective rating implies that implementing the program is likely to result in the intended outcome(s).

This program's rating is based on evidence that includes at least one high-quality randomized controlled trial.

Program Goals

The Stop School Bullying program was a preventative school-based program for elementary school students in 4th through 6th grades, approximately between the ages of 9 and 12. The goal of the program was to increase awareness of the impact of bullying, increase empathy toward victims, and ultimately reduce rates of bullying and victimization.

Target Population

The Stop School Bullying intervention targeted elementary school children in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, based on prior research indicating greater prevalence of bullying during the last years of primary school (Sapouna 2008).

Program Activities

Stop School Bullying was an 11-week structured intervention. Teachers participated in a 2-day training seminar on the Teacher’s Manual, a program guidebook that gives systematic and detailed explanations of how the intervention activities should be implemented. Teachers administered weekly 90-minute workshops in their classrooms for 11 weeks, under the guidance of mental health professionals who acted as the program coordinators. Workshop content consisted of group-based discussions with students, active role-playing games, and other group activities related to bullying prevention.

Stop School Bullying was designed to involve students, educators, parents, and the community. As such, teachers organized two meetings with parents throughout the intervention to enhance parental involvement and awareness. To promote community awareness, leaflets were distributed to parents, students, teachers, and other community members throughout the surrounding area. Additionally, a comprehensive website was developed that contained four microsites providing information for bullying prevention and awareness tailored to specific groups: students, teachers, parents, and the general community.

Program Theory

Stop School Bullying was a holistic program modified from the original Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. Both programs were based on the social–ecological perspective, which posits that multiple factors throughout the school and community influence bullying (Smith et al. 2004) and therefore should be treated as a multifaceted problem.

Study

Tsiantis and colleagues (2013) conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial, using 20 randomly selected elementary schools from seven regions throughout the district of Attica, Greece (i.e., the metropolitan area of Greater Athens). Stratified random-sampling methods and matching adjustments were used to ensure equivalence between treatment and control schools. The sample included 666 children from 4th through 6th grades (the treatment and control group each included 10 schools and 333 students). Experimental schools received 11 structured workshops that were administered weekly and were about 90 minutes in length. The control group was untreated and received no intervention during this time.

The Greek version of the Revised Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire was administered to students before the intervention (November 2011) and immediately following program completion (May 2012). The questionnaire measured the frequency of several types of bullying and victimization, and used responses to classify students as victims, bullies, bullies/victims, and nonbullies/nonvictims. Effects of the intervention were assessed using odds ratio tests to compare decreases in bullying and victimization rates from pre- to posttest for the experimental and control groups.

Teachers participating in the intervention received a 2-day training seminar consisting of theoretical presentations and group activities. Ultimately, the training focused on the Teacher’s Manual, which explained the systematic, detailed fashion in which the activities should be implemented. All teachers were under the supervision and guidance of program instructors throughout the intervention.  

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

Sapouna, Maria. “Bullying in Greek Primary and Secondary Schools.” 2008. School Psychology International 29(2):199–213.

Smith, J. David, Barry H. Schneider, Peter K. Smith, and Katerina Ananiadou. “The Effectiveness of Whole-School Antibullying Programs: A Synthesis of Evaluation Research.” 2004. School Psychology Review 33(4): 547–60.

Ttofi, Maria M., and David P. Farrington. “Effectiveness of School-Based Programs to Reduce Bullying: A Systematic and Meta-Analytic Review.” 2011. Journal of Experimental Criminology 7(1): 27–56.

Ttofi, Maria M., David P. Farrington, and Anna C. Baldry. “Effectiveness of Programmes to Reduce School Bullying.” 2008. Stockholm, Sweden: Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.

Following are CrimeSolutions-rated programs that are related to this practice:

Bullying Prevention Programs

The practice includes programs designed to reduce bullying perpetration and victimization and to increase positive bystander behavior in bullying situations. The practice is rated Effective for reducing bullying perpetration (e.g., overall and physical), reducing bullying victimization (e.g., overall and relational), and increasing positive bystander behavior. The practice is rated Ineffective for increasing bystander empathy for bullying victims and reducing verbal bullying victimization.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

	Juvenile Problem & At-Risk Behaviors - Bullying
	Victimization - Overall bullying victimization
	Victimization - Relational bullying victimization
	Victimization - Physical bullying victimization
	Victimization - Bystander intervention
	Mental Health & Behavioral Health - Empathy for the victim
	Victimization - Verbal bullying victimization

Parent-Involved Antibullying Programs for Youth

This practice includes programs that offer a parent-involved component to reduce bullying perpetration and victimization. This practice is rated Promising for reducing bullying victimization and perpetration, reducing negative parenting, and improving positive parenting skills but is rated Ineffective for reducing youth depression.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

	Victimization - Bullying victimization
	Family Functioning - Parenting skills
	Family Functioning - Negative parenting skills
	Juvenile Problem & At-Risk Behaviors - Bullying
	Mental Health & Behavioral Health - Internalizing behavior

Why might a practice's outcome ratings differ from the ratings of specific programs encompassed by that practice?