Researchers from the University of Washington in Seattle have created an anti-bullying educational program, Steps to Respect, that seems to actually create a significant difference in kids behavior.
The study, published recently in the School Psychology Review, compared behavior of students before and after a three month course in empathy and other life skills. After the course, the participants spent up to 70 percent less time spreading malicious gossip about their classmates on the playground.
Researchers collected data by observing their third- to sixth-grade subjects on the playground, entered instances of gossip into PDAs, including: “Is the cootie girl in your class?” and “Did you hear Dan cheated on the exam?” They recorded individual gossip, as well as cases of groups of children picking on another student, referred to as “relational aggression.” Girls were more often the source and target of gossip, and this verbal bullying peaked in sixth grade.
Karin Frey of the University of Washington, who led the study, helped develop Steps to Respect, which was implemented at the Seattle schools during the study. Frey decided to focus on gossip because it can be as painful, if not more painful, than physical bullying and it can escalate into more physical conflicts.
“In its own right [gossip] can be very harmful,” Frey told The Lookout. “The intent of gossip is to harm someone’s relationship to other people or to harm their reputations. Sometimes this could escalate to more physical types of aggression.”
Fray emphasizes that authority figures can often underestimate the damage gossip does. That’s part of why Steps to Respect also trains teachers to deal with gossip. Her study shows that teachers who stepped in when they caught students gossiping dramatically reduced aggressive incidents.
Another interesting revelation from Fray’s study – Kids who fight back when bullied tend to be victimized more than those who don’t react or simple leave the situation.
“The kids who lose it are often the ones who are seen as entertaining kids to bully,” Frey says.
