The Arizona Bullying Intervention Initiative | The AZ Bullying Prevention Project

Background
The Arizona Bullying Intervention Initiative | The Arizona Bullying Prevention Project - Peaceful, Positive Persuasion | Encouraging Respect, a "Hero Culture" and Protector Mindset Prompted by Empathy

A Program Developed by Professional Protectors with research from Olweus, Dr. George Thompson "Verbal Judo", Dr. Terence Webster-Doyle, Israel (Izzy) C. Kalman, MS, Gavin de Becker, and professional bodyguards.

The Arizona Bullying Prevention Project provides evidence-based life skills training incorporating advanced threat assessment tools, evacuation techniques, physical intervention strategies, and tactical communication in an encouraging and entertaining format.

Bully-Proof Vest Program - The Only Bullying Prevention Program Developed by Protection Professionals.  http://bullyproofingarizona.blogspot.com/

Attention Arizona Parents:
Your child may be a target for bullying but they do not have to be a victim.  Unlike other programs promoting "anti-bully" themes in which children are labeled weak self pitying "victims", our program promotes individual responsibility, "hero culture", empowerment and learning skills that can help a child for life. Plus we teach it in a fun, memorable manner.  There is hope! 

-  Our three pronged Bullying Intervention approach treats the targeted child of bullying, the bullying behavior as well as the social environment enabling bullying. 

-  Our 5 step How to Turn a Bully into a Buddy process encourages strong social skills, confidence building and uses common sense before self defense. Unlike other programs, we'll actually show your child simple and effective "last resort" defensive techniques in case they are physically attacked.

-  Children enjoy the exciting martial arts format and learn that they can avoid a fight and still walk away with dignity like a Black Belt.

-  Children learn the 3 Shields Strategy and "Bullying Word Blocks" from Verbal Judo, using humor, fear management skills.

-  Other children learn the value of being a "Hallway Hero" and "Protector Pal"

-  This AZ Bullying Prevention Program avoids the political labeling and the failing mindset of "BAD BULLY", "HELPLESS VICTIM" and reveals the danger posed to children in having politically motivated "zero tolerance" policies that lack common sense. The research will shock you.

- Unlike other Bully programs, this one is first designed to protect children, rather than first protect the schools and administrators from legal liability (although it will do that too).

- Prevents blame shifting from children, parents, teachers and school administration by promoting responsibility, communication, mutual respect and common sense problem solving.

- Gives hurting people the help, compassion and resources they need to change it.

For more information contact:


Source: http://www.olweus.org/public/bullying.page



What is Bullying?


Dan Olweus, creator of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program, provides us with this commonly accepted definition for bullying in his book, Bullying at School: What We Know and What We Can Do:


"A person is bullied when he or she is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she has difficulty defending himself or herself."


This definition includes three important components:


1. Bullying is aggressive behavior that involves unwanted, negative actions.

2. Bullying involves a pattern of behavior repeated over time.

3. Bullying involves an imbalance of power or strength.


Types of Bullying


Bullying can take on many forms. As part of the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire, students are asked if they have been bullied in any of these nine ways:


1. Verbal bullying including derogatory comments and bad names

2. Bullying through social exclusion or isolation

3. Physical bullying such as hitting, kicking, shoving, and spitting

4. Bullying through lies and false rumors

5. Having money or other things taken or damaged by students who bully

6. Being threatened or being forced to do things by students who bully

7. Racial bullying

8. Sexual bullying

9. Cyber bullying (via cell phone or Internet) Learn more


Why Students Bully


Information about bullying suggests that there are three interrelated reasons why students bully.


1. Students who bully have strong needs for power and (negative) dominance.

2. Students who bully find satisfaction in causing injury and suffering to other

students.

3. Students who bully are often rewarded in some way for their behavior with

material or psychological rewards.


Impact of Bullying


A single student who bullies can have a wide-ranging impact on the students they bully, students who observe bullying, and the overall climate of the school and community.


Students Who are Bullied - Students deserve to feel safe at school. But when they experience bullying, these types of effects can last long into their future:

• Depression 
• Low self-esteem 
• Health problems 
• Poor grades 
• Suicidal thoughts 

Students Who Bully Others - Students who intentionally bully others should be held accountable for their actions. Those who bully their peers are also more likely than those students who do not bully others to *:

• Get into frequent fights 
• Steal and vandalize property 
• Drink alcohol and smoke 
• Report poor grades 
• Perceive a negative climate at school 
• Carry a weapon 

* Not all students who bully others have obvious behavior problems or are engaged in rule-breaking activities, however. Some of them are highly skilled socially and good at ingratiating themselves with their teacher and other adults. This is true of some boys who bully but is perhaps even more common among bullying girls. For this reason it is often difficult for adults to discover or even imagine that these students engage in bullying behavior.


Observers of Bullying - Students who see bullying happen also may feel that they are in an unsafe environment. Effects may include feeling:

• Fearful 
• Powerless to act 
• Guilty for not acting 
• Tempted to participate 

Schools with Bullying Issues - When bullying continues and a school does not take action, the entire school climate can be affected in the following ways:

• The school develops an environment of fear and disrespect 
• Students have difficulty learning 
• Students feel insecure 
• Students dislike school 
• Students perceive that teachers and staff have little control and don't care about them 

Find out how the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program addresses the issues surrounding bullying and provides Benefits for Schoolsand Benefits for Other Institutions.


Bullying is a Serious Issue


Bullying may vary greatly between schools and school districts, but it is very prevalent:
Statistics show that 23 percent of students in grades 4-6 had been bullied "several times" or more; 20 percent had bullied others (1998 study of 6,500 students in rural South Carolina) 
Statistics show that 17 percent of students in grades 6-10 reported having been bullied "sometimes" or more, with 8 percent being bullied once a week. 19 percent said they had been a bully to others "sometimes" or more. (2001 study of 15,000 U.S. students) 


The Bullying Circle

Nearly one in five students in an average classroom is experiencing bullying in some way. The rest of the students, called bystanders, are also affected by the bullying.1


The Olweus Bullying Prevention Program describes students involved or witnessing a bullying situation as having roles in the Bullying Circle2:





1C. Salmivalli, K. Lagerspetz, K. Björkqvist, K. Osterman, and A. Kaukiainen, "Bullying as a Group Process: Participant Roles and Their Relations to Social Status within the Group," Aggressive Behavior 22 (1996): 1-15.


2Dan Olweus, "Peer Harassment: A Critical Analysis and Some Important Issues," in Peer Harassment in School, ed. J. Juvonen and S. Graham (New York: Guilford Publications, 2001): 3-20.


http://www.olweus.org/public/bullying.page

EVIDENCE OF EFFECTIVENESS

Three-page summary of current research
on Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

Research Basis for the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program

• The first evaluation of the program took place in the early-to-mid 1980s and involved approximately 2,500 children in grades 4-7 from 42 elementary and junior high schools in Bergen, Norway (equivalent to grades 5-8 in the U.S.). Using a quasi-experimental (age-cohorts) design, Olweus (1991; Olweus, Limber, & Mihalic, 1999) found:
  • substantial reductions (50% or more for most comparisons by students’ age and grade) in self-reported bullying and bully victimization.
  • significant reductions in self-reported vandalism, fighting, theft, alcohol use, and truancy.
  • significant improvements in the social climate of the classroom (as reflected in students’ reports of increased satisfaction with school life and school work, improved order and discipline at school, and more positive social relationships)
  • a dosage-response relationship at the classroom level, such that those classrooms that implemented essential components of the program saw greater reductions in bully/victim problems.

• The New Bergen Project Against Bullying took place between 1997 and 1998 and involved 3,200 students in grades 5-7 and 9 from 14 intervention and 16 comparison schools in Bergen, Norway. Olweus and colleagues (Olweus, 2004; Olweus et al., 1999) found:
  • Reductions in the implementation schools of bully/victim problems of 21%-38%.
  • No significant changes in comparison schools in reports of being bullied and a 35% increase in the level of bullying other students

• The Oslo Project Against Bullying (which began in 1999) involved 2,300 students in grades 5-7 and 9. Within one year, among 5-7th graders, Olweus (Olweus, 2004) found:
  • Reductions in self-reports of bully victimization of 42% (33% for girls and 48% for boys)
  • Reductions in self-reported bullying others of 52% (64% for girls and 45% for boys)

• The first systematic evaluation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program in the United States (Limber et al., 2004) was conducted in the mid-1990s, involving 18 middle schools in South Carolina. After one year of implementation, researchers observed:
  • Large, significant decreases in boys’ and girls’ reports of bullying others
  • Large, significant decreases in boys’ reports of being bullied and in boys’ reports of social isolation.

• An evaluation of the Olweus program in 12 elementary schools in the Philadelphia area (Black, 2003) revealed that among those schools that had implemented the program with at least moderate fidelity:
  • There were significant reductions in self-reported bullying and victimization
  • There were significant decreases in adults’ observations of bullying (in the cafeteria and on the playground)

References:

Black, S. (2003). An ongoing evaluation of the bullying prevention program in Philadelphia schools: Student survey and student observation data. Paper presented at Centers for Disease Control’s Safety in Numbers Conference, Atlanta, GA.

Limber, S. P. (2004b). Implementation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program: Lessons Learned from the Field. In D. Espelage & S. Swearer (Eds.) Bullying in American Schools: A Social-Ecological Perspective on Prevention and Intervention (pp. 351-363). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Olweus, D. (1991). Bully/victim problems among schoolchildren: Basic facts and effects of a school based intervention program. In D. J. Pepler & K. H. Rubin (Eds.), The development and treatment of childhood aggression (pp. 411-448). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Olweus, D. (1993). Bullying at school: What we know and what we can do. Cambridge: Blackwell.

Olweus, D. (2004). The Olweus Bullying Prevention Programme: Design and implementation issues and a new national initiative in Norway. In P. K. Smith, D. Pepler, & K. Rigby (Eds.),Bullying in schools: How successful can interventions be? (pp. 13-36). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Olweus, D., Limber, S. P., & Mihalic, S. (1999). The Bullying Prevention Program: Blueprints for Violence Prevention, Vol. 10. Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence: Boulder, CO.

Encouraging the good, the noble, the powerful and positive in children. 

Here is the blog dedicated to the subject of bullying in Arizona. Parents, teachers and children can find information, statistics and resources to arm them with knowledge and techniques to successfully deal with bullying. 
http://bullyproofingarizona.blogspot.com/

Bully Proof Vest - Bully Solutions Workshops & Kids Camps

Free Bully / Victim Proofing workshop by appointment at USA Martial Arts Phoenix at Tatum & Greenway in Phoenix/Scottsdale/PV. To register, simply email info@usa-martialarts.com or call 602-896-8721. It's fully sponsored by Nottingham Sword & Shield Security/ScottdsdaleBodyguard.com and USA Martial Arts Phoenix.