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ERIC Number: ED503060
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Dec
Pages: 76
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Bullying Prevention in the Elementary Classroom Using Social Skills
Anderson, Stacie; Swiatowy, Colleen
Online Submission
Our action research project report provided students with social skills training to effectively handle bullying situations in the fourth grade. Our study involved 70 fourth-grade students and began Monday, January 14, 2008 and concluded Friday, May 2, 2008. The behaviors documented from the fourth grade students were name calling, exclusion, pushing, disrespect of people and property, and intimidation. Teacher researchers used several tools to document the evidence of bullying. These tools were a student survey, teacher survey, observational checklists, and parent survey. When implementing the student survey, the teacher researchers noticed that over three-fourths of the fourth-grade students felt that they had been bullied. Boys bullied more frequently than girls. Bullying occurred most often on the playground, the bus, and the hallway. One of the most concerning issues was that one-third of the students did not feel safe at school. The strategy that was most beneficial to the students in the elementary classrooms was teaching social skills. The social skills that were taught to prevent bullying included: assertiveness training, cultural awareness, empathy, respect, and appropriate responses and choices. These social skills were taught by role-playing and literature, using the book "Crash" by Jerry Spinelli. Some additional interventions used for social skills instruction were journaling, using conversational dialogue appropriately, completing family activities focused on individuality, project sharing, friendship poster advertisements, "secret friends", and using learned strategies to handle bullying situations. Upon completing this intervention, the teacher researchers found an increase in the repeat of bullying behaviors which might be associated with the knowledge and skills gained during the intervention. Throughout the intervention, students were introduced to a variety of strategies to deal with bullying. The results of this was a decrease in the students' telling an adult and an increase in fighting back or not responding at all to the bully. Students became more confident in their ability to handle bullying situations. Students felt comfortable coming to an adult, but were also able to handle more situations independently. The perception of feeling safe at school increased throughout the intervention. This is due to the students' increased knowledge of how to handle a bully or bullying situation. Students used the strategies that were introduced during the intervention, thus empowering them to handle any given situation. (Nine appendixes are included: (1) Student Survey; (2) Parent Survey; (3) Teacher Survey; (4) Observational Checklist; (5) Journal Entry; (6) Conversational Dialogue; (7) Coat of Arms; (8) Friendship Poster; and (9) Peace Table. (Contains 5 tables and 20 graphs.) [Master of Arts Action Research Project, Saint Xavier University and Pearson Achievement Solutions, Inc. Field-Based Master's Program.]
Publication Type: Dissertations/Theses - Masters Theses; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 4
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A