In
today’s blog I will discuss bullying coping strategies presented within “The causes and nature of bullying and
social exclusion in schools” by Maria el Mar Badia Martin. According to Badia
Martin, the success of bullying coping strategies “varies and is age dependent
and gender dependent.” However, one consensus that seems to be reached by various
studies is that “non-assertive [coping] strategies such as crying are less
successful than ignoring or seeking help.” What Badia Martin seems to highlight
is that the success of bullying coping strategies varies by school. In other
words, a bullying coping strategy that works within one school does not
necessarily mean that it will be equally effective or successful within another school. The
text seems to support my interpretation because it states that “the success of [students]
seeking help [for bullying] will depend on the school context.”
Badia
Martin states that an “important part of school context appears to be the existence
of peer support systems,” which can encourage students to seek for help from “peer
supporters, teachers or others.” According to the text, “there has been [a] growing
interest in peer support and mediation as an approach to bullying.” However, the
text acknowledges that “more evaluation research is needed [on the success of
the aforementioned approach.]" In addition, the text points out several problems
that can arise with peer support systems, “due to […] hostility to peer helpers from
other pupils; difficulties in recruiting boys as peer supporters; issues of
power sharing with staff; and ensuring sufficient time and resources for proper
implementation.” The text notes that, so far, evaluations of peer support methods suggest “clear benefits
for the peer supporters themselves, and general improvement of the school
climate; but specific benefits for victims of bullying remain to be proven.” In
fact, “evaluations of active listening/counseling-based approaches [have] found
that the majority of peer supporters [report] benefits arising from the
interpersonal skills and teamwork acquired in training;” users of peer support systems
report that “peer supporters [offer] helpful interventions;” and most pupils
and teachers believe that “the service [of active listening/counseling-based
approaches is] having [a positive] impact on the school as a whole.”
While
I agree that the support and guidance offered by peer support systems can be
extremely beneficial to victims of bullying, I believe that the existence of
peer support systems is not enough. In essence, I think it is a mistake if researchers
and educators believe that the creation of peer support systems is the answer
to diminishing bullying. In my opinion, an important question researchers
should focus on is: How can schools encourage victims of bullying to use bullying
coping strategies, such as peer support systems. What good is it if schools
have peer support systems, but the victims of bullying refuse to use them?
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