have you looked at LeCheile or the mediation as a means to addressing bullying behaviour. At college we covered Restorative Practice and dealing with unresolved issues by bringing both parties together in a restorative conference. This works for community groups was successfully used by communities in Northern Ireland to address anti social behaviour. We had a lady by the name of Margaret McGarrigle who works extensively with schools on bullying and other school issues. Her workshop was amazing she used the SCARF Approach. Her last job she told us was dealing with a group of 8 year old girls who were constantly bullying one another. She explained that she managed to get to the root of the problem and resolved the issue for those young ladies. You may even be using the restorative and mediation concepts in what you are already doing this is interesting I would love to know more. We also had a workshop on the Canadian model of Restorative Practice from a professor in Canada. It would be good to get some of these theories or methods built into your community development s models of development within your own area. Highly recommend you get a meeting with this lady she is worth listening to and has some great ideas and solutions to different issues that are out their these days. If you look at the Australian youtube clips of restorative Practice conferences in action it will show this model of conflict resolution being used in a murder case of a young man shot dead at a botched robbery in a Pizza Hut in Australia. Very difficult to watch but what the Australian policeman achieved in that conference went a little way to heal a difficult situation. I would love to hear how you progress with your project it sounds interesting and productive.

Hi Stephen

My theatre company, Cyclone Rep, goes direct to schools with the Bullying Prevention Session.  It is a performance workshop where the students are encouraged to bring their voices to the fore as to what strategies can be useful in preventing bullying in their school.   We tell the students that they are part of the whole school community and their voices and participation are needed if they hope prevent bullying in their school.  Principals and teachers cannot book the performance/workshop unless they promise to enact some of the students ideas that come from the workshop.  It has been very well received and is now in receipt of HSE funding. 

Maybe we should meet up and chat when I'm in Dublin? 

all the best

Peadar

Thanks for some interesting suggestions Georgina, and yes, let's meet up some time Peader. Ian, I am pretty confident that I have  clear understanding of bullying in schools, I have been around the anti-bullying field for a wee while now. What your comment shows, I think, is the struggles we have in community work regarding bullying in terms of developing shared understandings of what bullying is and is not, and the dangers of assuming that students of different ages, teachers, non-teaching staff, parents, school managers, community members in general etc. are on the same hymn sheet from the outset. By my experience, they are not, for many reasons including some of the ones you mentioned, and achieving shared understandings is an essential pre-requisite step for success. 

I am a teacher in Canada and I am interested work with bullying issues.

Sabir, please feel free to get in touch with me. 

One of the programmes that showed lot of improvement of children behaviors and also in understanding the underlying causes of what constitutes bullying in schools was the conflict resolution programmes which was conducted in schools in Durban Surrounding Primary Schools in South Africa, and it is still practiced. The facilitators of the small groups of about 7 learners per group made it more effective as learners were able to trust each other and engage in a group easily to discus some of the serious issues they face and how the perceive and end up in such behaviors, either as victims or perpetrators. Please find the attach manual that can guide such practices for school setting. 

Hello Stephen,

I would be interested in learning more about this program.  As I continue to do my research in the area of bullying I will work with the school system to develop a safety manual together with the superintendent and others from the schools.

Please let me know what information you can share to help in this area.

Thanks

Angela

Hi Stephen and Angela,

I'm a parent of two young school age boys with ASD who have suffered from being bullied. The eldest has been bullied in some form or another since he started school 7yrs ago, in two different schools. Whatever systems the schools have been using down here in Melbourne, Australia, seem to have done little to educate the children who are prone to be bullies.

It would be interesting to learn what programs you have found to be effective to deal with educating/preventing the bullies at school. For I can see the effect of being bullied has on my son's whole being. It is also an area that I'm interested in studying as part of my Masters in Special Ed.

Thank you for the work that you are doing to assist in making our schools a safer place for children to enjoy their learning experience.

Regards,

Rodney Start

Dear Rodney, Many thanks for your response. I am very sorry to hear about your son's experiences, and I hope that things will change around him and for him soon. To answer your question, here in Ireland, the most success I have had is with a community development approach to bullying programme which we implemented in Erris, Co. Mayo. There's a paper on here about it, if you're interested. I wish you and your son the very best of luck. Best wishes, Stephen. 

Hi Stephen,

Thanks for your thoughts and your suggestion of the paper to read.

I am also hoping for a turn-around for him as well. As I can see why a number of the teenagers with ASD, decide that life it too hard after the constant bullying and end up taking their life. They see no way out of it.

All the best

Rodney

Dear Rodney, I am so sorry to hear about your worries regarding your son. I wish you every bit of success in helping him to see that there are choices open to him other than that awful final step. Sadly, what you say is true; some young people do indeed take their own lives, rather than face the continual bullying. (As I've argued in print and in person countless times, this fact alone should be a wake-up call for every one who is in a position to do something about preventing and dealing with bullying to act without delay). However, for other young people, things can and do get better, and the love and support that a family can give them can let them know that they are not alone with their problems, and can help them re-build their self-esteem and confidence. As I said, I wish you both every bit of success. Best wishes, Stephen. 

 Dear Angela,

Many thanks for your reply, too. 

There is one paper on here about the Erris Anti-Bullying Initiative, by myself, Michelle O' Mahoney and Rose Conway-Walsh. (That's all that exists in terms of peer-reviewed publications). However, I'm very happy to talk to you about the programme, especially if that paper doesn't give you what you need to know. 

Best wishes,

Stephen.