Aug 2, 2007
Yale pilot program
Barlow in study about bullying
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by MAGGIE CALDWELL
mcaldwell@thereddingpilot.com
A mean glance, a vicious e-mail or a few awful rumors spread around the high school cafeteria are just some of the many ways bullies can torment their classmates. This fall, students at Joel Barlow High School who may usually fall prey to these hallway predators will be given some strategies to defend themselves.
Barlow’s participation in the study does not mean that the school has a bullying problem.
“I asked questions about bullying here, and there doesn’t seem to be any unusual degree of bullying,” said Tom McMorran, Barlow’s new principal. “We’re a typical Fairfield County school, and all high schools have some issues with bullying … Anytime there are 1,000 kids together, there is going to be some mistreatment of somebody by others. But the staff and deans here have been intervening appropriately.”
Pilot program
Barlow will be participating in a study of a pilot program designed to equip students who are identified as potential bullying targets with tips for developing social skills and tactics to ward off physical, psychological and even cyber attacks. The program uses a 100-page digital workbook, called the Video MyBook, which has information and advice for dealing with bullies. The information included in the workbook is based on firsthand experiences, focus groups and psychology research.
The study
A study of the program is being run by Mark Hatzenbuehler, a doctoral candidate in Yale University’s Department of Psychology, and Shan Shan Jiang, a Yale graduate associated with Surviving Bullies, a charity run by Dickon Pownall-Gray.
Early in the school year, freshmen and sophomores at Barlow will be asked to fill out a questionnaire that inquires about different aspects of potential bullying. For example, students will be asked if they have ever received hostile e-mails or instant messages, or if they have ever been physically threatened or verbally harassed. The questionnaire is meant to sift out the at-risk students.
School administrators are working in conjunction with Mr. Hatzenbuehler and Ms. Jiang to design an appropriate questionnaire. Parental input will be a prerequisite for both filling out the questionnaire and participation in the program.
Those identified as being vulnerable to bullying will then be offered use of the Video MyBook, which they will be encouraged to look at on their own time over a five-week period.
The workbook was originally developed over a five-year span by the Surviving Bullies charity. It’s now been turned digital to make it more interactive.
“It is downloadable from anywhere with Internet access … Kids are media savvy and this is completely multimedia. Since they can look at it on their own time, it addresses different learning styles as well,” explained Ms. Jiang during her presentation of the program to the Region 9 school board last week.
As students are interacting with the workbooks, Mr. Hatzenbuehler and Ms. Jiang will be compiling data that will be secure and available only to the researchers, said Mr. McMorran.
The goal of the study is to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of the Video MyBook in helping individual targets of bullying. The intention is to make the program available on a statewide basis.
Benefits to Barlow
Participation in the program provides a number of benefits to the high school. Targets of bullying often exhibit several adverse outcomes, such as depression, anxiety, greater substance use, poorer academic performance, and low self-esteem.
While the students who participate will remain anonymous, and Barlow itself will not be identified in the study, the baseline information that is established by the questionnaire will be shared with school administrators.
If any particular kid reaches what is considered a critical level of concern in his or her responses, the Yale researchers “would directly contact the family and indicate how support services could be pursued,” said Mr. McMorran.
The program is also in line with the school’s goals of “character development and self-advocacy,” said Mr. McMorran.
“In our mission we talk about social and civic responsibilities. You’ll find in multiple classes that the teacher’s topic is addressing how to function well in society. Certainly you’ll find this in the health and physical education programs, but I think it’s also in social studies and certain works of literature,” he said.
School participation
So far, Barlow is the only school that has signed on to participate in the study. The Yale researchers are at the earliest stages of the study and envision recruiting a wide variety of middle and high schools in Connecticut.
At a meeting next Tuesday, the Redding school board will consider allowing the program to be implemented at John Read Middle School.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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