How To Start Your Own Bullying Prevention System

Bullying in the school system can affect students of all ages and backgrounds. Students who bully often do so to exert power over someone else. Those who are bullied may feel powerless and hurt. Some signs of bullying can be easy to spot, but others are more hidden—including behaviors that occur online through cyberbullying.

As bullying can cause long-term mental, physical, and emotional damage, it can be crucial for parents, teachers, and students to know how to prevent it. Putting effective anti-bullying systems in place can create a safer, more peaceful school environment. If you are an educator, parent, or student interested in creating your bullying prevention system, you can use a few tips to get started. 

How to start a bullying prevention effort 

Below are a few ways you may be able to begin your own bullying prevention system in your community. Action can start with one person, and others may follow suit. 

Figure out your community's needs

Not every program blueprint may be effective for every school. For example, imagine basing your bullying prevention system on another school's program targeting physical violence. While physical violence is one area that you may target to eliminate bullying, your school might struggle more with verbal bullying or increased sexual harassment than physical violence. 

Look into how bullying happens at the school and create a program that targets that problem rather than trying to model your program off another school's system. This strategy may help you find the most success in implementing and seeing positive outcomes. 

Start garnering interest before you launch your program

An anti-bullying program may be more effective when there is a solid support system behind it. If you put all the work into crafting a program you don't advertise well or don't have others on board beforehand, the program might have difficulty getting off the ground. If it fails, it may not make the impact you were hoping for.  

Tell other parents, teachers, and students about it when you start researching and creating your program. Organize meetups so you can start planning. When your program is ready, they can give you feedback and support for a successful launch.

Focus on all aspects of bullying

Bullying often doesn't happen without cause. Several risk factors can lead to bullying, and many consequences can occur after someone is bullied. If you focus on only the bullying itself, you may be missing key issues causing the behavior. These factors can continue to harm students after they're survivors of bullying. 

To ensure you create a successful anti-bullying program, target risk factors for bullying, behaviors that will not be tolerated at your school, and mental health education about trauma and what can occur due to bullying. A comprehensive system can shut down bullying much more productively than one with the "stop bullying" message without a guide on how it starts or ends. 

Create safe methods for kids to report bullying

At times, the consequences of telling someone about a bully may be enough to prevent a child from speaking up. This problem can harm your bullying prevention system by making it challenging to detect who is bullying. To avoid this impact, create avenues for kids to feel safer when reporting bullying. 

You might create a box where kids can write down their bullying issues on paper and place them inside or create an online system where kids can secretly report bullying incidents through a school and parent-approved survey. Run your idea by others to ensure it keeps your students safe and encourages speaking out against bullying.

Build an anti-bullying curriculum

Successful bullying prevention programs may include courses or lesson plans that allow students to learn. These lessons can teach students about the different types of bullying, why bullies choose to harm others, and how they can stand up when they see someone being bullied or are a survivor of this behavior. 

Students can use the knowledge they learn in these programs to help further your program and make their school safer. When you place the power in your student's hands, they can feel empowered to prevent these issues on a peer-to-peer level. Many students feel uncomfortable with adult intervention, so allowing peers to support anti-bullying and hold each other accountable for bullying may be more effective. 

Train your staff 

If an issue occurs in your program, it may be an error with your staff, not your students. It can be beneficial to ensure your staff is adequately trained as much as your students are to eliminate bullying from your school environment. Educators may be able to observe what others cannot, and they may be a vital aspect of any bullying prevention program.

Essential skills to teach your staff may be handling bullying reports and delivering consequences. Students may feel more supported and defended knowing that their teachers are on their side—which can enhance the program's success. When speaking to the survivor of bullying, try not to pull them aside in front of their peers, and don't use their name when talking to their bully. 

Set your sights beyond the school community

A successful anti-bullying program often extends beyond the school's walls. When forming your program, receiving support from local organizations, national organizations, and social media might be helpful. When you have a program that everyone has their eyes on, it may be more successful. You might also gain your students' attention if the program receives attention on popular platforms and television shows. 

Build a long-term program

When developing goals for your program, establish short- and long-term milestones. Long-term goals can help ensure that the program lasts for years and pave the way toward more kindness and empathy in the school system. While anti-bullying programs can be challenging to maintain and may lose momentum over time, setting them up for success from the beginning may give them an extra boost. Ensure a leadership team so others can take over in the event of an emergency in your life.  

Speak to a professional 

Those who have experienced bullying, parents of bullied children, and those who have bullied others themselves may benefit from professional intervention. Speaking with a therapist can provide bullying survivors with a safe space to process their emotions and heal. It can give bullies a place to talk about why they choose to bully and provide them with opportunities to move forward healthily. 

Online therapy may provide an ideal environment for individuals from these groups to begin their recovery. Online platforms like BetterHelp for adults and TeenCounseling for those aged 13 to 19 allow users to connect with their therapist through video, phone, or live chat sessions. Individuals can choose which method to talk through, according to comfort and availability. In addition, they can use a nickname on the platform to maintain a discreet identity. 

No matter a person's age or background, online counseling may be able to provide some relief from emotional distress and mental health challenges. One study assessed the efficacy and feasibility of a therapist-guided internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) intervention for adults with childhood trauma. The study's results suggested that therapist-guided Internet-based CBT could be associated with a substantial reduction in PTSD symptoms. These results may indicate that online therapy could successfully manage symptoms associated with trauma from childhood bullying.