Evaluation of a large scale multiyear bullying prevention program in Pennsylvania

On a daily basis over 25% of school children are victims of bullying. It is a factor in school absenteeism, diminished learning capacity in school, childhood depression, teen suicides, school-based violence, and teenage drug and alcohol use. Bullying is a significant public health issue that has been associated with violence. Each time a child bullies or is bullied, potential exists for long-term social and health consequences. Bullying can threaten students' physical and emotional safety at school and can negatively impact their ability to learn. A foundation in western Pennsylvania funded a five-year health promotion initiative to support lifelong good health for children and adolescents. A focus of this initiative was bullying prevention. In 2008, 70,531 students in grades 3-12 from 194 Pennsylvania schools completed a baseline assessment. Two years later, 63,843 students completed a follow up assessment after having implemented an evidence based bullying prevention program for at least one and one-half school years. Multi-level analyses revealed that after at least 18 months of implementation, there were significant decreases in students' reports of being bullied and bullying others. Students were less willing to join in bullying another and more likely to try to help a bullied student. Significant increases were also observed with regard to students' perceptions that teachers and other adults helped to stop bullying (all p's <.001). This study offers the largest coordinated implementation and evaluation of a bullying prevention program in the United States. Since 2008, thousands of Pennsylvania school children have experienced a safer school environment.