Interventions in cases of bullying

Schools have hitherto achieved quite limited success in dealing with cases of bullying that come to their attention. According to students, as reported in large scale surveys in the England, Australia and the Netherlands, around 50% of students who have reported being bullied at school claim that things did not improve. Teachers report a higher level of success, claiming that they stop bullying in 2 cases out of 3 that they attend to. Whatever is true, there is much room for improvement.

There are at least 9 reactive strategies that are sometimes used by schools.

1. The use of direct sanctions
2. School Tribunals
3. Serious talks
4. Bully Prevention in the Positive Behaviour Support (PBIS)
5. Strengthening the victim 
6. Mediation
7. Restorative approaches 
8. The Support Group Method 
9. The Method of Shared Concern

Their use depends in part on the nature of the case, eg the severity of the offence; whether committed by a group or a single individual; the remorsefulness of the offender; the training and skills of the practitioner and the age of the child.
It is, in my view, very important that schools become aware of each one of these strategies and learn to apply them - see A simplified guide to applications - Ken Rigby Online, Sources of information on Interventions - Ken Rigby Online and The Method of Shared Concern - Ken Rigby Online.