Bullying Awareness and Prevention in the School Environment

The purpose of this research study was to explore the impact anti-bullying programs have on a school’s climate. According to the National School Climate Center (2016), the school climate reflects the school’s values, goals, norms, interpersonal relationships, teaching and learning practices, and organizational structures. The overall research design for the study was qualitative. Qualitative research is the type of research that gathers non-numerical data and focuses more on human elements (Babbie, 2014). The objective of this qualitative study was to explore the impact or effects of anti-bullying programs in the context of influencing a school’s climate. Creswell (2007) stated that qualitative research is just as important as quantitative research, as it helps us realize the relevance of listening to the voices of participants. The researcher used semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions to survey participants from elementary schools to find out what bullying prevention and awareness programs or strategies the school has implemented. According to Keller and Conradin (2018) some of the various advantages semi-structured interviews offer in research is that the interview encourages two-way communication, those being interviewed can ask questions as well. Overall the study received responses from six school counselors in six different elementary schools in northeast Florida. The main observations gathered from the responses of the participants to the interview questions are the following: (1) bullying is defined as repeated unwanted behavior that is usually intentional and occurs with an imbalance of power; (2) every school has unique anti-bullying programs or methods that they implement; (3) bullying programs not only bring awareness and prevention but also educates; (4) anti-bullying programs bring awareness; and (5) school policies and rules towards bullying is zero tolerance. As Anthony (2016) stated, anti-bully strategies are not one size fits all