前言

Persistent bullying is one of the worst experiences a child can face. How can it be prevented? Peter Smith, Professor of Psychology at the University of Sheffield, directed the Sheffield Anti-Bullying Intervention Project, funded by the Department for Education. Here he reports on his findings.

长期被欺凌是孩子可能面临的最糟糕的经历之一。如何预防欺凌呢？谢菲尔德大学心理学教授彼得·史密斯在英国教育部资助的谢菲尔德反欺凌干预项目中发表了自己的研究结果。

A部分

Bullying can take a variety of forms, from the verbal – being taunted or called hurtful names – to the physical – being kicked or shoved – as well as indirect forms, such as being excluded from social groups. A survey I conducted with Irene Whitney found that in British primary schools up to a quarter of pupils reported experience of bullying, which in about one in ten cases was persistent. There was less bullying in secondary schools, with about one in twenty-five suffering persistent bullying, but these cases may be particularly recalcitrant.

欺凌可以采取多种形式，从言语上的嘲弄或恶言相向，到身体上的踢打或推搡，还有间接形式，比如被排斥在社交团体之外。我与艾琳·惠特尼进行的一项调查发现，在英国的小学中，高达四分之一的学生报告曾经遭受过欺凌，其中约十分之一的案例是持续性的。中学的欺凌情况较少，大约每二十五个学生中只有一个人持续受到欺凌，但这些案例可能尤为棘手。

B部分

Bullying is clearly unpleasant, and can make the child experiencing it feel unworthy and depressed. In extreme cases it can even lead to suicide, though this is thankfully rare. Victimised pupils are more likely to experience difficulties with interpersonal relationships as adults, while children who persistently bully are more likely to grow up to be physically violent, and convicted of anti-social offences.

欺凌显然令人不快，会让遭受欺凌的孩子感到不值和沮丧。在极端情况下，它甚至可能导致******，不过这种情况很少见，值得庆幸。受害学生在成年后更有可能在人际关系方面遇到困难，而持续欺凌他人的孩子更有可能长大后变得具有肉体暴力倾向，并被判犯有反社会行为。

C部分

Until recently, not much was known about the topic, and little help was available to teachers to deal with bullying. Perhaps as a consequence, schools would often deny the problem. ‘There is no bullying at this school’ has been a common refrain, almost certainly untrue. Fortunately more schools are now saying: ‘There is not much bullying here, but when it occurs we have a clear policy for dealing with it.’

直到最近，关于这个问题知之甚少，教师们在应对欺凌方面几乎没有什么帮助可得。或许由于这个原因，学校通常会否认存在欺凌问题。“我们学校没有欺凌”一直是一个常见的说辞，几乎可以肯定是不真实的。幸运的是，越来越多的学校现在会说：“这里没有太多欺凌，但一旦发生，我们有明确的处理政策。”

D部分

Three factors are involved in this change. First is an awareness of the severity of the problem. Second, a number of resources to help tackle bullying have become available in Britain. For example, the Scottish Council for Research in Education produced a package of materials, Action Against Bullying, circulated to all schools in England and Wales as well as in Scotland in summer 1992, with a second pack, Supporting Schools Against Bullying, produced the following year. In Ireland, Guidelines on Countering Bullying Behaviour in Post-Primary Schools was published in 1993. Third, there is evidence that these materials work, and that schools can achieve something. This comes from carefully conducted ‘before and after’ evaluations of interventions in schools, monitored by a research team. In Norway, after an intervention campaign was introduced nationally, an evaluation of forty-two schools suggested that, over a two-year period, bullying was halved. The Sheffield investigation, which involved sixteen primary schools and seven secondary schools, found that most schools succeeded in reducing bullying.

这种变化涉及了三个因素。首先是对问题严重性的认识。其次，英国有了一些用于应对欺凌的资源。例如，苏格兰教育研究委员会制作了一套材料《反欺凌行动》，1992年夏季向英格兰、威尔士和苏格兰的所有学校发放，第二套材料《支持学校抵制欺凌》于次年出版。爱尔兰于1993年发布了《中等学校应对欺凌行为指导方针》。第三，有证据证明这些材料是有效的，学校可以取得成效。这些证据来自由一个研究团队监测的学校干预措施的精心进行的“前后”评估。在挪威，全国引入了一项干预运动后，对四十二所学校的评估表明，在两年期间，欺凌减少了一半。谢菲尔德的研究涉及十六所小学和七所中学，发现大多数学校成功减少了欺凌。

E部分

第1段

Evidence suggests that a key step is to develop a policy on bullying, saying clearly what is meant by bullying, and giving explicit guidelines on what will be done if it occurs, what records will be kept, who will be informed, what sanctions will be employed. The policy should be developed through consultation, over a period of time – not just imposed from the head teacher’s office！ Pupils, parents and staff should feel they have been involved in the policy, which needs to be disseminated and implemented effectively.

有证据表明，一个关键步骤是制定一项关于欺凌的政策，明确规定欺凌的含义，并提供明确的处理指南，包括如果发生欺凌时将采取什么行动、将保留何种记录、将通知哪些人以及会使用什么惩罚措施。这项政策应该通过一段时间的磋商来制定，而不仅仅是由校长办公室强制执行！学生、家长和教职员工应该感到他们参与了这项政策的制定，这需要有效地传播和实施。

第2段

Other actions can be taken to back up the policy. There are ways of dealing with the topic through the curriculum, using video, drama and literature. These are useful for raising awareness, and can best be tied in to early phases of development, while the school is starting to discuss the issue of bullying. They are also useful in renewing the policy for new pupils, or revising it in the light of experience. But curriculum work alone may only have short-term effects; it should be an addition to policy work, not a substitute.

还可以采取其他措施来支持这项政策。课程可以通过使用视频、戏剧和文学来处理这个主题。这些方法有助于提高人们的意识，最好与发展的早期阶段相结合，当学校开始讨论欺凌问题时。它们还可以用于为新学生更新政策，或根据经验修订政策。但仅仅依靠课程工作可能只会产生短期效果；它应该是对政策工作的补充，而不是替代品。

第3段

There are also ways of working with individual pupils, or in small groups. Assertiveness training for pupils who are liable to be victims is worthwhile, and certain approaches to group bullying such as ‘no blame’, can be useful in changing the behaviour of bullying pupils without confronting them directly, although other sanctions may be needed for those who continue with persistent bullying.

还可以通过与单个学生或小组合作的方式来解决问题。对于可能成为受害者的学生进行自信训练是值得的，并且针对组欺凌的某些方法，比如“无指责”，在不直接面对欺凌者的情况下改变他们的行为可能是有用的，尽管持续欺凌的学生可能需要其他惩罚措施。

第4段

Work in the playground is important, too. One helpful step is to train lunchtime supervisors to distinguish bullying from playful fighting and help them break up conflicts. Another possibility is to improve the playground environment, so that pupils are less likely to be led into bullying from boredom or frustration.

操场上的工作也很重要。一个有帮助的步骤是培训午餐时间的监督员，使他们能够区分欺凌和戏闹并帮助他们解决冲突。另一个可能性是改善操场环境，使学生不太可能因为无聊或挫折而导致欺凌行为。

F部分

With these developments, schools can expect that at least the most serious kinds of bullying can largely be prevented. The more effort put in and the wider the whole school involvement, the more substantial the results are likely to be. The reduction in bullying – and the consequent improvement in pupil happiness – is surely a worthwhile objective.