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That kind of heavy hand has its opponents. William Pollack, a psychologist who wrote Real Boys' Voices, an exploration of boyhood, contends that such a punitive approach criminalizes childhood behavior and fails to address the root causes of bullying. Dorothy Espelage, an assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who co-authored a study on bullies, favors a comprehensive approach. "As soon as you pull a bully out of a school, another will take his place," she says. A deeper shift in school culture is required, she argues, because ultimately peer groups, not individuals, promote an ethic of aggression. She adds, "We need to change the climate so that most kids feel it's inappropriate to tease and harass."
That's what McNair Elementary in Hazelwood, Mo., attempts to do. In 1992 principal Peggy Dolan instituted a program to unteach kids what many had learned at home--that they should fight back when bullied. Instead, students are instructed to respond verbally, first with "I don't like what you said to me," then "I'm going to ask you to stop" and, if necessary, "I'm going to get help." Victims fill out a form describing the incident to a teacher or counselor. The issue is taken to peer mediation, and the offender is encouraged to sign an agreement not to bully.
Before the program went into effect, Dolan dealt with 55 fights a year; now she averages six. Also, the school's standardized math and reading scores have risen from the 40th to the 60th percentile--in part, she thinks, because students are better able to focus on their studies.
At Central York Middle School in Pennsylvania, incidents of fistfights have also declined--to four so far this school year, compared with 17 last year--after students in Grades 6 through 8 signed anti-teasing pledges and were instructed how to manage their anger. Bullies were required to offer "active apologies," detailing how they would modify their behavior.
Testifying last week before a Colorado legislative committee on education, Sherry Workman, principal of Laurel Elementary in Fort Collins, noted that behavior infractions fell 66% after she implemented various "bullyproofing" initiatives at her school. The younger children, for instance, are coached in how to walk confidently past older kids who are talking aggressively. Grades 2 through 4 undergo "Be Cool" training, in which counselors present provocative scenarios and ask students to decide between a "hot response" and a "cool response." The latter choice wins praise for the kids.
Bullying is often performance art. Peter Fonagy, a psychologist who helped develop an antibullying model popular in Topeka, Kans., schools, believes that bullies and their victims usually make up no more than 10% to 20% of any school population. "The whole drama is supported by the bystander," says Fonagy. "The theater can't take place if there's no audience." Seeds University Elementary School in Los Angeles uses "equity guidelines" to target both bullies and bystanders. Parents and students sign contracts at the beginning of the year stipulating that no child may be put down for academic performance, appearance, family composition or gender, among other things. When an incident occurs--for example, some boys tried to pull down another boy's pants--bystanders are also sent to after-school mediation.