Description:

 Key Findings:

• Youth identified with ethnic minority groups appear to be at greatest risk of victimization. With fewer same-ethnicity peers, warding off potential bullies is more difficult for these youth. Youth identified with a majority ethnic group, when bullied, also suffer because in their victim role they deviate from their ethnic group’s norm of perceived social power.
• School characteristics such as size, locale, teacher quality, disciplinary practices, and percentage of ethnic minority students are related only inconsistently to the prevalence of bullying behaviors. The characteristic most related to increased bullying is overall school climate: whether or not most students feel accepted, supported, respected, and treated fairly in their schools.
• Research remains too limited on the sexuality and race/ethnicity-related variables that influence bullying.

Analysis:

The researchers confirm what many school health professionals and sexuality educators know intuitively: bullying prevention “solutions” are elusive because U.S. schools are uneven in terms of organizational structures, student demographics, and staff buy-in, among many other factors. Additionally, ‘proven’ programs imported from other countries (such as the Olweus program developed in Norway) may not have the intended impact in a U.S. context.

Advocates for more comprehensive sexuality education can use this research review to make the case for further studies of bullying prevention programs, to determine where these programs should fit in relation to ‘sex ed’ – future research could help professionals understand whether ‘whole-school’ or ‘targeted’ approaches to bullying prevention would be most effective in the schools they serve.