Stephen L. Brown, PhD¹, David A. Birch, PhD, CHES², Viajaya Kancherla², Madeleine Boyer³, and David Midland⁴. (1) Department of Health Education and Recreation, Southern Illinois University, Mailcode 4632, Carbondale, IL 62901-4632, 618-453-1863, slbrown@siu.edu, (2) Department of Health Education & Recreation, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Pulliam Hall, Mailcode 4632, Carbondale, IL 62901, (3) Business Development and Marketing, KidsHealth--The Nemours Foundation, 1600 Rockland Road, Wilmington, DE 19308, (4) National Association of Health Education Centers, 1533 N RiverCenter Drive, Milwaukee, WI 53212-3913

Almost one in five elementary school children in the U.S. is effected by bullying, which is nearly equal by gender, race/ethnicity, or urban/rural setting. Victims of bullying are at increased risk for depression, poor self-esteem, and school-related problems. Further, children who bully are at increased risk for self-destructive behavior problems, delinquency or crime. Understanding child perceptions of why some children bully others, why some accept being bullied, and why some stand by and watch, is crucial to designing effective conflict resolution interventions. Our goal was to obtain information that will enable educators, caregivers, healthcare organizations, and others to develop more-effective anti-bullying programs. Data were obtained from approximately 1000 children at twelve health education centers in seven states. Classes, grades 4-8, visiting centers during the study period, were eligible to participate. Trained center staff read the survey instructions and each question and answer choice as they simultaneously appeared on a large screen. Willing students indicated their choices by pressing corresponding letters on handheld, electronic keypads. All respondents remained anonymous. Questions were developed by a project advisory team consisting of center staff, school administrators and teachers, a child psychologist, a pediatrician, university researchers, parents, and a health educator. The survey was revised after pilot testing with two classes at a one center. School-level data (i.e., school size, ethnic/racial proportion, free/reduced lunch participation) for public schools participating were obtained from the NCES. Based on past studies, total demographics for this study are expected to mirror national averages.

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