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Strengthening student social and emotional wellbeing and preventing bullying behaviours: Insights from 20 years of Friendly Schools research in Australian schools.

Strong evidence supports our current understandings of student bullying behaviours and ways schools can prevent and respond effectively to bullying behaviour. In the late 1990’s, however, little was understood about the most effective ways to reduce bullying in Australian schools. In response to schools’ need for evidence-informed action, a pipeline of research called Friendly Schools was initiated in 1999 which for the past twenty years, has provided robust whole-school evidence-based knowledge and skills to support policy makers, school staff and other practitioners working in schools and families across Australia.

Bullying Infographics

Infographics to easily learn more about bullying and what actions to take should bullying be an issue in your school or community.

Protecting and promoting young people's social and emotional health in online and offline contexts

Young people’s use of mobile phones and access to the Internet has increased dramatically in the last decade, especially among those aged 9–15 years. Young people now rely on information and communication technology for much of their social interaction, which can have both positive and negative effects on their social and emotional well-being. Of particular concern is the extent to which digital technology (DT) provides opportunities for cyberbullying. 

Exploring Primary School Staff Responses to Student Reports of Bullying in Australia: A Qualitative Study

Bullying behaviour often increases in late childhood and peaks in early adolescence. While interventions to address bullying behaviour typically encourage students to report bullying incidents to school staff, students are often reluctant to report incidents for fear it will worsen their situation or because they lack confidence in a staff members’ ability to intervene effectively. This study explores school staff responses to student reports of bullying behaviour.

Prevalence and correlates of bullying victimisation and perpetration in a nationally representative sample of Australian youth

The current findings showed that involvement in any bullying behaviour was associated with increased risk of concurrent mental health problems

The psychosocial burden of childhood overweight and obesity: evidence for persisting difficulties in boys and girls

Overweight and obese children reported greater psychosocial distress than healthy weight children, and these differences were more pronounced for girls than boys.

Cyber Agression

Information and communication technology has allowed individuals to engage in aggressive behavior on multiple distinct platforms with different capabilities

Longitudinal impact of the Cyber Friendly Schools program on adolescents' cyberbullying behavior

Cyber Friendly Schools program was associated with significantly greater declines in the odds of involvement in cyber-victimization and perpetration

If it’s about me, why do it without me? Genuine student engagement in school cyberbullying education

This study reports on a three-year group randomized controlled trial, the Cyber Friendly Schools Project (CFSP), aimed to reduce cyberbullying among grade 8...