ANTI-BULLYING

A PROGRAM COMPARISON AND DEBATE

EDPS 612.03 Practice Evaluation
Vicki Pederson
Stephanie Janzen
Amy English
Caroline Lapierre
Wanda Chaulk
Walk Away
Ignore
Talk It Out
Seek Help
OVERVIEW:
HISTORY
Acronym was created in 1993 by an Elementary School Principal
Broadened its reach in 1997 by the school liason officer
Rock Solid Foundation
1998 - UVic professor joined the team
2005 - piloted the grade 4-6 program
2011 - RCMP involvement
2012-2013 - piloted French programs
Today - in over 400 schools across Canada and United States
OVERVIEW
The WITS program aims to increase
children's interpersonal negotiation skills
for handling peer aggression and threats
of victimization and to reduce peer
aggression in schools, classrooms, and
unstructured environments (playgrounds,
halls, etc.).

This program uses the easy to remember
WITS acronym (Walk Away, Ignore, Talk,
Seek Help) to facilitate implementation of
the program at classroom, school, and
community levels

OVERVIEW
Primary Program
WITS
Kindergarten - Grade 3
Teaches children to make safe and
positive choices when faced with peer
conflict
Intermediate Program
LEADS
Grade 4 - Grade 6
Teaches 5 problem-solving strategies to
be safe when dealing with conflict
Become "WITS Leaders"
OVERVIEW
Program Consists of:

Books & lesson plans
Classroom Resources & Activities
Resource Guide
There are 36 books, each book comes with a
lesson plan (pre-reading activities, pre-reading
questions, questions during the reading, post-
reading questions, WITS connection, & post
reading activities)
OVERVIEW
-Launch the WITS Primary Program with a
swearing-in ceremony where students are
deputized as WITS Special Constables.

-Tug-of-Help skit.

-Make follow-up classroom visits throughout
the year to see how the new Special
Constables are doing with their WITS.
Community Leaders also play an important role. Emergency Service Personel (RCMP),
university or high school athletes, elders and other community role models
OVERVIEW
Lesson Example
The Berenstein Bears and Too Much Teasing
PRE-READING QUESTION: Have you ever been teased? How did you feel? What
other ways are there to communicate other than teasing?
POST-READING QUESTION: Why did Too-Tall start teasing Milton? What did
Brother do to get it to stop?
POST-READING ACTIVITY: Ask students to describe five good things about
themselves and five good things about a classmate.
WITS CONNECTION: Talk It Out, Seek Help
LEARNING OUTCOMES: Identify and describe details and feelings conveyed by illustrations / describe
appropriate strategies for communicating effectively with others



OVERVIEW:
PROGRAM OUTCOMES
Short-Term Long-term
achieve social responsibility
expectations
reduce bullying and victimization
increase child perceived safety at
school and home
enhance mental health and healthy
relationships
reduce internalizing and externalizing
problems
create a safe and caring school culture
integrate lesson plans
seeking help becomes normalized
school uses WITS language
increase child perceived safety at
school
VICTIMPROOF
Empowering Students To Be The Change
OVERVIEW

Created by Tom Thelen
One of America's top anti-bullying speakers
Break free of the victim mind set
Has writen two books (Teen Leadership Revolution and Victimproof)
but is known for his 30-part anti-bullying video curriculum


ABOUT TOM
After completing his degree, he started work at a non-profit organization as a
youth speaker
As a youth speaker, Tom takes the students through his own journey as a typical
face in the crowd kid living with a victim mindset
He helps students break free from this mindset
Tom teaches students how to "Be the change!"


You cant control whether or not you get bullied, but you can control whether or
not you become a victim. Tom Thelen

THE GOAL
During this program, students will learn how to:
Respond to bullying
Not become victims
Make positive life choices
Impact their school positively
THE PROGRAM
Victimproof is a book and video curriculum that provide a step-by-step program to help students drop
the victim mindset and take control
The program is divided into 12 parts, each taught in one month intervals
They are:
Victim Proof
Bully Proof
Be the Change
Character
Self-Esteem
Self-Discipline
Honesty
Respect
Responsibility
Purpose
Teamwork
Leadership




COST
The program includes the DVD curriculum with 30 video lessons, also includes
discussion questions
It costs $400.00, but is currently on sale for $194.00
There is also the possibility for schools to invite Tom Thelen to come to the school,
however, this is at an additional cost. This can be shared by many schools or
districts.
DEBATE
WITS VS VICTIMPROOF
ARGUMENTS FOR:
WITS
It's (mostly) FREE
Resources, lesson plans, and booklists are all
accessible on the website
Free online training modules
Program fits in easily with regular instruction
Made for use at home and at school
Approx 36 books available, lots of variety, no
repetition
ARGUMENTS FOR:
WITS
Resources are available in French

Aboriginal-themed lesson plans and
books
Developed in Canada in the early
1990s
ARGUMENTS FOR:
WITS
Creators recognized the developmental differences between K
and middle school children and made an anti-bullying program
to serve them
previous programs designed for older students
Long term benefits
younger grades are when children meet and make decisions about
each other; reputations are established and friendships made
School and/or classroom -wide rather than targeted/individual

ARGUMENTS FOR:
WITS
Heavily researched
2003 study
Over 400 Canadian students, 2 years, 4 waves of data collection
Decrease in peer physical and relational victimization
Increased social competence
2011 study
Over 800 students, 18 months, 3 waves of data collection
Findings supported the WITS for preventing victimization
Decreased physical and relational victimization
ARGUMENTS FOR:
VICTIMPROOF

Theory of Mind
- promotes prosocial behavior through development of social reasoning and
an understanding of social emotions of others

Social Cognitive Theory
- explains how people aquire competencies, values, and styles of behavior
- self development, adaptation, and change occur through an interplay of
personal, behavioral, and environmental influences
ARGUMENTS FOR:
VICTIMPROOF
STOP A BULLY: CANADA website (May 2009 - July 2013)
Types of Bullying:
Name calling / Insults (63.5%)
Shoving / Hitting (40%)
Involving Friends / Peers (32.5%)
Threats / Intimidations (31%)
Cyberbullying (30%)
Spreading Rumors (28%)
73% of incidents reported by students, with 66% wanting to remain anonymous

ARGUMENTS FOR:
VICTIMPROOF
STOP A BULLY: CANADA website (May 2009 - July 2013)

One in seven Canadian children, aged 11-16 are vicitim of bullying

Incidents of offenders by grade
Grade 7 - 16%
Grade 8 - 20%
Grade 9 - 13.5 %
All other grades between 4 & 10 vary from 4 - 8%
ARGUMENTS FOR:
VICTIMPROOF
Bullying leads to negative outcomes:

victim - anxiety, depression, low self esteem, physical and psychosomatic complaints,
post traumatic stress disorder, suicidal ideation

bully- mental health disorders (ADHD, ODD, conduct disorder)
and greater likelihood of criminal behavior, domestic violence and
substance abuse as adults

Victimproof views the bully as a victim: both are targeted in this group intervention
ARGUMENTS FOR:
VICTIMPROOF
Crothers, Kolbert, Baker (2006)

Middle School students' preference for intervention
- training on assertiveness, social skills replacement to help make bullies leave
them alone
- favoured classroom management techniques whereby teachers are able to
monitor what is happening

Social validity is confirmed with targeted population buy in
ARGUMENTS FOR:
VICTIMPROOF
Implementation style appeals to Middle/High School students

- media / technology (videos)
- young speaker sharing powerful messages
- provides examples of real life experiences
WITS
Arguments Against and Rebuttal
Research
Cost
Recruitment
ARGUMENTS AGAINST AND REBUTTAL
VICTIMPROOF
Arguments Against and Rebuttal
Age
Research
Cost
ARGUMENTS AGAINST AND REBUTTAL
CONCLUSION
WITS
Early intervention program designed
to teach children how to respond to
peer conflict and reduce victimization
Involvement of community members
Promotes a positive school culture
Cost-efficient and easy to implement
VICTIMPROOF
Changes mindset, giving students
tools to succesfully cope with bullying
Students take control of the school
environment
Promotes a positive school culture
Technology based and interactive,
thus appealing to targeted age range
REFERENCES
Artinger F, Exadaktylos F, Koppel H, Saaksvuori L (2014) In Others Shoes: Do Individual Differences in
Empathy and Theory of Mind Shape Social Preferences? PLoS ONE 9(4): e92844.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092844
Laura M. Crothers, Jered B. Kolbert, and William F. Barker (2006). Middle School Students Preferences for
Anti-Bullying. Interventions School Psychology International October 2006 27: 475-487,
doi:10.1177/0143034306070435
Leadbeater, B., Hoglund, W. & Woods, T. (2003). Changing contexts? The effects of a primary prevention
program on classroom levels of peer relational and physical victimization. Journal of Community
Psychology, 31(4), 397418. doi: 10.1002/jcop.10057
Leadbeater, B. & Sukhawathanakul, P. (2011). Multicomponent programs for reducing peer victimization
in early elementary school: A longitudinal evaluation of the WITS primary program. Journal of Community
Psychology, 39(5), 606620. doi: 10.1002/jcop.20447
Royce,D., Thyer, B.A., & Padgett, D.K. (2006). Program evaluation: An introduction (5thed.). Belmont, AC:
Wadsworth Centage Learning
Salmivalli, C., Kaukiainen, A. and Voeten, M. (2005), Anti-bullying intervention: Implementation and
outcome. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 75: 465487. doi: 10.1348/000709905X26011