Victim Strategies to Stop Bullying

Abstract

One of the most commonly recommended strategies for youth to stop bullying is to report incidents to an adult. Although reporting is preferred, ultimately, victims will use strategies that they perceive to be most effective. This study investigated victims’ strategies to stop bullying, as well as their perceptions of each strategy’s effectiveness. In all, 50% of participating school students (n = 2,615) reported at least one form of victimization. The most common strategies used against bullying were fighting back (63%), ignoring the bullying (52%), telling an adult at home (44%), and reporting the abuse to a peer (42%). The most successful strategies reported were counter-aggression (75%), making a safety plan (74%), and telling a peer (71%) or an adult at home (71%). Implications for practice are for school staff to deconstruct the idea of counter-aggression as an effective strategy against violence and to improve perceptions of staff responses to victimization.