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KiVaTM Antibullying Program

Christina Salmivalli and Virpi Pöyhönen

University of Turku, Finland

Pre-implementation training in Wales, May 2012

Today’s topics

• Bullying and the peer group

• KiVa antibullying program– Overview– Universal actions– Indicated actions– Getting started with KiVa– Evidence of effectiveness

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Bullying

• Bullying: repeated aggressive behavior against a person who finds it difficult to defend him/herself against the perpetrator(s)– takes numerous forms

often verbal abuse, public ridicule

Bullying

• Rather than consisting of single attacks, bullying represents a rather stable relationship further embedded in the larger peer setting

• Universal phenomenon; about 10% of children and adolescents worldwide are systematic victims

• WHO survey in 2010:– Finland: 11/13% victims among the 11-year-old– Wales: 10/10% victims among the 11-year-old

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Finland: Being bullied, %

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Tytöt

Pojat

Spring 2009, N > 150 000

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Finland: Bullied others, %

02468

101214161820

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Tytöt

Pojat

Spring 2009, N > 150 000

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Teachers can do ”much” or ”very much” to decrease bullying, % respondents

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101520253035404550

4 5 6 7 8 9

Tytöt

Pojat

Why is bullying such a persistent problem?

• Bullying as proactive, goal-oriented aggression

• What is the function of bullying?

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The social architecture of bullying

• Bullying can be a strategy to gain status and power in the peer group...

• …and it is often succesful bullies are perceived as popular (Caravita,

DiBlasio, & Salmivalli, 2008) bullying helps to maintain status (Juvonen &

Galvan, 2008)… …and to increase status over time (Cillessen &

Borch, 2004)

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• By choosing victims who are submissive, insecure of themselves, physically weak and in a low-power, rejected position in the group...

• ... the bullies can repeatedly demonstrate their power and renew their high-status position without being confronted

The social architecture of bullying

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• The power demonstrations need witnesses– in most bullying incidents, a group of peers is

present

The social architecture of bullying

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defenders of the victim

outsiders

assistants of the bully

victim

reinforcers of the bully

12%

8%

20%

7%

17%

24%bully

• Participant roles in bullying (Salmivalli et al., 1996)

The social architecture of bullying

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The behavior of onlookers does matter

• Individual effects: short term– the defended victims are better adjusted than the

undefended ones (Sainio, Veenstra, Huitsing, & Salmivalli, 2010)

• Individual effects: long term– the most negative memory related to bullying is

often ”no-one cared” (Teräsahjo & Salmivalli, 2000)

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The behavior of onlookers does matter

• Classroom level:– The likelihood of victimization is higher in

classrooms where reinforcing the bully is occurring at high levels (Salmivalli, Voeten & Poskiparta, 2011)

– Individual-level risk factors, such as anxiety, are more likely to lead to victimization in classrooms where reinforcing is common, whereas high levels of defending minimize the effects of such risk factors (Kärnä, Voeten, Poskiparta, & Salmivalli, 2010)

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In order to reduce bullying...

• We do not necessarily need to change the victims, making them ”less vulnerable”

• Influencing the behavior of bystanders can reduce the rewards gained by the bullies and consequently, their motivation to bully in the first place

• However, the victims need to feel that they are heard and helped by the adults at school

• The bullies need to be confronted for their unacceptable behavior

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An anti-bullying program should include...

• ...something for all students → universal actions

• ...something for bullies and victims in particular → indicated actions

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KiVa antibullying program

• School-based program for bullying prevention and intervention

• The meaning of ”KiVa” • Developed at the University of Turku with funding from

the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture– Program co-leaders: Professor Christina Salmivalli and

PhD Elisa Poskiparta

• In Finland, used by 90% of schools providing comprehensive education (basic education, grades 1-9)

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Goals of KiVa

• Preventing bullying

• Effective tackling of bullying coming to attention at school

• Minimizing the negative effects of bullying

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KiVa program

• Special characteristics: – Both universal and indicated actions – An exceptionally large amount of materials &

concrete tools (not merely a ”philosophy”)– Utilizing virtual learning environments – Influencing the whole group

• KiVa is more systematic than most existing anti-bullying programs

Precondition for implementing KiVa succesfully: School commitment

• Staff meeting– Information to everyone– Implementation plan– People in charge (e.g., KiVa team)

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KiVa antibullying program

Universal actions

• Student lessons• Computer game• Parents’ guide and back-

to-school night• Posters, vests• Annual surveys

– students– staff

Indicated actions

• Tackling the cases coming to attention– KiVa team – classroom teacher

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Universal actions – student lessons and computer game

• Three units, appropriate for different grade levels/students of different ages: Unit 1, Unit 2, Unit 3– Unit 2 student lessons piloted in Wales:

Ten double lessons (2x45 min) during the school year

Target age group 9-11 years

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The aims of stundent lessons and computer game

Enhancing...

• awareness of the role bystanders play in the bullying process

• empathic understanding of the victim’s plight

Providing...

• safe strategies to support and defend the victimized peers → self-efficacy for defending

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Teacher’s manual includes three parts

1. Key to the KiVa antibullying program – Kiva in a nutshell

2. Universal actions – Overview of universal actions – Student lessons

3. Indicated actions – Tackling acute cases of bullying

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Teacher’s manual – student lessons

The topics of Unit 2 student lessons

Grade 4

1. Respect is for everybody

2. In a group

3. Recognize bullying

4. Hidden forms of bullying

5. Consequences of bullying

6. Group involvement in bullying

7. Countering bullying as a group

8. What to do if I get bullied?

9. KiVa School – let’s do it together!

10. How are we doing?

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Class KiVa rules

• At the end of each lesson

• Emphasizes the most important aspect of the lesson

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Activities included in student lessons

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– Repeating & testing of what has been learnt during the lessons – ”I KNOW”

– Learning to take action – ”I CAN” Students go around in a virtual school and come to

challenging situations (being bystanders of bullying) where they have to decide what to say and do

– Motivation – ”I DO” Students reflect on their own behavior (how they

have done with following the KiVa rules) and get feedback

KiVa games and KiVa Street are closely connected to student lessons

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KiVa computer game; Unit 2

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Month Student lesson Computer game

August Lesson 1

SeptemberLesson 2

October Lesson 3 Level 1

November Lesson 4

Dec Lesson 5 Level 2

Jan Lesson 6

Feb Lesson 7 Level 3

Mar Lesson 8 Level 4

Apr Lesson 9

May Lesson 10 Level 5

A recommended schedule; Unit 2

How to find time for student lessons?

• Example: Finland

• Discussion: Wales

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Two examples

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Month Student lesson Computer game

August Lesson 1

SeptemberLesson 2

October Lesson 3 Level 1

(Recognize bullying)

November Lesson 4

Dec Lesson 5 Level 2

Jan Lesson 6

Feb Lesson 7 Level 3

(Countering bullying as a group)

Mar Lesson 8 Level 4

Apr Lesson 9

May Lesson 10 Level 5

Parents’ involvement

• Information leaflet for parents (kivaprogram.net/wales→material)– Print and send to each home

• Parents’ guide (in electronic format)

• Back-to-school night– presentation graphics available

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To remind about KiVa...

• Posters• Highly visible vests for

recess supervisors (in Finland, teachers)

Getting to know the material

• Working in pairs/ small groups– One student lesson for each group

• Familiarize yourselves briefly with the content of lesson

• Plan a lesson– Which activities would you include?

• Pick the activity that interests you the most

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Indicated actions: tackling the cases of bullying coming to attention

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KiVa team

• Three or more adults from among the school personnel, for instance :– a principal, a teacher, a school social worker – 2 X teacher, a special education tacher – a principal, a teacher, a school nurse

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The role of the KiVa team

• Tackling cases of repeated bullying in collaboration with the classroom teacher

• Documenting bullying cases

• KiVa-team is NOT a solution to all problems at school !

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Which cases should be directed to KiVa team?

• SCREENING based on the definition of bullying

• Cases not directed to the team (e.g., a conflict or fight between students): ”treatment as usual”

• Cases directed to the team– A procedure with several steps

Which cases are directed to the KiVa team?

• Main criteria:– is this offensive/abusive?– is this repeated, or is there a fear of repetition?– The form of bullying (whether physical, verbal,

indirect, cyber) is NOT relevant for making the decision

(pp.124-125 in the teachers’ manual)

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Finnish evaluation of KiVa (2007-2008)

• SCREENING: An average of 9,24 cases/school, range 1-55 (!)

• 60.5% of these cases were directed to KiVa team, an average of 5,6 cases/school

• Other cases were typically – Fight or argument 59%– Misunderstanding 11%– Single aggressive incident 30%

• When reported to school personnel

• FrequencyPercent Valid% Cumulative%• August 15 2.8 3.1 3.1• September 117 21.9 24.2 27.3• October 85 15.9 17.6 44.9• November 4 84 15.7 17.4 62.3• December 5 27 5.1 5.6 67.9• January 42 7.9 8.7 76.6• February 7 30 5.6 6.2 82.8• March 36 6.7 7.5 90.3• April 29 5.4 6.0 96.3• May 18 3.4 3.7 100.0• Total 483 90.4 100.0

Reports to schools every month; most of them in September-October

60,5%39,5%

The procedurefor tackling the cases of bullying coming to attention(p. 135 in Teacher’smanual)

Case John: screening

• The mother of 11-yearl-old John calls the classroom teacher: Two boys from the same class have been calling John names and pushing him around, mainly during recess time but also in way to and from school. Last week the boys had taken John’s shoes after the PE class – he had finally found them in the trash bin. John told the mother that this treatment has been going on since the beginning of school year (2 months) and even yesterday the boys had been calling him with nasty names.

• The teacher tells that this sounds as systematic bullying which will be tackled by the school’s KiVa team. During /after the phone call the teacher fills in the screening form (Form 1).

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1. Meeting with John

• One KiVa team member and John

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Important:- Support for John!!- Concrete informationof what has happened,when, where, by whom- Some kids who havenot been involved

2. Classroom teacher meets 2-3 classmates

• During/after the meeting with John, the team member fills in the form 2 and informs the classroom teacher about the meeting and about the kids John has mentioned as nice / not involved in bullying him

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”John is having a difficult time”

I believe you might be able to support him”

3. KiVa team meets the perpetrator(s) of bullying

• Two different approaches: – Confronting

”You have been bullying John and that has to stop”

– Nonconfronting ”John seems to be having a hard time at school,

he must be feeling bad”

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Confronting and nonconfronting approaches

• Confronting– E.g., Olweus’ view about intervening in bullying

Making it clear that the child has misbehaved – need to change

• Nonconfronting– Pikas: The method of shared concern; Maines &

Robinson: No blame approach Creating a ”shared concern” of the child who has

been bullied; blaming the bully/ies not necessary

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Confronting approach (C)

• ” We know that you have been involved in bullying John for quite some time. He has been called nasty names and pushed around, and his belongings have been taken. This must stop immediately.

• GOAL 1: To make it clear that adults know about the bullying and do not tolerate it.

• ”What are you going to do about this?”

• GOAL 2: To make the child committed to changing his/her behavior

• ”Okay, this sounds good. We’ll meet again next week and see how it has been going”

• GOAL 3: To make it clear that the situation is being followed

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Nonconfronting approach (NC)

• ”We are really concerned about your classmate John who has been bullied. He has been called nasty names and pushed around, and his belongings have been taken. He must feel bad don’t you think?”

• GOAL 1: Shared understanding that John is not feeling well

• ”Is there anything you could do about it?”

• GOAL 2: To make the child suggest some way(s) to make John feel better

• ”Okay that sounds great. Try that, and we’ll meet again in a week and hear how it has been going”

• GOAL 3: To make it clear that the situation is being followed

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Confronting and nonconfronting approaches

• Common to both:– Discussions are short– Stick to the point – remember the main goals!

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Case John: Meeting with the perpetrators of bullying (confronting)

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Goals, ”C”: 1.To make it clear that adults know about the bullying and do not tolerate it.2. To make the child committed to changing his/her behavior3. To make it clear that the situation is being followed

Case John: Meeting with the perpetrators of bullying (nonconfronting)

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Goals, ”NC”: GOAL 1: Shared understanding that John is not feeling well2. To make the child suggest some way(s) to make John feel better3. To make it clear that the situation is being followed

Case John: Follow-up with John

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Case John: Follow-up with the perpetrators of bullying

• In the Finnish evaluation study, the bullied student participated in the meeting in 30% of the cases

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Which approach to choose?

• Confronting or nonconfronting?

• Which one is closer to my previous approach?

• Which one feels better at the moment?

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The two approaches

NONCONFRONTING

• Bullying– Stopped

74.9%– Decreased 22.3%– Remained the same 2.2%– Increased 0.6%

CONFRONTING

• Bullying– Stopped

83.5%– Decreased 14.9%– Remained the same 1.5%– Increased 0%

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IN PRIMARY SCHOOL GRADES, NO DIFFERENCE IN EFFECTIVENESS

Comparing the two approaches: The proportion of cases in which bullying had stopped completely

• ”Virtual mailbox” in the KiVa computer game– Making reporting more likely– School must activate the mailbox

E-mail addresses of KiVa team members

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Mailbox in the KiVa computer game

Getting started with KiVa

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Getting started with KiVa

• Registration (until end of May, 2012)• Staff meeting

– Information for everyone– Implementation plan– People in charge (e.g., KiVa team members)

• Student survey (June 2012)• Kick-off for the students (beginning of school year in the

fall)• Collaboration with parents

– information leaflets (fall 2012)– back-to-school night (fall 2012)

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Registration

• Go to website kivaprogram.net/wales/registration/

• Fill in the registration form and submit it– Only one registration per school!!!

• You get an e-mail confirmation of the school’s registration

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Web-based material

• Once registered, each school gets (in the confirmation e-mail) school username and staff password

• In addition, each school gets a student password for the student survey & computer game

Annual survey

• To be filled in during June 2012 (and again in June 2013)

• www.kivaprogram.net/wales/– On the left: surveys– Students log in with the school username and

student password

• All students in the school can respond– Bullying others and being bullied; bullying-related

attitudes; school liking; perception of teachers

• Automatic feedback to each school

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Other web-based material

• kivaprogram.net/wales/– ”open” and ”restricted” areas– access to the restricted area only for registered

schools (click the ”login” button)– You need school username and staff

password to log in

Restricted area in the website

• Presentation graphics for...– student lessons– staff meeting– back-to-school night

• All materials – student lessons– short films– information leaflet for parents– parents’ guide (in electronic format)– Forms to document bullying cases

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Staff meeting

• To be remembered:– A common definition of bullying – KiVa program – Choosing the KiVa team – Screening & directing cases to the KiVa team – Collaboration with parents– ”kick-off” for students

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”KICK-OFF”

• All students are informed about KiVa right in the beginning of the school year

• Main message: Our school is a KiVa school where bullying is not tolerated– Lessons for grade X students– KiVa team

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Informing the parents

• Information leaflets (kivaprogram.net/wales/)→ material– Send to each home in the beginning of the school year

• Parents’ guide (electronic format)• Back-to-school night

– Presentation graphics: www.kivaprogram.net/wales– Home-school collaboration– Results from the school’s student survey

Evidence of effectiveness

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Evaluation of KiVa

• The effects of KiVa have been tested – under the evaluation period (> 30 000 students

from 234 schools) Bullying, being bullied Self- and peer-reports, dyadic data Participant role behaviors Attitudes,empathy, self-efficacy School adjustment

– under large-scale diffusion (> 150 000 students) Basic variables, e.g. bullying, being bullied

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Changes in being bullied by different forms during one school year: RCT, grades 4 to 6

Changes 2009-2012; primary schools

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Changes 2009-2012; secondary schools

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Conclusion

• KiVa is effective in reducing bullying and victimization

• The effects vary across grade levels, being strongest in grade four (10-11 years)

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Besides the effects on bullying and victimization...

• Decreases in reinforcing the bully

• Increases in empathy toward victimized peers & self-efficacy to support them

• Increases in school liking and academic motivation

• Decreases in depression, anxiety, and negative peer perceptions

• Among teachers, increased efficacy to reduce bullying

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Comparison of two approcahes to tackle bullying

• ”No Blame” vs. ”Confronting” approach

• During the evaluation study of KiVa, half of the intervention schools were instructed to use C while the other half got instructions to use NC when discussing with the bully(-ies)

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Effectiveness of the indicated actions

• The proportion of cases handled by the school team in which bullying...– Stopped completely 79.4%– Decreased 18.5%– Remained the same 1.9%– Increased 0.3%

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IN PRIMARY SCHOOL GRADES, NO DIFFERENCE IN EFFECTIVENESS

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