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5฀ Strategies for Tackling School Bullying: A Whole-School Approach Dennis Sing-win g Wong and Sind y Sin-tin g Lee Bullying among schoo l pupils is not a new phenomenon. Th e fact tha t some pupil s ar e persistently rejected , harasse d an d physicall y hur t b y other pupils has been describe d i n mass media a s well as in literature . In Hong Kong, there has been a growing concern abou t the violent an d bullying behaviour of students in the media.1 In 1997, a boy was tortured to deat h an d th e corps e wa s burne d a s a resul t o f grou p bullying. 2 In 1999, a teenage girl was sexually harassed by a group of her classmate s on th e stair s o f a housing estat e near th e school. 3 Recently, a boy hur t his classmate with a chopping knife in class after being verbally bullied for severa l months. 4 Bullying is seen as repeated oppression, physical or mental, of a less powerful person by a more powerful person or group of persons. It occurs where ther e i s a n imbalanc e i n powe r betwee n people , an d i t i s a repeated o r continued behaviou r (Olweus , 1994 ; Rigby, 1996 ; Smith & Sharp, 1994) . Ther e i s considerabl e evidenc e no w tha t continue d o r severe bullying can contribute to immediate problems such as neurosis, sleeping difficulties , stud y difficulties , truanc y an d depressio n a s wel l as long-term problems such as permanent anxiety , low self-esteem an d dropping ou t o f school . Th e wors t outcom e i s tha t a severel y bullie d child take s hi s o r he r ow n lif e (Hugh-Jone s & Smith , 1999 ; Olweus , 1993; 1994 ; Sharp & . Thompson, 1994a ; Smit h & . Sharp, 1994) . Schoo l bullying ha s bee n identifie d a s a majo r proble m i n man y countrie s around the world (McCarthy et al, 1996 ; Perry et al., 1988; Rigby, 1996; Tattum & Tattum, 1996 ; Whitney et al., 1994). Discussion and guidance on dealin g with victim s starte d emergin g i n th e lat e 1980s . It i s importan t tha t schoo l bullyin g i s stoppe d withi n school s o r else i t ma y creat e a viciou s cycl e o f schoo l violence . Thi s chapte r 40฀DENNIS ฀SING-WING ฀WONG ฀& ฀SINDY ฀SIN-TING ฀LEE฀ highlights researc h an d findings o f some local studies related to schoo l bullying. W e wil l discus s som e commo n strategie s fo r tacklin g th e problem o f schoo l bullying . W e will , i n particular , presen t a n anti bullying programme, which has been undertaken in a secondary schoo l recently. Thi s programm e ha s adopte d a "Whole-Schoo l Approach" 5 Research฀i n฀Bullyin g฀ Although ther e ar e some isolated studie s o f bullying before th e 1970s , systematic studie s o f th e phenomeno n starte d fro m th e lat e 1970 s (Smith & . Sharp, 1994 ; Smit h e t al. , 1999) . I n 1978 , Da n Olweu s published a n Englis h versio n o f hi s book , Aggression in the Schools: Bullies and Whipping Boys (originall y publishe d i n 197 3 i n Swedish) . It marke d th e openin g o f a strea m o f researc h o n bullying , whic h developed firs t i n th e Scandinavia n countries . Fro m a surve y o f mor e than 130,00 0 Norwegian students , Olweus found tha t som e 15 % of th e students i n elementar y an d secondary/junio r hig h school s i n Norwa y were involved with bullying problems (a s bullies or victims) with som e regularity. Analyse s o f teachers ' feedbac k i n approximatel y 9 0 classe s confirmed tha t th e surve y result s di d no t giv e a n exaggerate d pictur e of the prevalence of the problem in Norwegian schools. It really...

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