School Psychology Forum
Using Student Voice to Respond to Middle School Bullying: A Student Leadership Approach
By David Shriberg, Keeshawna Brooks, Kisha Jenkins, Jennifer Immen , Caroline Sutter & Karen Cronin
Advancing Prevention Science in School Psychology, pp. 20-33
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ABSTRACT: Bullying prevention and intervention are ongoing challenges for all educators, school psychologists included. A lack of research exists regarding the potential role of middle school students as direct actors in bullying prevention and intervention. This article describes a novel student leadership group for seventh graders in which the primary leadership task was the creation of bullying prevention ideas for their school. The details of this group are described, as are the results of postgroup student interviews. Results indicate that the students found the group to be valuable. However, the broader collaborative effort between educators at this school and the university researchers to maintain a comprehensive bullying prevention system did not survive the school’s reorganization. This article addresses the lessons learned and the potential implication of this project for school psychology practice.