How can mental health professionals help to prevent bullying? Whether community- or school-based, mental health professionals know the effects that bullying can have on those directly involved as well as those who witness it, and they play important roles in preventing and responding to bullying. Psychologists, counselors, and social workers who are based in schools bring critical expertise to the task of planning and implementing school- and community-wide approaches to bullying prevention. This includes:
• Collecting and using data to inform prevention efforts (Bauman, 2008). They can lead efforts to conduct needs assessments within schools, identify evidence-based practices to address bullying, establish systems to monitor progress in reducing bullying, evaluate and interpret data, and use data to inform future bullying prevention and intervention efforts (Rossen & Cowan, 2012). • Training and advising educators, families, and students. Practitioners can inform others about the nature and prevalence of bullying, its effects, and effective prevention and intervention
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They can work with educators and others to develop policies about bullying and implement evidence-based efforts to reduce bullying and improve school climate and safety (American Counseling Association [ACA], 2008; Jacobsen & Bauman, 2007). These rules and policies should provide students, families, and staff clear guidance about appropriate student behavior. Harsh, inflexible discipline strategies, such as zero tolerance policies, should be avoided. Such policies have been found to harm student-adult relationships, dampen school climate, and contribute to poor student achievement (APA Zero Tolerance Task Force, 2008). Instead, graduated sanctions should be used for rule violations, which are appropriate for the developmental level of the child and the nature and severity of the bullying. Removal from the school-setting should be a measure of last