What should we do with school bullies?

Abstract

For many counsellors and teachers who are concerned about the so-called bully/victim problem in schools, what to do with the school bully is the central issue. One might wish otherwise. It is sometimes argued that if more time and effort were spent in preventing bullying through the development of appropriate policies in schools and the encouragement of prosocial behaviour, the problem would simply not arise. Yet it must be admitted that even with the most enlightened school discipline policies and the most thoughtfully conceived human relations training programs, schools continue to report cases of bullying and harassment with which they must deal.