Modeling the bullying prevention program design recommendations of students from grades five to eight: a discrete choice conjoint experiment

We used a discrete choice conjoint experiment to model the bullying prevention recommendations of 845 students from grades 5 to 8 (aged 9-14). Students made choices between experimentally varied combinations of 14 four-level prevention program attributes. Latent class analysis yielded three segments. The high impact segment (27.1%) recommended uniforms, mandatory recess activities, four playground supervisors, surveillance cameras, and 4-day suspensions when students bully. The moderate impact segment (49.5%) recommended discretionary uniforms and recess activities, four playground supervisors, and 3-day suspensions. Involvement as a bully or bully-victim was associated with membership in a low impact segment (23.4%) that rejected uniforms and surveillance cameras. They recommended fewer anti-bullying activities, discretionary recess activities, fewer playground supervisors, and the 2-day suspensions. Simulations predicted most students would recommend a program maximizing student involvement combining prevention with moderate consequences. The simulated introduction of mandatory uniforms, surveillance cameras, and long suspensions reduced overall support for a comprehensive program, particularly among students involved as bullies or bully-victims.     

Sex differences in the structure and stability of children's playground social networks and their overlap with friendship relations

Gender segregated peer networks during middle childhood have been highlighted as important for explaining later sex differences in behaviour, yet few studies have examined the structural composition of these networks and their implications. This short‐term longitudinal study of 119 children (7–8 years) examined the size and internal structure of boys' and girls' social networks, their overlap with friendship relations, and their stability over time. Data collection at the start and end of the year involved systematic playground observations of pupils' play networks during team and non‐team activities and measures of friendship from peer nomination interviews. Social networks were identified by aggregating play network data at each time point. Findings showed that the size of boy's play networks on the playground, but not their social networks, varied according to activity type. Social network cores consisted mainly of friends. Girl's social networks were more likely to be composed of friends and boys' networks contained friends and non‐friends. Girls had more friends outside of the social network than boys. Stability of social network membership and internal network relations were higher for boys than girls. These patterns have implications for the nature of social experiences within these network contexts.     

Safety on the Playground: Mechanisms Through Which Adult Supervision Might Prevent Child Playground Injury

Over 200,000 American children visit the emergency room annually after a playground injury. Among the most promising means to reduce playground injuries is through increased quantity and quality of playground supervision by adults. To implement empirically supported playground supervision interventions, it is essential to understand how supervision prevents injuries. Recent research suggests supervision likely prevents injuries through several different mechanisms; this paper discusses six: (a) Supervisors repetitively teach children playground rules; (b) supervisors recognize and stop children's dangerous behavior; (c) supervisors prevent children from behaving impulsively; (d) the presence of a supervisor causes children to behave differently; (e) supervisors change children's attribution of risk; and (f) supervisors have influence as modelers and persuaders of safe behavior. Theoretical implications for future work and applied implications for the development of playground safety interventions are discussed.     

The social context of school playground games: Sex and ethnic differences,and changes over time after entry to junior school

This short‐term longitudinal study examined activities at recess and peer relations. We were interested in changes over the school year, and the sex and ethnic mix of groups. Data came from systematic observations of 129 pupils (61 boys and 68 girls) aged 7–8 years. Results showed that peer interaction dominated recess. Ball games increased over the year, and chasing games decreased. Aggression was most common during vigorous play and conversation, but not ball games. Cleavage in boys' and girls' play and activity was common but not inevitable. Mixed‐sex play was not supported by particular game types. Boys' game networks were larger than those of girls but there were no sex differences in active networks. There was little ethnic group segregation on playgrounds, and games became more integrated with time. The results indicate that playground activities can have a positive role in social relations between different ethnic groups.     

DISCREPANCY IN FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS RESULTS ACROSS TWO SETTINGS: IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERVENTION DESIGN

Functional analyses that were conducted in two settings (playground and classroom) indicated that problem behavior was sensitive to adult attention on the playground and tangible items in the classroom. Attention‐ and tangible‐based interventions were designed based on the results from each of the assessment environments and were compared. The attention‐based intervention was more effective on the playground, and the tangible‐based intervention was more effective in the classroom. Findings are discussed in regards to the generality of functional analysis results across environments.     

Influence of play on creative thinking

The immediate influence of flexible and highly structured play on the creative thinking of 184 fourth-grade boys and girls was investigated. Following either flexible or highly structured art, drama, and playground activities, children's performances on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking were evaluated. Children who participated in flexible play experiences showed significantly greater creative thinking than children participating in the highly structured play experiences. No significant differences were found between boys and girls related to effects of flexible and structured play on creative thinking. Implications for curriculum are explored.     

High Versus Low Control During Recess Transitions at a Christian School

Teachers and administrators at Christian schools often exercise high levels of control over children as they move to and from the classroom. This may be due to the fear of misbehavior related to higher activity levels and greater expression of emotions believed to result from decreased adult control. In a quasi-experimental study, the degree of control over children was varied as they moved between the classroom and the playground of a Christian school to determine what, if any, changes in activity level and emotional expression resulted, both on the playground and in the classroom. High control was associated with higher activity level on the playground but not in the classroom, while indications of joy increased significantly on the playground-but apparently not in the classroom-subsequent to the high-control conduction. No other significant changes in activity level or emotionality were discovered.     

The counselor-consultant and the effeminate boy

This article presents a case study of an effeminate boy in an elementary school. Rather than counseling the boy directly, the counselor consulted the child's teachers regarding strategies for change. Following experimental procedures, significant changes were recorded in behavior and attitude as measured by pre- and post-experimental measures: playground behavior, lunchroom behavior, physical education activities, class sociogram, and a Semantic Differential. The case demonstrates how deviant children, such as this effeminate boy, can be aided through consultation with teachers and through learning experiences within the regular school program.     

Social Competence at the Playground: Preschoolers During Recess

Social interactions at the playground have been represented as a rich learning opportunity to hone and master social skills at preschool years. Specifically, all forms of social play (fantasy, role, exercise or rough‐and‐tumble) have been related to children's social competence. The main goal of this study was to examine whether it is a certain kind of social play which facilitates the development of social competence, or if it is just the opportunity for interacting during recess that provides children with an optimal environment for social learning. A total of 73 preschoolers (4–6 years old) were videotaped at the school's playground. Teachers provided assessments of children's social competence. Children's interactions at the playground were assessed through an innovative measuring method, based on radio‐frequency identification devices. The results showed a positive association between exercise play and children's social competence. In contrast with the literature, both forms of pretend play, fantasy and role play were unrelated to children's social competence. Smaller peer groups and longer interactions also demonstrated a positive association with these preschoolers' social competence. The study shows the importance of outdoor physical play for preschoolers' social success. Moreover, the study suggests that the environment in which children play has an important effect on the adaptive nature of their play. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

DECREASING CHILDREN'S RISK TAKING ON THE PLAYGROUND

Playground mishaps are some of the most common sources of injury and are the leading killer of children. The present study used a multiple baseline design across three classrooms (N = 379 children). With minimal teaching and rewards, children decreased and maintained decreased risky playground behaviors on slides. Floor effects on climbers prevented the demonstration of similar effects. The decreases seen in risky slide behavior are discussed within the context of preventive safety training for playground injuries.     

Mothers' responses to sons and daughters engaging in injury-risk behaviors on a playground: implications for sex differences in injury rates

Videotapes of children engaging in injury-risk activities on a playground were shown to mothers, who were asked to intervene by stopping the tape and saying whatever they would to their child in the situation shown. Results revealed that mothers of daughters were more likely to judge behaviors as posing some degree of injury risk, and they intervened more frequently and quickly than mothers of sons. Mothers' speed to intervene positively correlated with both children's injury history and their risk-taking tendencies, indicating that mothers of children who were previously injured and who often engaged in injury-risk behaviors had a higher degree of tolerance for children's risk taking than mothers of children who experienced fewer injuries and less frequently engaged in injury-risk behaviors. Mothers' verbalizations to children's risk taking revealed that daughters received more cautions and statements communicating vulnerability for injury, whereas sons received more statements encouraging risk-taking behavior.     

BEHAVIORAL SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY GOES OUTDOORS: THE EFFECT OF ORGANIZED GAMES ON PLAYGOUND AGGRESSION

This research focuses on the inappropriate, largely aggressive, behaviors of 344 K-2 children assigned to a playground prior to the beginning of the school day. Initially, a system for observing large numbers of children freely roaming over a large, open area was developed. This observational method was then used to determine the effectiveness of providing organized games for reducing potentially dangerous playground behaviors. Using a reversal (ABAB) design, it was found that the games, rope jumping, and foot racing, along with an infrequently used time-out procedure, significantly reduced the frequency of inappropriate incidents. It is suggested that when dealing with large groups, antecedent environmental manipulations may be more practical than providing consequences for the behaviors exhibited by identified individuals.     

“Where Could Paul Street Boys Play?” Child Psychotherapy As Co-Construction of A Playground

In this clinical paper, I present the development of the foundation of a child psychoanalytic treatment to explain in clinical terms what it means to build a “playground,” a place where a child could go to play. The aim of the paper, with references to Paul Street Boys, a famous novel by Ferenc Molnár, a Hungarian contemporary of Sándor Ferenczi, is to use the metaphor of the “playground” for describing how, thanks to his personal use of the setting, and thanks to the development of the relationship with the therapist, a traumatized child could gradually begin to build, together with the therapist, a place unknown in his past.     

Reducing playground bullying and supporting beliefs: an experimental trial of the steps to respect program

Six schools were randomly assigned to a multilevel bullying intervention or a control condition. Children in Grades 3-6 (N=1,023) completed pre- and posttest surveys of behaviors and beliefs and were rated by teachers. Observers coded playground behavior of a random subsample (n=544). Hierarchical analyses of changes in playground behavior revealed declines in bullying and argumentative behavior among intervention-group children relative to control-group children, increases in agreeable interactions, and a trend toward reduced destructive bystander behavior. Those in the intervention group reported enhanced bystander responsibility, greater perceived adult responsiveness, and less acceptance of bullying/aggression than those in the control group. Self-reported aggression did not differ between the groups. Implications for future research on the development and prevention of bullying are discussed.     

Teaching preschoolers with disabilities to seek adult assistance in response to simulated injuries

Four preschool-aged children with disabilities received training to seek adult assistance in response to simulated injuries. The children first watched while the instructor modeled and verbalized a first-aid procedure for obtaining adult assistance when injured, and then they practiced the skill with instructor praise or correction. Following this practice with feedback, the children demonstrated their skill without instructor feedback. Generalization probes were conducted before and after training on the school playground and at the children's homes. A multiple baseline design across children was used to evaluate the effects of the program. Rapid increases in the children 's performances of this skill was demonstrated. Further, the posttraining generalization data indicated that the children's performance had generalized across the two settings (school playground and children's homes). More importantly, this skill maintained at 100% at a 1-month follow-up generalization probe.     

Learning scenes from multiple views: Novel views can be recognized more efficiently than learned views

In two experiments, participants were trained to recognize a playground scene from four vantage points and were subsequently asked to recognize the playground from a novel perspective between the four learned viewing perspectives, as well as from the trained perspectives. In both experiments, people recognized the novel view more efficiently than those that they had recently used in order to learn the scene. Additionally, in Experiment 2, participants who viewed a novel stimulus on their very first test trial correctly recognized it more quickly (and also tended to recognize it more accurately) than did participants whose first test trial was a familiar view of the scene. These findings call into question the idea that scenes are recognized by comparing them with single previous experiences, and support a growing body of literature on the existence of psychological mechanisms that combine spatial information from multiple views of a scene.     

The escalation of commitment in political decision-making groups: a social identity approach

Escalation situations are those in which some project or course of action has led to losses, but there is a possibility of achieving better outcomes by investing further time, money, or effort. Although this phenomenon has been studied in individuals, there has been little research which has examined it in groups. It was hypothesized that individuals stronger in social identity would be more likely to escalate their commitment to a failing project. Groups of subjects (half whose members strongly identified and half who weakly identified with their groups) were asked to play the role of a town council whose current objective was to invest money in construction of a playground that was met with many problems. The results showed that groups that were stronger in social identity escalated their commitment to the playground. The implications of the results are discussed, along with future directions for research.     

Alone at the playground

Starting pre-school is a major stepping stone for children’s peer relations. Yet, some children spend their recess time alone, albeit in the presence of playful peers. These solitary behaviours have been noted in the literature as an alarm signal for a maladaptive social development. In this study, we identified four kinds of non-social behaviours engaged at recess (reticent, solitary-pretend, -functional, and -passive); and we examined the extent to which these different behaviours were related to social solitude at the playground six months later. Therefore, 97 children (aged 4–6 years old) were observed at the playground and their social-emotional skills were tested. Solitude was assessed through an innovative measuring method, based on Radio Frequency Identification Devices. The results demonstrated that solitary-pretend play in girls was related to an increase in solitary behaviours later on. Nevertheless, children who engaged in non-social behaviours showed a general lack of emotional skills, which may explain their initial withdrawal.     

The differential validity of teacher ratings of Inattention/Overactivity and Aggression

The ability of school-based measures of child behavior to predict differentially the IOWA Conners teacher rating scale Inattention/Overactivity (IO) and Aggression (A) factors was evaluated in a sample of 71 school-aged boys. Multiple measures and multiple methods of assessment were utilized to provide a comprehensive assessment of social and academic behavior. These included direct observations of children in the classroom and on the playground, examination of the organization of children's desks, measures of academic performance, peer nominations of popularity and rejection, and sociometric ratings using the Pupil Evaluation Inventory. Despite moderately high correlations between the teacher rating factors (r = .60), considerable evidence was provided for differential validity on measures of academic performance, peer rating measures, and measures of disruptive or inappropriate classroom and playground behavior. These differences between IO and A factors indicated that the factors were logically independent in important ways, supporting prior work validating separate hyperactivity and aggression dimensions.