School-based anti-bullying strategies in Taiwan and their effects

The Ministry of Education in Taiwan provides subsidies to selected schools to implement school-based anti-bullying strategies. This study explored the types of strategies that were adopted in anti-bullying schools and investigated whether the prevalence rates of bullying were decreased and anti-bullying awareness increased among students in these schools relative to ordinary schools. Six anti-bullying schools and six ordinary schools participated in this project. A total of 1712 and 1593 students participated in the pre-test and post-test, respectively. Results found that higher numbers anti-bullying strategies adopted in schools did not correspond to lower prevalence rates of bullying and victimization. There were no significant differences in the mean scores for anti-bullying attitudes, the prevalence rates of bullying, victimization, and bully-victims between anti-bullying schools and ordinary schools. This suggests that schools should focus on the quality or effectiveness of their anti-bullying strategies rather than the number of strategies employed.