Rosalyn Shute

Introduction: The PEACE Pack, originally devised to address bullying in secondary (high) schools, has demonstrated efficacy in several countries. The 4th edition now includes social–emotional learning and has been adapted (co‐designed with teachers and students) for primary (elementary) schools, but not previously evaluated with this younger age group. As many young people now acquire personal phones at this age, it covers cyberbullying as well as ‘traditional’ bullying. Methods: This effectiveness study evaluated the program with 826 students (mean age 9.7 years) in Australia. Wellbeing (level of happiness and number of good friends), frequency of being bullied, and self‐efficacy for coping with bullying were measured before and after the program and at 3‐month follow‐up. Results: A large effect was found for reduction in bullying frequency for the most severely affected students (bullied once a week or more often before the program, being a quarter of the sample). The percentage of this subsample still being bullied this frequently at 3‐month follow‐up was 33.4%, a reduction of 66.6%. Most other effects of the program were statistically significant but very small, although there was a general pattern of significant linear trends towards ‘improvement’. No evidence was found for a suggested ‘healthy context paradox’. Conclusions: The PEACE Pack, as modified for primary school students, strongly reduced bullying frequency for the most severely affected students, indicating that the program was fulfilling its core function. In general, other measures improved slightly after the program and were sustained or still improving at the 3‐month follow‐up. So What?: The PEACE Pack shows promise as a primary‐school anti‐bullying program that has sustained effects. It includes cyberbullying and social–emotional learning and is designed to be engaging for all students. Being curriculum‐based, it stands to benefit from students' relationships with their regular teachers within the broader school context.

Addressing school bullying is a matter of social justice, but prevention and intervention efforts worldwide have achieved only modest results. Bullying has traditionally been conceptualised within psychology in terms of individuals’ dysfunctionality, but research now also encompasses bullying based on bias rather than personal characteristics, with identity at its centre. Scholars from various disciplines increasingly propose bullying to be a functional, group-based phenomenon concerned with social positioning, but the traditional definition still predominates. Furthermore, there is no widely-accepted definition of bias-based bullying, and a lack of theoretical guidance for practice. This conceptual paper focuses on the application of the social identity approach and related theories to bias-based bullying, examining the relevance of the traditional criteria. Taking separately the perspectives of targets and perpetrators, a new definition is proposed that draws upon social identity principles, including perceived group memberships and stereotyping. Comparison is made with the proposed new UNESCO definition of bullying. The theoretical perspectives explored offer an alternative conceptualisation of bias-based bullying for guiding research and practice, potentially leading to more effective prevention and intervention programmes aimed at creating greater safety and equity in our schools.