School Counseling Group Sessions on Bullying Prevention

School Counseling as a Preventive Measure

School counseling has historically been considered an ancillary part of education — nice to have, but not truly necessary (Scarborough & Luke, 2008). It has often been among the first programs cut when school budgets require trimming. Today, however, school counselors are expected to promote the academic, career, and personal/social development of students (Van Velsor, 2009). Although many recognize the connection between academic and career development on one hand and personal and social growth on the other, school counselors are still largely expected to justify their work through its contribution to academic achievement (Van Velsor, 2009).

School counselors face many demands on their time that fall outside the scope of direct counseling, including serving as testing coordinators, special education team leaders, and administrators of retests (Bostick & Anderson, 2009). Because of these competing demands, counselors frequently turn to group counseling as a means of reaching more students within the time available. Group counseling provides a framework for addressing issues such as prevention, problem-focused support, and psychoeducational programming (Steen & Bauman, 2007). Research finds that small group counseling in schools helps change students' attitudes, perspectives, values, and behaviors in an efficient manner. By working together in a group, students learn they are not alone in facing particular problems. They also develop positive peer interaction skills and benefit from role modeling. Participation in school counseling groups supports improvement in self-esteem while simultaneously providing instruction on the topic under study (Steen & Bauman, 2007).

The topic selected for this curriculum is bullying at the late elementary level, addressed as a social development issue. Children in this age group are not always conscious of how their behavior affects their peers. A school counselor at this level may work in group sessions every day of the week across different grade levels; for grades 3 through 5, common concerns center on social development.

Cognitive theory is the preferred counseling framework for this curriculum. Based on Piaget's theory of development, children in the elementary years are capable of logical reasoning about situations and events (Meyers et al., 2002). Working with younger students on social issues functions primarily as a preventive technique rather than the rehabilitative approach more commonly needed with older age groups. Time is a critical factor during the school day — teachers are reluctant to release students from instruction unless the benefit to academic progress is clear (Steen & Kaffenberger, 2007). Research by Steen and Kaffenberger (2007) indicates that 80% of students who need academic help also require support in social and emotional development. When a counselor addresses social and emotional growth, students show improvements in academic behaviors such as attending to tasks, raising their hands before speaking, and completing assignments. This demonstrates that social-emotional work yields dividends in the academic domain as well. Group sessions at the elementary level typically occur during lunch or recess time (Steen & Kaffenberger, 2007).

Bullying: Session One

Because academic success is the primary concern of teachers and administrators, school counselors focus on issues that may impede that success (Young et al., 2009). Every school aims to empower students to take on new challenges, and school personnel want each student to feel safe enough to function at full capacity (Young et al., 2009).

The first session on bullying opens with the counselor introducing the concept of confidentiality. Students need to know that what is shared in the group stays within the group, with the exceptions that disclosures must be shared if someone is at risk of harming himself or another person, or if a child is in danger at home. Any other disclosure requires the child's full consent (Huss, Bryant, & Mulet, 2008).

The counselor then leads a discussion on what bullying means. Bullying is defined as any hurtful or aggressive act toward an individual or group that is both purposeful and repeated (Quiroz et al., 2006). Using a whiteboard, the counselor records instances of bullying that students have witnessed or experienced. The counselor also introduces the concept of indirect bullying (Quiroz et al., 2006) and discusses the school's zero-tolerance policy and what it means in practice.

The discussion then turns to the reasons bullies bully. These reasons — including the desire for control, revenge, envy, and emotional distress — are recorded on the board (Turkel, 2006). The counselor also addresses the long-term consequences for bullies: greater likelihood of involvement in violent acts, illegal activity, harassment of others, and weapons possession (Turkel, 2006). Trigger factors for bullying behavior often involve race, ethnic diversity, language, and religion (Turkel, 2006).

This session uses the topic of bullying to help build social and emotional intelligence. Social intelligence is the ability to understand and get along with others (Van Velsor, 2009). Emotional intelligence encompasses awareness and appropriate expression of one's feelings, the ability to understand others and maintain satisfying relationships, the capacity to adapt to change, and the ability to demonstrate positive emotions (Van Velsor, 2009). Each session can serve as an opportunity to model positive relationship-building with diverse populations. Schools increasingly reflect the world's ethnic and cultural diversity (Roaten & Schmidt, 2009), and bullying often occurs precisely because someone is perceived as different.

After students contribute to the group's definition and understanding of bullying, the counselor can lead activities that allow students to experience what it feels like to be the target of mistreatment — for example, role-playing scenarios involving racial difference, disability, or physical size. Following these activities, the counselor must debrief the group carefully, allowing students to process their emotional responses to feeling different.

The session closes with a discussion of what students should do when they witness bullying. The school must offer a safe environment in which students can report bullying without fear of negative repercussions, and clear steps must be available to address bullying behavior when it occurs. Students leave the session understanding that bullying is wrong (Quiroz et al., 2006).

Piaget and Cognitive Learning Theory

Each of the four sessions described above is grounded in the premise that children in grades 3 through 5 are capable of logical reasoning. According to Piaget, children organize their understanding of the world through schemas (Crandell, Crandell, & Vander Zanden, 2009). The bullying sessions challenged students' existing schemas about right and wrong in how people treat one another. When children learned that bullying is wrong, they made an accommodation in their schemas — a restructuring of their mental frameworks — to incorporate this new understanding (Crandell, Crandell, & Vander Zanden, 2009).

Bandura's cognitive learning theory further supports this curriculum design. Bandura argued that children are influenced by conscious experience and by the human attitudes, values, and goals they observe (Crandell, Crandell, & Vander Zanden, 2009). Learning is inherently social: new information is acquired by watching parents, teachers, and other authority figures model appropriate behavior (Crandell, Crandell, & Vander Zanden, 2009).

By demonstrating how bullying hurts people, exploring its long-term effects, and discussing the significance of difference and diversity, the counselor helps students reason through why bullying is wrong. This reasoning extends to cyberbullying. The subsequent sessions then introduce positive alternatives — treating others with kindness through RAK and volunteering — and invite students to weigh the pros and cons of both types of social behavior. Students are thus equipped to apply these lessons to their own lives and to make informed choices about how they treat others.

Conclusion

Elementary school counselors have a significant opportunity to take a preventive stance in teaching social concepts. To be effective, however, the counselor must personally embody the principles he or she teaches. The counselor must demonstrate self-efficacy before introducing these programs (Van Velsor, 2009). If the counselor lacks the qualities he or she hopes to instill in students, the teaching will ring hollow. Counselors must, as the literature puts it, "walk the walk and talk the talk" (Scarborough & Luke, 2008). Children are highly perceptive of insincerity in the adults around them.

Group counseling allows a school counselor to make efficient use of limited school time while reaching the greatest number of students simultaneously. General lessons can be conveyed to the whole group, while students who need additional individualized support can be identified through a combination of group observations and teacher referrals (Bauman & Smith, 2007).

For group counseling to function effectively in a school setting, clear ground rules must be established from the outset. These include rules about confidentiality, speaking one at a time, and avoiding derogatory language. Posting a list of "counseling rules" on the wall serves as a gentle, ongoing reminder of expectations.

Elementary school counselors are positioned to interrupt the negative behavioral patterns that, left unaddressed, may lead students into more serious difficulties later in life. Tackling challenging topics such as bullying during these formative years can help shape the future of an entire community — one student at a time. By correcting erroneous thinking in childhood, counselors help guide students toward a more positive and prosocial future.

References

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