I wanted to share an article with you from the January Issue of Security Magazine. The article describes how a study was conducted over the 2012-2013 school year, at 56 New Jersey middle schools. Researchers mapped out the social network of the school, to determine the top "cool kids" in that school.
The "Cool Kids" were provided training in anti-bullying and social media along with resources to help spread the message of anti-bullying. According to the article, the schools saw about a 30% reduction in reports of student conflicts.
This may be a fantastic solution to help reduce the bullying problems that we see in our nations schools and on social media. Instead of doing generalized, "blanket" education or propaganda, target specific students that are influential in the school and have them help spread the message of anti-bullying.
We, parents and teachers, already know that peer influence is the highest form of influence that exits, and according to this research we should be utilizing this to our advantage.
Here is the link to the article: Study Says Cool Kids Can Curb Bullying
Here is the link to the study: Changing climates of conflict: A social network experiment in 56 schools
Adam, very insightful article and I agree with your conclusions. To borrow from the social media marketers handbook, "targeting is the most important element in any campaign." Yes, you need to communicate the right message, but getting it in front of the right people is where we see results. As you say, "blanket" education is far less effective.
ReplyDeleteWell written and to the point. Thanks for sharing!