Reducing Bullying and Manners Avoidance among Students Exhibiting Risky Behaviors through Teaching Ways of Cognitively Regulating Affects

Given the problem of bullying in our schools, and realizing that all risky behaviors are also learned, it would probably be possible to reduce such behaviors through teaching appropriate strategies to students exhibiting them. One such set of strategies would be those useful in regulating thoughts and affects that underlie risky behaviors. To demonstrate the usefulness of such undertaking, a high school in Karaj volunteered to participate in this study by allowing its students to complete a questionnaire that measures their tendency towards risky behaviors. The highest scoring students were chosen and divided into two groups, one of which went through a 10 session course on ways of cognitively regulating affects. Both groups completed two questionnaires of assumed validity and reliability, on bullying and manners avoidance, before and after the course. Data analyses revealed that the course has significantly been effective as both types of behaviors had reduced in the experimental group. Thus utilizing such courses could help schools remedy the problem.