title: Buddies Not Bullies: an approach to bullying prevention education in preschool children, their families and the community.
abstract: Bullying is a traumatic event and has been observed among children as young as four years old. We have designed the Buddies Not Bullies initiative, which is a series of projects to help preschool children protect themselves from bullying. We also designed projects to educate the families of these preschool children and their community on the effects of bullying. The Buddies Not Bullies initiative promotes social-emotional development and discourages behaviours that might lead to bullying. In this article the initiatives designed to engage preschool children and raise awareness, including an interactive puppet show, are outlined. The authors also discuss how they evaluated the success of these projects and the implications for all professionals caring for young children.
authors.affiliation: Northeastern University, School of Nursing, Boston, Massachusetts, US.
authors.forename: Michelle A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Beauchesne
authors.affiliation: West Haven Child Development Center, West Haven, Connecticut, US.
authors.forename: Patrice E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Farquharson
authors.affiliation: West Haven Child Development Center, West Haven, Connecticut, US.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Beauchemin
mesh_terms: D058445:Bullying / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016730:Program Development / Q000379:methods
keywords: bullying; child health; health promotion; preschool children; resilience