Bullying is recognized among the most serious problems in schools, impairing children’s  emotional wellbeing and learning (Andreou,  Vlachou,  & Didaskalou, 2007. VanDeur, 2011). Recent studies in Greece suggest that involvement in bullying is an issue in school students, affecting  one out of three children in the country (Giavazolias, et al., 2010). There is evidence that children who do not cope well with bullying and who respond in counter-productive ways, may actually reinforce further victimisation (Kochenderfer-Ladd & Skinner, 2002. Skrzypiec et al., 2011).

    In the literature the potential advantages of working through schools as sites for interventions are highlighted (Slee et al., 2009). The ‘coping with bullying’ (CWB) intervention is a program devised by Slee and Murray-Harvey (2006) based on the suggestion that young people could be taught how to cope with stressful situations. The intervention adopts a systemic model of reducing bullying as it is implemented within a whole-school approach to the problem, particularly by encouraging students’ active involvement in working with coping strategies. Central to the intervention is a DVD written and performed by high school students .The programme also includes: Teacher Lesson Plans and lesson materials, Teacher Timetable, Teacher Training Powerpoint, Teacher feedback sheets, and the Student Workbook with the message: Stay Calm. ThinkClearly.

    The original program proved to be effective, as those who reported being seriously bullied pre-intervention were more likely to report less serious bullying post-intervention (effect size: r=.14).

    In order to adjust the intervention program to the Greek reality, an –emic approach had to be followed (Skrzypiec, Roussi-Vergou, & Andreou, 2011). The purpose of our presentation is to a) describe the steps taken to the development of the Greek version of the originally Australian intervention material, b) to present the evaluation from the pilot study, and c) to present the initial outcomes from the final study.

Andreou, E., Vlachou, A. & Didaskalou, E. (2007). Emerging Aspects in Understanding Bullying in Schools: Implications for Research and Intervention. In E. M. Vargios (Ed.), Educational Psychology Research Focus, pp. 185-189. New York: Nova Science Publishers. Giavazolias, T., Kourkoutas, E., Mitsopoulou, E., & Georgiadi, M. (2010). The relationship between perceived school climate and the prevalence of bullying behaviour in Greek schools: Implications for preventive inclusive strategies. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 5, 2208-2215. Kochenderfer-Ladd, B, & Skinner, K. (2002). Children’s coping strategies: Moderators of the effects of peer victimization? Developmental Psychology, 38, 267-278. Skrzypiec, G., Roussi-Vergou, C., & Andreou, E. (2011). Common problems, common solutions? Applying a foreign ‘coping with bullying’ intervention in Greek schools. In R. Shute (Ed.), P. Slee & K. Dix (Assoc. Eds), International perspectives on mental health and wellbeing in education (pp.263-274). AU: Shannon Research Press Skrzypiec, G.K., Slee, P., Murray-Harvey, R., & Pereira, B. (2011). School bullying by one or more ways: does it matter and how do students cope? School Psychology International, 32(3), 288-311. Slee, P.T., & Murray-Harvey, R. (2006). Coping with School Bullying: A video documentation. Paper presented at the 19th Biennial Meeting of the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development, July 2-6, Melbourne, Australia. Slee, P.T., & Murray-Harvey, R. (2011). School bullying: a matter of mental health and wellbeing. In R. Shute (Ed.), P. Slee & K. Dix (Assoc. Eds), International perspectives on mental health and wellbeing in education (pp.79-90). AU: Shannon Research Press Slee, P.T., Skrzypiec, G.K., & Murray-Harvey, R. (2009).The Coping with Bullying Intervention. Paper presented at the ISSBD, Zambia. VanDeur, P. (2011). Seeking students’ perspectives on their social and emotional wellbeing. In R. Shute (Ed.), P. Slee & K. Dix (Assoc. Eds), International perspectives on mental health and wellbeing in education (pp.63-76). AU: Shannon Research Press