Han, Y-K.

et al

Implementation and evaluation of the

Youth Police Academy school bullying
prevention program in South Korea

pp. 1-9

Han, Y-K. et al, (2021) "Implementation and evaluation of the Youth Police Academy school bullying

prevention program in South Korea", International Journal of Educational Research., 110, 101881, pp.1-9

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Course of Study: EDLR11008 - Research Design in Education

Title: International Journal of Educational Research.: "Implementation and evaluation of the...

Name of Author: Han, Y-K. et al

Name of Publisher: Pergamon

 International Journal of Educational Research 110 (2021) 101881

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Educational Research

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijedures

Implementation and evaluation of the Youth Police Academy

school bullying prevention program in South Korea
You-Kyung Han a, Aeri Song b, *, Su Jung Um b, #
a
Ewha Womans University, Faculty of the Department of Education, Director of the Institute of School Violence Prevention 52, Ewhayeodae-gil,
Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03760 Republic of Korea
b
Ewha Womans University, Research Professor of the Institute of School Violence Prevention 52, Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 03760
Republic of Korea

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the Youth Police Academy bullying prevention
School bullying program using a sample of 1649 students. Applying a semi-experimental research design, pre-test
Community-based bullying prevention and post-test surveys were administered to an experimental group (N = 1,027) and a control
Anti-bullying program for bystanders
group (N = 622). The results of the study reveal that the community-based anti-bullying program
targeting bystanders had a positive impact in four areas: bystander indicators, empathy towards
victims, anti-bullying attitudes, and coping responses to observations of bullying. Regarding the
gender effect, the results show that the YPA program was more effective for female participants in
decreasing reinforcer behaviors. We then explored the implications of the results and proposed
suggestions for policy-makers and program developers committed to bullying prevention.

1. Introduction

School bullying is a serious societal problem that threatens the physical and mental health of students around the world. Recent
global research indicates that “32% of students have been bullied by their peers in some form at school on one or more days in the past
month” (UNESCO, 2019). School bullying not only causes behavioral problems and social alienation during adolescence (Rudolph
et al., 2014; Wolke, Woods, Bloomfield, & Karstadt, 2000) but also has a lasting negative impact on students’ lives in adulthood (Adam
& Lawrence, 2011; Vaillancourt, Hymel, & McDougall, 2013). Therefore, there is an urgent need to prevent school bullying for the
well-being of children and youths.
Sizeable numbers of educational intervention programs have been developed to reduce bullying in schools (for review, see Baldry &
Farrington, 2007; Jiménez-Barbero, Ruiz-Hernández, Llor-Zaragoza, Pérez-García, & Llor-Esteban, 2016). Recently, anti-bullying
programs have tended to target bystanders rather than perpetrators or victims. Researchers have reported that bystanders, who are
neither victims nor perpetrators of bullying, are critical in preventing school bullying (Brewster & Tucker, 2015; Kärnä et al., 2011;
Lee, 2013). Salmivalli and colleagues view school bullying as a group phenomenon in which bystanders influence the conditions for
bullying and the victims’ experience (Salmivalli, Lagerspetz, Björkqvist, Österman, & Kaukiainen, 1996). According to Kärnä et al.
(2011, p. 313) “bystanders can contribute to the maintenance of bullying by assisting and reinforcing the bully, which provides bullies

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (A. Song).
#
Present affiliation and address: Gyeonggi Insitute of Education, Associate Research Fellow 421, Suseong-ro, Jangan-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, 16288
Republic of Korea.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2021.101881
Received 30 June 2021; Received in revised form 11 September 2021; Accepted 14 September 2021
Available online 26 September 2021
0883-0355/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Y.-K. Han et al. International Journal of Educational Research 110 (2021) 101881

with the position of power that they seek,” yet at the same time, they can nullify bullies’ attempts by defending the victims. Defending
behaviors are known to be highly related to positive psychological characteristics such as empathy (Nickerson, Aloe, Livingston, &
Feeley, 2014; Salmivalli, 2010; Thornberg, 2007) and self-efficacy (Cappadocia, Pepler, Cummings, & Craig, 2012; Pöyhönen &
Salmivalli, 2008; Salmivalli, 2010). Therefore, anti-bullying programs targeting bystanders, such as the Kiva program in Finnish
schools, focus on encouraging defending behaviors by enhancing positive psychological traits among bystanders (Kärnä et al., 2011).
Meanwhile, the proportion of Korean students who reported experiencing school violence within the previous month was 4.2%,
which is far lower than the OECD average (13.4%) (OECD, 2019). Although the frequency of school violence is not high globally, and
specifically school violence in the form of physical assault is on the decline (MOE, 2021), this does not mean that school violence is no
longer a minor social problem in South Korea. Suicides committed by school violence victims, as well as a #MeToo-style reckoning
over school bullying, have received widespread media coverage, raising awareness about the seriousness of school violence (Kim &
Denyer, 2021; Na, 2021).
To combat school bullying, the Korean government established the policy, Site-oriented Countermeasures Against Violence In
Schools (SCAVIS) in 2014, which places emphasis on an experience-oriented educational approach. SCAVIS is predicated on large-
scale survey results which show that students who participated in experience-oriented anti-bullying programs were less likely to be
involved in school bullying compared to those who participated in lecture-oriented programs (The Associated Ministries of Republic of
Korea, 2014). As part of this policy, the Ministry of Education developed the Youth Police Academy (YPA), which aims to offer K-12
students an experience-oriented anti-bullying program in collaboration with the National Police Agency. The YPA project began with
19 youth police academies in 2014, and the number increased rapidly in subsequent years. By the end of 2019, a total of 52 YPAs were
in operation nationwide. During the 2019 school year, the YPAs offered 4303 anti-bullying programs across academies. A total of 77,
954 students participated in YPA bullying prevention programs during the 2019 academic year (March 2019 to February 2020).
Like other recent educational efforts to prevent school bullying, the YPA bullying prevention program aims to change bystander
behaviors in response to school bullying. However, it differs from other school-based programs such as whole-school interventions or
curriculum interventions in that it is mainly offered in local communities. At a YPA, students participate in an experience-oriented
bullying prevention program that is led by school police officers, in local police stations rather than in schools. The YPA program
is composed of student-centered activities, such as role-plays and forensic investigation. Participants in YPA programs expressed a high
degree of satisfaction with the programs; on average, they received 4.7 points out of a possible 5.0 in the survey carried out by the
National Police Agency.
The purpose of this study is to verify the effectiveness of the YPA bullying prevention program. By applying an experimental pre-
test and post-test research design, this study explores how participation in the community-based anti-bullying program affects stu­
dents’ bystander behaviors, empathy towards victims, anti-bullying attitudes, and coping responses to observations of bullying. This
study also investigates the gender effect on outcomes of the program. Male students are traditionally understood to be more often
involved in school bullying both as perpetrators and victims, compared to female students (Dukes, Stein, & Zane, 2010; Ledwell &
King, 2015; Olweus, 1994). Yet, the previous research results regarding gender differences in the effectiveness of the anti-bullying
programs have been inconsistent (Kennedy, 2020a; Kim, 2016; Park, Chung, & Kim, 2010). Thus, we were curious whether the
YPA program, which has features that distinguish it from other anti-bullying programs, had a different impact on students depending
on gender. In addition, this study is particularly meaningful in that there is scant research on community-based approaches to pre­
venting bullying like the YPA program (Holt, Raczynski, Frey, Hymel, & Limber, 2013). According to Holt et al. (2013, p. 245), “[l]aw
enforcement officers may be valuable partners for school and other community anti-bullying efforts. However, research assessing
strategies for and effectiveness of collaboration has been almost nonexistent.” The results of this study are expected to fill this gap in
the existing literature on bullying prevention programs.

Fig. 1. Collaborating entities for the Youth Police Academy project.

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Y.-K. Han et al. International Journal of Educational Research 110 (2021) 101881

2. Methods

2.1. Program design and operation

The Youth Police Academy is a nationwide project started in 2014 in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the National
Police Agency to provide students with an experience-oriented educational program for school bullying prevention. The Ministry of
Education has developed a standard education program for school violence prevention and distributed it to YPAs nationwide, in
addition to providing financial support. The National Police Agency cooperates with the project by providing facilities and equipment
for the YPAs and by supporting the school police officers who are in charge of the educational programs. Most YPAs are located inside
police station buildings, except when the buildings are too cramped or old. School police officers, affiliated with the police station
where the YPA is located, deliver the school violence prevention program. Meanwhile, the Institute of School Violence Prevention
(ISVP), a research center at Ewha Womans University, serves as a bridge between the Ministry of Education and the National Police
Agency, promoting the effective operation of the YPA project by supporting its stable implementation and strengthening the com­
petency of the police officers in charge. Specifically, the ISVP holds project briefing sessions, on-site expert consultation, workshops for
practitioners, effectiveness verification research, and performance reporting sessions (see Fig. 1 for more details about each entity’s
responsibilities).
The YPA bullying prevention program is designed to empower bystanders to defend victims by teaching about the role of by­
standers, sharing effective coping strategies, and encouraging empathy, anti-bullying attitudes, and legal compliance (for more details,
see Figure 2). The three-hour-long program is composed of two segments: 1) school violence prevention and 2) the work of police
officers. School violence prevention education takes place through a lecture and a role-play activity. The lecture is designed to improve
students’ conceptual understanding of school violence by learning about types and causes of school violence, and to inform students of
effective responses to school violence, such as reporting to the anti-bullying helpline, 117, or notifying the school police officer. The
experiential activity is designed to improve participants’ capacities to deal with school violence on their own and equip them to
actively mediate when their friends are bullied. According to Oh (2010), programs that cultivate students’ empathetic capacities
through role-playing may be more effective than education through simple instruction. The experiential activities focus on emotionally
relating to victims and coping with school violence by playing the roles of victims, bullies, and bystanders in a psychodrama. An
external expert in counseling psychology leads the role play for about an hour. Several students volunteer to alternately play the roles
of perpetrators and victims in a school violence scenario prepared in advance by the instructor. A typical scenario would be one in
which the perpetrator claims it is a joke, but the victim accepts it as bullying, or one in which a victim is constantly bullied and isolated
in the classroom. The remaining students are requested to observe the role-play and examine the following points: how the victim feels,
how the surrounding students can assist the victim, actions to assist the victim, and obstacles to taking actions defending the victim.
After the role play is over, the students who acted in the scenario as well as the observers share their thoughts and feelings and discuss
the pain that school violence causes the victims. In addition, students have the opportunity to learn about the duties of police officers

Fig. 2. Learning objectives of the Youth Police Academy bullying prevention program.

3
Y.-K. Han et al. International Journal of Educational Research 110 (2021) 101881

and realize the importance of obeying the law through the experience of wearing police uniforms and handling equipment used by
police officers. Moreover, by participating in forensic investigation experiences such as fingerprint scans, students learn the impor­
tance of forensics and come to understand that all crimes leave evidence. The YPA education program lasts about 3 h, and K-12
students can apply through the website (https://theyouthacademy.police.go.kr). Students can register individually or in groups
accompanied by their teachers or parents.

2.2. Research design

In order to verify the effectiveness of the YPA program, we conducted a survey of students who applied for the program. In this
study, pre-testing and post-testing were conducted on both the program-applied experimental groups and the non-applied control
groups to compare the results of the experimental treatment. Pre-tests and post-tests were performed at intervals of at least one month.
Table 1 represents the quasi-experimental design used in this study, where “O” indicates that the survey was conducted and “X” in­
dicates that the experimental treatment (program participation) was undertaken.

2.3. Participants

A total of 1649 students participated in this study. Among them, the number of students in the experimental group was 1027, and
the number of students in the control group was 622. The number of female participants was 826 and the number of male participants
was 823; the ratio of male and female participants in each group was almost the same. Elementary school students and middle school
students accounted for the majority of the study participants (about 96%). See Table 2 for more detailed information on participants .

2.4. Instrument

The questionnaire used in this study begins by asking for brief personal information about the student in order to match the results
of the pre- and post-survey. It also asks whether the student has experienced or witnessed bullying directly or indirectly at school. We
used four different scales to validate the effectiveness of the anti-bullying program, in reference to the anti-bullying program evalu­
ation tools of Chung, Lee, Oh, Kang, and Ryoo (2013).

2.4.1. Bystander indicators

Six items from the original 32-item Participant Role scale (Seo, 2008) were chosen to fit the study context. For each item, students
evaluated how they would behave in situations where someone is being bullied. The six items used in this study reflect different roles of
bystanders: reinforcer of the bully (e.g., “I reinforced the bullying behavior”), defender of the victim (e.g., “I tried to stop bullying”),
and outsider (e.g., “I did nothing in a bullying situation”). Students answered on a 5-point scale (1 = I agree completely, 5 = I disagree
completely). The Cronbach alpha coefficients for the sub-scales of the scale were 0.554 for reinforcer, 0.816 for defender, and 0.872 for
outsider.

2.4.2. Empathy towards victims

Three items from the original seven-item empathy scale (Kärnä et al., 2011) were selected to fit the present study and avoid
repeating items related to bystander behaviors. Students responded on a 5-point scale (1 = I agree completely, 5 = I disagree
completely) to such statements as: “When a bullied child is sad, I feel sad as well.” The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the empathy
factor was 0.791.

2.4.3. Anti-bullying attitudes

Students’ anti-bullying attitudes were measured using five items initially developed by Rigby and Slee (1991). The items used in the
survey included “I am glad to see someone helping a bullied child” and “I think no one should bully others.” Students responded to the
five items on a 5-point scale (1 = I agree completely, 5 = I disagree completely). The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the anti-bullying
attitudes factor was 0.642.

2.4.4. Coping responses to observations of bullying

Students’ coping responses to observations of bullying were measured through an adapted version of Pozzoli and Gini’s (2010)
scale. The items used in the survey comprise two factor-analytically derived sub-scales: (a) seeking social support and (b)
self-reliance/problem-solving. Students were asked to evaluate the extent to which they agreed with four statements about ways of
responding to observations of bullying. The level of agreement was expressed on a 5-point scale (1=strongly agree, 5=strongly
disagree). Some examples of the statements corresponding to each sub-scale are (a) "Ask a friend for advice” and (b) “Try to think of

Table 1
Research design.
Pre-test Intervention Post-test

experimental group (N = 1027) O × O

control group (N = 622) O O

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Y.-K. Han et al. International Journal of Educational Research 110 (2021) 101881

Table 2
Demographic characteristics of participants.
Characteristics Experimental Control

Female Elementary 192 139

Middle 298 165
High 21 11
Male Elementary 220 159
Middle 275 142
High 21 6
Total 1027 622

Table 3
Effect of participation on bystander indicator: Outsider.
DV: Outsider
Main Effect Interaction Effect

Participation − 0.226*** (0.077) − 0.112 (0.109)

Gender − 0.075 (0.074) .066 (0.121)
Gender ⨯ Participation – − 0.226 (0.153)
Outsider pre-score .502*** (0.022) .502*** (0.022)
N of observations 1625 1625
Adjust R2 .247 .248

*p < 0.1; **p < 0.05.

***
p < 0.01; gender was coded as 1 (female) and 0 (male).

Table 4
Effect of participation on bystander indicator: Defender.
DV: Defender
Main Effect Interaction Effect

Participation .492*** (0.113) .386** (0.161)

Gender − 0.036 (0.109) − 0.166 (0.178)
Gender ⨯ Participation – .208 (0.225)
Defender pre-score 537*** (0.020) .537*** (0.02)
N of observations 1587 1587
Adjust R2 .308 .308

*p < 0.1.
**
p < 0.05.
***
p < 0.01.

Table 5
Effect of participation on bystander indicator: Reinforcer.
DV: Reinforcer
Main Effect Interaction Effect

Participation − 0.224*** (0.067) − 0.063 (0.507)

Gender − 0.142** (0.065) .057 (0.106)
Gender ⨯ Participation – − 0.319** (0.017)
Reinforcer pre-score .519*** (0.022) .518*** (0.022)
N of observations 1630 1630
Adjust R2 .273 .275

*p < 0.1.
**
p < 0.05.
***
p < 0.01.

different ways to solve it." The Cronbach alpha coefficient for the sub-scales of the scale were 0.298 for seeking social support and
0.522 for self-reliance/problem-solving.

2.5. Data collection and analysis

The surveys designed for this study were administered to the students in the pre-test and post-test phases of the study between
September 2019 and January 2020. In order to verify the effectiveness of the program, data from both the experimental group and the
control group was needed. For the experimental group data, school police officers surveyed students who participated in the youth

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Y.-K. Han et al. International Journal of Educational Research 110 (2021) 101881

Table 6
Effect of participation on empathy towards victims.
DV: Empathy towards victims
Main Effect Interaction Effect

Participation .319*** (0.106) .203 (0.151)

Gender .278*** (0.105) .135 (0.169)
Gender ⨯ Participation – .228 (0.212)
Empathy towards victims pre-score .704*** (0.019) .704*** (0.019)
N of observations 1633 1633
Adjust R2 .487 .487

*p < 0.1; **p < 0.05;.

***
p < 0.01.

Table 7
Effect of participation on anti-bullying attitudes.
DV: Anti-bullying attitude
Main Effect Interaction Effect

Participation .632*** (0.137) .437** (0.196)

Gender .33** (0.133) .092 (0.217)
Gender ⨯ Participation – .381 (0.274)
Anti-bullying attitude pre-score .51*** (0.021) .51*** (0.021)
N of observations 1607 1607
Adjust R2 .275 .276

*p < 0.1.
**
p < 0.05.
***
p < 0.01.

Table 8
Effect of participation on coping responses to observations of bullying: seeking social support.
DV: Seeking social support
Main Effect Interaction Effect

Participation .337*** (0.072) .324*** (0.103)

Gender .025 (0.07) .009 (0.114)
Gender ⨯ Participation – .026 (0.144)
Seeking social support pre-score .455*** (0.02) .455*** (0.021)
N of observations 1633 1633
Adjust R2 .24 .24

*p < 0.1; **p < 0.05.

***
p < 0.01.

Table 9
Effect of participation on coping responses to observations of bullying: self-reliance/problem-solving.
DV: Self-reliance/problem-solving
Main Effect Interaction Effect

Participation .409*** (0.075) .417*** (0.107)

Gender .022 (0.073) .032 (0.119)
Gender ⨯ Participation – − 0.016 (0.15)
Self-reliance/problem-solving pre-score .437*** (0.021) .437*** (0.021)
N of observations 1624 1624
Adjust R2 .219 .218

*p < 0.1; **p < 0.05.

***
p < 0.01.

police school online or offline. If students responded to the same questionnaire within a short period of time, they might experience a
learning effect. Therefore, the pre-survey was conducted at least one month before the YPA experience and the post-survey was
conducted immediately after participation in the program. The same pre-test and post-test surveys were administered to the control
group with the assistance of teachers from a local school near the YPAs. A control group was selected among students who had not
previously participated in the YPA program and did not intend to apply to the program. The research team made sure that the control
group included students of the similar ages to the experimental group, while also balancing the gender ratio. They received a pre-test
and post-test from a teacher or school police officer over a similar time frame. In both cases, students were told that their participation

6
Y.-K. Han et al. International Journal of Educational Research 110 (2021) 101881

was completely voluntary and they would be allowed to withdraw from the study at any time. Regarding data analysis, Ordinary Least
Squares (OLS) were used to examine the effectiveness of the program in the above four areas.

3. Results

3.1. Bystander indicators

Statistically significant differences were found between the participants and non-participants on the subscales of bystander in­
dicators. Specifically, students who participated in the program showed fewer outsider and reinforcer behaviors than those who did
not participate (β = − 0.226, p < 0.01; β = − 0.224, p < 0.01) (see Table 3). Moreover, on average, program participants’ defender
scores were greater than those of non-participants (β = 0.492, p < 0.01) (see Table 4). Taken together, these results imply that the
program has positive effects on students’ bystander behaviors.
The moderating effect of gender was tested using by including the interaction term in the model. A significant effect was only
observed on reinforcer behaviors. According to the result, gender negatively moderates the relationship between program partici­
pation and reinforcer behaviors (β = − 0.319, p < 0.05) (see Table 5). In other words, female students who participated in the program
showed fewer reinforcer behaviors than male students who participated in the program. This result indicates that the program is more
effective at reducing reinforcer behaviors in female students.

3.2. Empathy towards victims

The results indicate that the program has a significant impact on empathy towards victims (β = 0.319, p < 0.01) (see Table 6). In
other words, students who participated in the program have more empathy towards victims than those who did not participate.
However, no moderating effect of gender was observed.

3.3. Anti-bullying attitudes

Program participation was found to be significantly and positively related to anti-bullying attitudes (β = 0.632, p < 0.01) (see
Table 7). This result means that students who participated in the program show stronger anti-bullying attitudes than those who did not
participate. No moderating effect of gender was observed regarding this result.

3.4. Coping responses to observations of bullying

According to the results, the four sub-scales of coping responses to observations of bullying were found to be significantly related to
program participation. The results indicate that program participants were more likely to seek social support and solve problems by
themselves than non-participants (β = 0.337, p < 0.01; β = 0.409, p < 0.01) (see Table 8 & Table 9). However, no moderating effect of
gender was observed.

4. Discussion

This study shows that the Youth Police Academy program was effective in lowering outsider behaviors and reinforcer behaviors
while promoting defender behaviors among participants. This result is consistent with previous studies on the effectiveness of suc­
cessful bullying prevention programs targeting bystanders (e.g., Chung et al., 2013; Kärnä et al., 2011). The results regarding
bystander behaviors are significant because school bullying can be effectively prevented through bystanders’ courageous defending of
victims. As scholars have stressed, when bystanders stand up for victims instead of taking outsider or reinforcer roles, perpetrators are
less successful in creating an atmosphere in which they can easily obtain the social status and power necessary for bullying (Salmivalli
et al., 1996).
The YPA program also had a positive impact on students’ empathetic attitudes towards victims regardless of gender. This result
indicates that those who participated in this program are less likely to be involved in school bullying and more likely to defend victims,
based on previous studies revealing an association between empathy and defending behaviors (Nickerson et al., 2014; Salmivalli,
2010; Thornberg, 2007). This study does not tell us which components of the YPA program contributed to enhancing participants’
empathy towards victims. However, as a number of studies have reported that affective approaches are more effective for enhancing
students’ empathy than purely cognitive approaches (e.g., Heo, 2008; Oh, 2010), the role-playing activity, in which participants were
encouraged to feel as if they were bullied, might have been the aspect that led to this positive result. However, it should be noted that
the role-play activity may not be equally effective in fostering empathetic attitudes toward victims. In other words, the role the
students played in the role-play activity could be linked to the effectiveness of the program. We acknowledge that, due to a lack of data,
comparing the effect of the role-play activity based on the role students played is difficult. Future research should look into how the
students’ roles in the role-play affect the impact of the intervention.
In addition, the YPA program was found to be effective in cultivating anti-bullying attitudes and effective coping responses to
observations of bullying. Studies have shown that it is difficult for victims to report bullying or seek help from adults; therefore, other
students’ active involvement in confronting bullying is essential for effective prevention and resolution of the issue (Chung et al., 2013;
Ttofti & Farrington, 2011). Taken together, the YPA program can be said to contribute to reducing school bullying by creating positive

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Y.-K. Han et al. International Journal of Educational Research 110 (2021) 101881

changes in bystander behaviors and attitudes.

Meanwhile, in examining gender differences, this study found that bystander behaviors were the only area affected by gender. The
program was effective for both male and female students in reducing outsider behaviors, creating defender behaviors, increasing
empathy and anti-bullying attitudes, and promoting effective strategies to cope with witnessing bullying. It is particularly noteworthy
that the program was more effective in lowering female students’ reinforcer behaviors than their counterparts. This study does not
explain the gender difference in the area of bystander behaviors. However, the existing literature on gender differences in school
bullying can offer insights into the result. Researchers have reported that the subtypes of school bullying are gendered (Atik & Güneri,
2013): female students tend to participate mainly in subtle forms of bullying (e.g., relational bullying and verbal bullying), whereas
their male counterparts are engaged in both overt and covert types (Kennedy, 2020b; Oh, 2014; Wang, Iannotti, & Luk, 2012). As
bullying among female students is enmeshed with friendship, they lose the capacity to tell the difference and struggle to identify the
situation as relational bullying (Oh, 2014; Ostrov & Crick, 2007). Accordingly, it is possible that some female students are unaware of
how they participate in bullying as bystanders and contribute to reinforcing the bully’s actions. Even when they recognize it, female
students might be reluctant to stop their reinforcing behaviors or stand up for the victims due to the costs involved. They might be
concerned about the possible loss of friendship or status, particularly when the group is united against the victim (Duncan &
Owen-Smith, 2006; Jenkins & Nickerson, 2017; Padgett & Notar, 2013). Female participants in this study might develop a clearer
understanding of verbal and relational attacks as forms of school bullying through the YPA program. Consequently, the YPA program
might reduce the reinforcer behaviors of the female participants in this study more significantly. However, future research is needed
for a deeper understanding of the gender differences associated with bystander behaviors.

5. Conclusions

The results of this study confirm and expand upon the existing literature regarding the effectiveness of school-based anti-bullying
programs. It has been pointed out that cooperation with related institutions and collaboration with local experts is as important as the
role of schools and teachers in preventing school violence. However, little is known about such cases, and there have been few studies
to verify the effectiveness of community-centered school violence prevention programs (Holt et al., 2013). The YPA program provides
a prime example of the community-based approach to bullying prevention. The YPA program is provided in cooperation with the
Ministry of Education, the National Police Agency, and local police stations, and our results demonstrate that it is effective in
strengthening students’ capacity to prevent and confront school bullying. It is very encouraging that the YPA program has contributed
to enhancing students’ attitudes against bullying and helped nurture the socio-emotional skills essential for bullying prevention, even
though it is just a one-time three-hour program.
In addition, this article provides important insights for policy-makers and program developers working on issues of violence in
schools by presenting a detailed investigation into how a community-centered bullying prevention program was initiated and
developed. However, for the continuing growth of the YPA, follow-up studies need to be conducted to investigate which elements of
the program have positive relationships with each variable. Such follow-up studies need to focus not only on the content of the
program but also on the characteristics of this program that are distinct from other school-based programs such as whole-school
educational interventions or curriculum interventions. Additionally, in order to explain the gender differences found in this study
in greater depth, it would be helpful to use a more sophisticated survey with items that reflect the diversity of school bullying subtypes.
We would like to conclude the article by addressing the methodological limitations of this study. Although this study used an
experimental pre-test and post-test research design, it was not a randomized experiment. In other words, the treatment and control
groups were not randomly assigned. As such, there may be other factors that influenced students’ decision to participate in the
program. For example, more motivated students are generally more likely to independently choose to participate. On the other hand,
some students might have participated due to their parents’ recommendation. In these cases, the characteristics of the students and
their parents might be related to the independent and dependent variables (confounders). Thus, the results of this study do not
guarantee causal relationships among the variables.

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education and the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education

Acknowledgement

The authors greatly appreciate the research assistants Sooyeon Moon and Seunghee Park for their help with data curation.

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