Are Character Building Lessons Effective in Decreasing Bullying Behaviors?

This is a 2 X 2X 2 research design that will study the constructs of self esteem, leadership skills, and prevalence of bullying among a fifth grade school age population. Before data collection, a letter describing the study along with an informed consent sheet, will be mailed to the student's parent/guardian. The written material will state that their child participation is not mandatory. A 48 item likert style questionnaire pre-treatment, post-treatment survey design will be administered to students. Basic demographic questions will also be asked about. All fifth graders will be given questionnaires before they receive the six classroom lessons of 45 minutes duration and then after all the six lessons have been completed. Lessons will be offered on a weekly basis. The fifth graders will be divided into small groups of approximately 10 individuals. The lessons will be delivered by baccalaureate nursing students in their last semester of college. The groups will be formed at the beginning and membership will remain consistent to enhance development of trust and ease of authentic communication. The lessons will be selected from the program, Overcoming Obstacles, a formal educational program designed to assist students to communicate well and set meaningful goals for their lives. In addition, the classroom teachers will be asked to complete a 14 item likert style pre-treatment, post-treatment, both before and after the six lessons about their opinions of each student's behaviors pattern. A statistician is a co-investigator and will identify the type of statistical analysis to be done.