Explores 68 teachers' perceptions of student bullying behaviors within a revised framework of Richard Lazarus's stress and coping theory. About half of the teachers indicated they "always" tried to stop bullying. Only a small percentage of teachers said, however, they considered other teachers as "always" interested in trying to stop bullying.…

Students need to know the difference between snitching to get someone in trouble and disclosing disturbing information to save lives, prevent harm, or right a wrong. Elements in the school culture that would encourage students to confide in adults include trust, adults in close proximity, positive school climate, information hotlines, and…

Uses psychodynamic perspective to explore tendency of small groups to regress to group mindlessness, where critical thinking is sluggish and individual differences are suppressed. Discusses dynamics of small group mindlessness and the emergence of dissenter role. Suggests ways of enhancing group mindfulness. (Author/TE)

Examined the effects of group loyalty and distortion tendencies during a nominal grouping exercise involving 42 members of a management team in a decision-making seminar, divided into 5 groups to generate ideas on developing a program of flextime scheduling. Results showed distortion of judgment resulting from in-group loyalty in both…

Administered identical questionnaires to high school students (N=570) in 1963, 1976, and 1982. While educational, career, and financial concerns were more parent-oriented, almost all social activities were peer-oriented. Strength of the orientation fluctuated over the years with teenagers in 1963 showing lowest peer orientation and teenagers in…

Reports on classroom management in 15 Japanese first grade classes. Describes intensive training of children in procedural skills during the first month of school, peer pressure through class monitors and small groups to achieve management goals, and emphasis on children's socioemotional development as a target of pedagogy. 22 references. (SV)

Research with 38 undergraduates studied a technique for assessing conformity on a ratio scale and variables used to analyze normative and information factors. Computer presentation of the statistics and storage of responses allows assessment of discrepancies between actual line length and length of the reproductions made with/without peer…

Studied similarities and differences in views of 69 high school students and their parents regarding delinquency causation. Found beliefs of two groups to be similar; both groups regarded variety of causative factors to be relatively unimportant. Certain factors (parental indifference) were considered relatively important by parents; certain…

This article, based largely on participant observation by a British 18-year-old schoolgirl, considers forces that crush creativity in teenagers, including pressures at school, at home, and by peers. The article shows how teenagers whose creativity has been crushed then humiliate and crush the creativity of other teenagers. Mentoring is seen as one…

A study found that children whose parents smoke are more likely to be smokers than children whose parents do not smoke. Maternal smoking has a stronger effect than paternal smoking on smoking by young adolescents, and has a stronger effect on daughters than on sons. Perceived peer smoking is an important determinant of a child smoking, especially…

This paper reviews research on observational learning, including model characteristics and observers' responses, vicarious reinforcement as implicit punishment, vicarious effects on students with problem behavior, observers' other characteristics and vicarious effects, and aggression and vicarious processes. Regular class placement of students…

Presents program development and peer education training considerations for programs that attempt to influence healthy attitudes toward dating and preventing date rape. The paper discusses the program's theoretical foundations, goal determination, mixed-gender programs, themes students raise during programs, the consensual sex scenario as a…

Compared a 6-session, peer-led smoking intervention program for high school-age youth (n=93) to an identical program led by adults. Results showed a significant difference in the number of cigarettes smoked by students in both peer-led and adult-led groups when compared to the control group. (RJM)

Examined the influence of friends' behaviors and the features of their friendships on 297 adolescents' school adjustment. Found that students whose friends described themselves as more disruptive increased in self-reported disruption over the course of the school year. Girls' self-reported disruption was more influenced by that of their best…

A school-based approach to Positive Peer Culture (PPC) is most successful if integrated into academic curriculum. Examples of incorporating PPC into English, math, social studies, and science show how students can learn to think analytically about PPC's 12 problem areas. (SK)