As noted by the Hazelden Foundation (2007), the program is not a curriculum but a school-wide system change that occurs at four different levels. At the school wide level, the school establishes a Bullying Prevention Coordinating Committee, holds trainings and meetings, administers the Olweus Bullying …show more content…
While they point out that PATHS teaches that all feelings are normal and not controllable, the program stresses that since one’s behavior affects others as well as oneself, one can control the behaviors that result from these feelings. The website, Program: Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (2011) declares that PATHS effectively reduces aggression and behavior problems in children age three to twelve years old. Successful implementation typically results in less peer related aggression, more social competence, a more positive atmosphere, higher levels of enthusiasm, and a greater ability to stay focused. Additionally, the Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center (2012) says improvements are seen in self-control, planning ahead, and conflict resolution. While the Center concluded that teachers typically reported decreased negative symptoms and higher classroom engagement, peers or other classmates usually reported less aggression and better classroom …show more content…
Some researchers have seen positive improvements in student behavior after only seventeen hours of the course. Evidence for effectiveness and successful results was gathered from a study conducted in the Journal of Adolescent Health which “found that sixth-grade students in schools that implemented the Second Step program were 42 percent less likely to say they were involved in physical aggression (fighting) compared with students in schools that did not implement the program” (Committee for Children > Second Step, 2017). In fact, “girls appeared to have higher scores for some behavioral measures and sixth grade boys had a decrease in externalizing problem behaviors” (Program Profile: Second Step®: A Violence Prevention Curriculum, 2012).
Added evaluated effectiveness and success was detailed by the Program Profile: Second Step®: A Violence Prevention Curriculum (2012), in which the site showed that a successful significant reduction of antisocial behavior occurred during the first year of implementation. However, the site also reported that these effects lessened over