Effects of a Cooperative Learning Intervention Program on Cyberbullying in Secondary Education: A Case Study

Abstract

The goal was to assess the effects of an intervention program, based on cooperative learning and involving the whole school community, on the emotional and social evolution of a student who had suffered cyberbullying. The student, her parents, the school administration, a teacher and the student's classmates agreed to participate in the study. A qualitative research design was used, which included interviews, discussion groups and diaries. The information obtained was structured in three categories: cyberbullying detection and response, psychoeducational intervention program, and emotional and social evolution. Results showed that the program produced significant improvements in the cyberbullied adolescent's emotional and social state. The teacher, the school administrators and the parents observed these positive changes in the adolescent and her classmates, since the class' social climate had improved too. It seems important to establish protocols to detect cyberbullying behaviours, as well as intervention programs to deal with this problem that involve the whole school community.