Could some school anti-bullying programs be doing more harm than good?

For years, many school anti-bullying programs have encouraged other children standing by to get involved, but new research has found the practice could be doing more harm than good.

Queensland's QIMR Berghofer Institute reviewed leading international research on the effectiveness of anti-bullying campaigns.

The study found that current campaigns that focus on other students getting involved were not having a positive effect.

"Programs that encourage uninvolved bystanders to get involved was associated with significant increases in victimisation," lead author and psychologist Dr Karyn Healy said.

"Having lots of peers involved makes the situation more public, which can be damaging to the social reputation of victims. Having a trained bystander step in also prevents the victim from handling a situation themselves, and may make them look weak in the eyes of the bully."

Dr Healy said the study also showed that bullying prevention programs overall result in about a 20 per cent reduction in bullying in schools and a 15 per cent drop in victimisation. However, in secondary schools the average benefit was zero.

"Unfortunately this means that programs in high schools are just as likely to make bullying worse as they are to reduce bullying," she said.

The research concluded the most effective anti-bullying programs focus on improving behaviour management, improved playground supervision, and parent involvement.