Bullying is constantly making the headlines, however positive steps to prevent this growing epidemic in our schools are rarely reported.

Now, an ambitious research project conducted by the Centre for Educational Research at the University of Western Sydney has made an important research-based discovery, and has piloted new anti-bullying intervention methods shown to help break the cycle of this debilitating epidemic.

This research was funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage Grants and is one of the first to explore bullying in schools in Australia and was conducted in partnership with the Catholic Education Office, Parramatta Diocese.

In Australia, a staggering one in six students is bullied on a weekly basis and one in ten is an active bully themselves.

The study found three keys to success: educate teachers how to prevent and manage bullying; teach all students a rationale for and how children can make a real difference in putting a stop to bullying; and educate parents about the nature of bullying and what they can do.

Psychologist and recent UWS PhD graduate, Dr Roberto Parada conducted the extensive two-year study involving 4000 students from six western Sydney high schools.

According to Dr Parada, bullying needs to be approached as a behavioural issue, just like any other within the school.

"Children need to be taught why they should put a stop to bullying and how to do this. They need to be taught how to get along with one another and how to resolve disputes appropriately," Dr Parada says.

"We have found children can make a real difference and it is this combination of children, teachers, and parents working together that can put a stop to bullying.

"By increasing teachers' awareness of cognitive behavioural strategies, and by giving them the skills to identify bullying behaviours early, teachers were able to handle aggression using non-threatening positive reinforcement strategies."

Students were surveyed six times over the two-year period using multi-dimensional instruments that evaluate responses more accurately and completely than ever before - including those students who are both victims and bullies at the same time.

Dr Parada says it is incorrect to assume bullies and victims are two distinct groups.

"In particular, these instruments allowed for the measurement of covert, physical and verbal forms of bullying, as well as what onlookers do as a response to witnessing bullying," Dr Parada says.

Bully 'bystanders' were targeted in order to help reduce apathy and change perceptions of bullying amongst students.

"Positive peer relations were influential in reducing bullying and could be achieved by increasing empathy and attachment to fellow students," Dr Parada says.

The results of the study showed a significant improvement in all of the six western Sydney schools trialled.

"Before the interventions were introduced a steady rise in bullying was occurring in the schools," Dr Parada says. "However, a year later, after intervention methods were introduced, no rise was recorded at all."

"The intervention methods used also resulted in more positive student teacher relationships and increased students' feelings of belonging and school attachment," Dr Parada says.

Bullying is a significant risk factor for future criminal behaviour, poor physical and mental health and poor performance in school - not just for the victims of bullying but also for the perpetrators of bullying.

Dr Parada believes bullying in schools has practical, social and economic implications that should concern us all.

"Managing and preventing bullying in schools will result in a better education for students, reduce the burden, impact and costs associated with mental health disorders stemming from bullying; and help prevent the development, impact and socio-economic costs of criminal behaviour," Dr Parada says.