Early indicators of aggressive behavior include poking and pushing other children in the elementary school years, negative and defiant behavior, and interrupting and blurting out thoughts (self-centered verbal responses to others).  According to research, these are some of the early warning signs of later aggressive and impulsive behavior (Taub, 2002).  Children who exhibit these behaviors are also more likely to be neglected by peers, be the victims of bullying by other children, to have low self-confidence, to underachieve in school and to exhibit social withdrawal.  Research reveals that aggressive children have deficits in social skills knowledge and are more likely to respond impulsively when confronted with social problems (Dodge et al., 1986 as cited in Taub, 2002).

The Second Step Violence Prevention Program attempts to improve children’s social competence by developing student skills in the areas of empathy, problem solving skills, impulse control, and anger management.  Effective techniques such as modeling, rehearsal, role-play, and verbal mediation are utilized in this program.  The content of the lessons varies according to grade level and the skills targeted for practice are designed to be developmentally appropriate for students at each grade level.   At each grade level, opportunities are provided for modeling the skills and for practice and reinforcement of each new skill.  Second Step lessons improve social skills that reduce impulsive and aggressive behaviors and increase levels of social competence. 

This program targets the elementary school population in a preventive effort to improve problem solving and prosocial competency among younger children to avoid problems at the middle and high school levels.  The program targets the entire school population as opposed to singling out a few “at-risk children” for social skills training.     

Results of a year long longitudinal study with students in third through sixth grades in a rural elementary school suggested that the program had a modest positive effect in the school where it was implemented.  It was deemed effective at enhancing students’ social competence and increasing their use of prosocial behavior.   The commitment of the school staff to training and implementation of the program likely influenced the success of the program (Taub, 2002). 

Second Step: A Violence Prevention Curriculum is published by the Committee for Children, Seattle, Washington. 

References

Dodge, K.A., Pettit, G.S., McClaskey, C.L., & Brown, M.M. (1986).  Social competence in children.

     Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 51, 213.  (as cited in Taub, 2002).

Taub, J. (2002).   Evaluation of the Second Step Violence Prevention Program at a Rural Elementary

     School.  School Psychology Review, 31, 186-199.