How to fight violence and harassment in schools and colleges?

Summary Peer-to-peer violence in schools is a worrying phenomenon, especially given its potential long-term impact on the future of children. Here we evaluate the effects of a "School Social Mediation" (SSM) program aimed at reducing peer violence. Thanks to a random assignment experimental protocol, we show that the effects of the program are very important when it is implemented by experienced mediators: in middle school, the rate of perceived harassment is then reduced by 11%. Specifically, the program is extremely beneficial for the students most exposed to violence: the probability of feeling harassed decreases by 46% for 6th grade boys and by 26% for 5th grade girls. Interesting effects are also visible on the psychological and social well-being of students, as well as on student and teacher absenteeism.