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This study examined the relationships between academic self-efficacy, academic motivation, social support, school belonging, home-school dissonance, and academic intentions in a sample of 762 Mexican American 9th graders attending a Midwestern public school. Using Structural Equation Modeling, we examined a model where academic self-efficacy and motivation mediated relations between family, peer, and school support, school belonging, and home-school dissonance to the outcome of academic intentions. We also explored whether relations would differ by gender. Academic motivation functioned as a significant mediator of the effect of family support on academic intentions, and school belonging on academic intentions The relationship between friend support and motivation to achieve varied by gender where the relationship was positive for boys but not for girls. We discuss practical implications for school-based preventive interventions to promote school persistence in Latina/o adolescents.

Despite what we have learned about the causes and consequences of bullying, efforts to reduce bullying through interventions to date have yielded modest results. Most bullying prevention efforts have targeted perpetrators and victims, ignoring the powerful role that observers play in maintaining cycles of bullying. This article presents literature from the fields of bystander behavior, empathy training, multicultural education, and ally/social justice orientation development; integrates relevant findings; and proposes a comprehensive model of upstanding behavior to inform prevention efforts. Through helping youth understand the value of being upstanders, there is a greater propensity for our schools and communities to become safer, more compassionate places that value the contributions of all members.

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