Bullying in High School

Research question :

" What are the steps to prevent bullying in high school? "

3 abstracts:

1. Bullying and Victimization: School Climate Matters (By Jennifer L. Elfstro)

Bullying at school is prevalent in the United States and worldwide, but little is known about the relationship between students’ experiences with bullying  and their perceptions of school climate.  This study investigated the link between bullying and three elements  of school climate—social support from teachers, social support from peers, and school connectedness.  The study used MANOVA analyses to confirm differences between students categorized as bullies, victims, bully-victims, and bystanders.  Findings indicate that students who are not directly involved in bullying perceive more social support and school connectedness than all other students.  Students who are bullied perceive less social support from peers than other students, while students who bully perceive less social support from teachers and connection to school than other students.  Findings from this study support strategies to increase social support and school connectedness, as well as the meaningful involvement of both teachers and students in bullying prevention efforts.   

2. Bullying among High School Students

Objective: The main aim of this research is to investigate the prevalence of bullying behavior, its victims and the types of bullying and places of bullying among 14-17 year-old adolescents in a sample of school children in Bursa, Turkey.

Methodology: A cross-sectional survey questionnaire was conducted among class 1 and class 2 high school students for identification bullying.

Results: Majority (96.7%) of the students were involved in bullying behaviors as aggressors or victims. For a male student, the likelihood of being involved in violent behaviors was detected to be nearly 8.4 times higher when compared with a female student. 

Conclusion: a multidisciplinary approach involving affected children, their parents, school personnel, media, non-govermental organizations, and security units is required to achieve an effective approach for the prevention of violence targeting children in schools as victims and/or perpetrators

3.  Identification and Prevention of Bullying in School

Bullying is a complex problem for many schools districts. The identification of bullying behavior and the creation of a successful anti-bullying program is critical in successfully dealing with the problem. This study examined the emotional consequences of bullying and the causes of bullying behavior, and identified effective programs for dealing with bullying in schools.Bullying behavior is anything that can be reasonably viewed as “intimidating, hostile, dehumanizing, humiliating, threatening, or otherwise likely to evoke fear of physical harm or emotional distress” ( MI BOE, 2009). The causes of this behavior usually stem from lack of a quality role model at home, or even just neglect at home and the behavior is meant to gain attention.  Some of the most successful programs that deal with bullying share three characteristics: first, the program can change with the situation at hand; second, the program starts educating students at a young age; and third, there are clear expectations of students, consequences for actions, and consistent enforcement of punishments.  Programs lacking all three components are not as effective. One of the best-known bullying prevention programs is the Olweus program, but it does have significant cost to the district. Other effective options exist that have little or no cost.