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Abstract
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As part of a survey service developed to assess bullying in schools, anonymous questionnaires were given to over 6,000 pupils in 17 junior/middle and seven secondary schools in the Sheffield LEA. The results are analysed in terms of frequencies of being bullied, and bullying others; year differences; gender differences; types of bullying; where bullying occurs; whether teachers and parents are informed; and attitudes to bullying. Rates of reported bullying are disturbingly high; they vary with year, gender and school location, partly as a result of opportunities for bullying. With the addition of data from six other schools, it was found that school size, class size and ethnic mix were not linked with bullying. Social disadvantage is linked with bullying to a small extent, and schools with high bullying rates also tend to have pupils who dislike, or are alone at, playtime. Implications for intervention against bullying are briefly discussed.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
This aim of this study by Whitney and Smith was to examine bullying behavior in junior/middle and secondary schools in the United Kingdom.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors used a quasi-experimental design. The sample consisted of 6,758 students. Out of those, 2,623 (aged 8 to 11 years) were selected from 112 classes in 17 junior/middle schools. From 211 classes in 7 secondary schools, 4,135 students (aged 11 to 16 years) were selected. For each school, the head teacher completed the school information questionnaire: size of school, resources, percentage of students from social classes, percentage of students from different ethnicities, and school location (rural vs. urban). A 25-item questionnaire was administered to the students. Out of the 25, 22 questions inquired about different aspects of bullying. Bullying was operationally defined as, "when another child or young person, or a group of children or young people, say nasty and unpleasant things to him or her. It is also bullying when a child or a young person is hit, kicked, threatened, locked inside a room, sent nasty notes, when no one ever talks to them and things like that" (p. 7). All of the questionnaires were administered in late November, 1990. Teachers who did not ordinarily teach each class administered the questionnaires. These teachers briefly explained the purpose of the survey, assured the students of anonymity, and prevented students from interfering with each other's surveys. Standardized instructions were read, and the definition of bullying was read prior to the questions that addressed this concept. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression equations were used to analyze the data.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The authors found a high level of bullying: 37% in the junior/middle schools and 14% in the secondary schools. There was no substantial difference between boys' and girls' experiences at being victims of bullying. However, at least twice as many boys than girls reported bullying others. Frequency of being bullied decreased greatly as students grew older. The most frequent type of bullying was name-calling: 50% of junior/middle school reports and 62% of secondary reports. Most junior/middle school students reported being bullied by students in their class; the opposite was true for secondary students. In junior/middle schools, the majority of the bullying occurred on the playgrounds; the location of bullying varied in the secondary schools.
Schools in disadvantaged areas were found to have significantly (p<.01) higher incidences of bullying. For secondary students, those who reported greatly disliking playtime had a significant positive correlation with higher frequencies of being bullied. Being alone at break time at least once a week was positively and significantly correlated with being bullied sometimes (p<.01), and with bullying others sometimes.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors recommended that schools adopt clear school-wide policies outlining actions against bullying. The authors suggested that future studies monitor the effects of various interventions.
EVALUATION:
Overall, this survey attests to the magnitude of the problem of bullying in junior/middle and secondary schools. External validity is difficult to evaluate because the authors did not include the method of selection. Also, they fail to support their claim that the schools in the sample were representative of any geographic area beyond the city of study. In conclusion, this study presents a detailed, albeit limited, look at bullying in English schools. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Bullying in School
KW - Bullying Incidence and Prevalence
KW - Late Childhood
KW - Early Adolescence
KW - Late Adolescence
KW - Peer Victimization
KW - Child Victim
KW - Juvenile Victim
KW - Countries Other Than USA
KW - England
KW - Junior High School Student
KW - Senior High School Student
KW - Victimization Incidence and Prevalence
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