NCJ Number
196983
Journal
Youth Studies Australia Volume: 21 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2002 Pages: 37-44
Date Published
September 2002
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the results of a nationwide study in New Zealand concerning secondary students’ experiences of bullying and their perceptions of how to best resolve the problem.
Abstract
The authors analyzed data from a nationwide questionnaire that included 821 students and 439 staff at 107 schools in New Zealand. The data revealed that 30 percent of students could not claim that they felt safe at school, while a full 45 percent of the students reported that they had been bullied at school. The authors explain that a central issue of their research was the belief that students could offer valuable insight about how to best deal with a bullying situation at school. Thus, the questionnaire asked an open-ended question about how students would like staff members at school to deal with bullying. Forty-six percent of the students answered that punishment of the bully would be the most desirable staff response. The next two most frequent answers included helping the bully and some form of mediation. Another important finding from this questionnaire was that most students felt uncomfortable about telling a staff member about the bullying because they lacked confidence in the staff member’s willingness to help. In conclusion, the authors urge school staff to work closely with students to devise solutions and strategies for school bullying incidents. Strategies to curb bullying behavior will work better, the authors claim, if students believe that there are effective and workable strategies in place to deal with this common school problem. Tables, references