NCJ Number
212487
Journal
Journal of School Violence Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Dated: 2005 Pages: 49-61
Date Published
2005
Length
13 pages
Annotation
This article presents findings from two exploratory studies investigating United States teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about bullying.
Abstract
Research is mounting that indicates that bullying can lead to violent acts of revenge, as well as to suicidal thoughts. Bullying is not a new phenomenon, as children have been bullied for countless generations. There is little research on teachers’ perceptions of bullying with most of the limited research pointing to the fact that there are discrepancies between teachers’ and students’ perceptions of the frequency of bullying, the location of bullying incidents, and the effectiveness of intervention. This article describes research results from two exploratory studies which investigated teachers’ attitudes and beliefs. The research examined what teachers believe about school bullying and how confident they are in their ability to effectively intervene in bullying situations. The first study consisted of 95 teachers completing the MOBS-T questionnaire. Study 2 consisted of 93, first-year teachers who were surveyed regarding their initial teaching experience. Study results showed that 71 percent of teachers indicated that students felt unsafe at least sometimes. In addition, almost 12 percent of teachers themselves sometimes felt unsafe in their elementary schools. The results do not describe a positive school climate. The results from both studies suggest that although teachers recognize that bullying exists, they display attitudes and beliefs about bullying that may be counterproductive for bullying prevention and intervention programs. References