The research is based on finding the effects and causes of bullying on students at primary level. Students perform well in schools if their state of mind is peaceful and problem free. (Armendariz, Y. 2015) Bullying has now, overtime, come to be viewed as a serious public problem not only for children at school but also for all people of all ages. In recent years, bullying has attributed to various widely publicized tragedies such as: suicides, murders, and school shootings. Better performance of students is important for economic growth and skilful labourers. The research on bullying was conducted at Navai Primary school. The research was conducted through questionnaires and interviews where teachers and parents were also included. The effects of bullying was found through the interviews that were carried out with parents. The data will be collected and analysed and the effects and causes of bullying on students education and social life e will be determined. The results will show the pain and suffering a child goes through after being bullied.
Introduction
In recent years, bullying has come to be recognized as a significant problem for millions of adolescents worldwide. As a result of various events related to bullying incidents, society has come to view bullying as a social problem and now schools, parents, and community members must learn how to address and respond to this issue.( (Armendariz, Y. 2015) ‘Education is not merely the delivery of knowledge, skills and information from teachers to students’ Tj. Bos, K., Ruitjers, A. M. and Visscher, A. J. (2005). Bullying is now looked at as a social problem as it has led to the death of a child in Fiji this year.it is very important to understand and study the causes of bullying. Bullying leads to violence and I think it needs to be addressed at primary level so that a child’s future can be improved. Some parents see bullying as normal or something that makes you feel stronger. Bullying will not let a child focus on education and will affect their academic results at large, thus it is very important to identify the main cause of bullying and how it affects students so that a solution could be found for bullying. The main cause of bullying is often identified as an urge to prove yourself stronger.
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Research aims
The aim of this study is to investigate the causes and effects of bullying in schools. The objectives of this study is to inform parents and teachers about the dangerous situations their children can get into through bullying. It also aims to find who is the main victim the bully or the victim of bullying. Furthermore it also intends to gather information from teachers and children through interviews and questionnaires. The main focus of the study is to analyse data and find out the impact of bullying on students’ academic performance.
Research questions
The research proposal is directed by these questions:
How does bullying affect the academic performance of students?
The most favourable answer to this question would be that students academic performances will drop as a result of bullying. A child will not be able to focus on their education and social life as well as their focus will be always on the bully. Furthermore they might not have a peaceful state of minds which is very important for concentration on education.
Who is facing major difficulties in life, A bully or the victim?
Not only the victim of bully is suffering but also the person who is bully might also be going through some kind of mental stress which is causing him/ her to be a bully. This question will help us understand the victim and also the bully so that both can be provided with help and guidance.
Rationale
The rational for choosing this topic has two major reasons. Reason one is to find out the effects and causes of bullying in primary schools and secondly to help teachers and parents find ways to overcome bullying. According to (Brain, P. & Smith, P. k. 2008) School bullying emerges as an international issue, and we have increasing knowledge of its nature and effects. A safe school environment can provide a better education and future to all students. Bullying often starts in schools and in the absence of teachers but the effects of bullying cannot be hidden it eventually comes up in academic performances. There can be many cause of bullying such as parental arguments, the bully being a victim at home, aggression, showing power, seeking attention. Moreover the major purpose of this study is to find out the impact of bullying and to find a solution to bullying and create a safe learning environment for student. According to (Pride Surveys 2016) by collecting this valuable information, schools can then create an accurate picture of bullying in their specific environments. Using this study decision makers can also provide training to staff to encounter bullying. After reading an article in the Fiji Sun that stated that a child died because of bullying, I decided to take up this study to find out the causes of bullying. Secondly to find a good solution to prevent and avoid bullying. It is very important to find solution to this problem as it will help the child itself, the school, the ministry of education and the economy as whole by providing skilful labour force. The proposed solutions that I think will be effective is having a counselling session with students daily for about 10 minutes and also to include bullying in the curriculum so that students are aware of what to do to overcome bullying. The school can also be successful in providing a safe learning environment to students. Preventing bullying can save many lives from being destroying and it can create better future for students. Parents will also know how to handle their children therefore I believe it is important to reduce bullying
Research sites and context
As cited in (Shankar, B. R. 2010) bullying interferes with the educational process as it can be supported by Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Huitt 2004. Bullying can lead to suicide and death. Study by Yale University (2008) adolescent that became victim of bullying 2 to 9 times more likely consider to suicide. Therefore it is important to study bullying in order to save lives. According to the news on FBC a total of 27, 289 cases of bullying were recorded in Fiji in the year 2018. This alarming result makes us think that there are so many students who are going through the trauma of being bullied. Bullying cases include cyber bullying, punching, slapping, swearing and name calling. The most common form of bully nowadays is cyber bullying. Almost all students are fond of using social media. Students become targeted by adults on social media where it normally begins with a chat where pictures are shared on through messages. Later those pictures and messages are used to bully students to do things against their will. Name calling is also another way of bullying the weaker ones. Those students who lack the ability to perform well in all areas are often victim of name calling. Students tease them by calling irritable names. According to my experience I have seen younger student punching or beating senior student out of aggression. It usually happens after teasing. Swearing is often used in anger or sometimes it becomes a habit to swear. Student learn what they hear therefore they often learn swear words from home. Another case came up in the Fiji Sun on March 2018 where it was reported by a year 9 student that he had been bullied at the boarding school by senior students. He was physically abused by the student whereby he intentionally dropped a timber on the child’s leg. This cause the child to change his school and caused a lot of pain physically. After reading these cases it is believed that student are in great need of help to overcome bullying they need to be encouraged to come up and report the cases of bulling. Even though this problem exist in schools student are still living with fear and attending schools. From the data collected it shows evidence of bullying in schools in Fiji. The purpose of this study is to investigate the cases of bullying and find possible solutions to bullying.
Research design
The method of research used for collecting information is through interviews and studying questionnaires. The main focus is on the effects of bullying and secondly the causes of bullying. Both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used to conduct this study. Quantitative researchers have openly discussed how people think for some time. Tourangeau, Rips, & Rasinski (2000), Sudman, Bradburn, & Schwarz (1996), and Bradburn, Sudman, and Wansink (2004) are just a few examples of the researchers who have written extensively on cognitive psychological principles related to survey methods. Bryman and Bell (2007) stated that qualitative research is a research strategy that indicates the relationship between theory and research and usually emphasizes on how theories were generated.
Sample size and population
I chose a school which is located in a rural area. The school that I chose for my study was Navai Primary School. the school has a total of 305 students out of chose to answer the questionnaires only 250 students. Moreover the data collection excluded children from year 1 and 2 as they would not be able to provide valid answers. Year 1 & 2 students were later interviewed. Altogether 12 teachers were interviewed using interview questions
Methods
a. Questionnaire
A questionnaire is a main tool in any major research. According to Larvakas, P. J. 2008 Basically, it is a set of standardized questions, often called items, which follow a fixed scheme in order to collect individual data about one or more specific topics. The questionnaire had 18 questions regarding how a person becomes victims of bullying and also if they have witnessed a person being bullied. As stated by (Kabir, S. M. S. 2016) the questionnaire was invented
By Sir Francis Galton. A questionnaire refers to a device for securing answers to questions by using a form which the respondent fills in by himself. The answers from the questionnaire was used to gather information about bullying. It helped me identify the number of bullying victims in the school and also how many have witnessed bullying in school.
b. Interview
Interviews are particularly useful for getting the story behind a participant's experiences. A research interview involves an interviewer, who coordinates the process of the conversation and asks questions, and an interviewee, who responds to those questions. According to M. Easwaramoorthy & Fataneh Zarinpoush interviews are an appropriate method when there is a need to collect in-depth information on people’s opinions, thoughts, experiences, and feelings. Teachers and a few parents had direct face to face interview where questions were asked and answers recorded. Year 1 & 2 students also had a face to face conversation where interview questions were asked. The students share their experience of being bullied by senior students and as well as some teachers.
Limitations
This research created a user friendly questionnaire so that student are able to openly write about bulling. The first limitation of this research is the population and size. The research was conducted only in one school which is located in a rural area. There are often more cases of bullying recorded in urban schools compared to rural schools. Secondly some students were scared to open up about being bullied as the bully will still be in the same school. Additionally there were some unanswered questionnaires. Moreover during parent’s interview some parents were not able to reach on time due to the distance of the school which resulted in delay. Furthermore even some teachers were often in a busy schedule and found it hard to take out time for interviews. Another limitation it was difficult to include other schools in this research due to the location of the school. It was far from other schools. Finally the interview which was held with year 1 & 2 students was not really reliable as they were not able to disclose and converse openly
Ethical issues
Ethics are the moral principles that a person must follow, irrespective of the place or time. Before beginning with the research study and means of collecting data a letter of permission was written to the head teacher of the school and also to the parents stating the reason of study and permission to interview students. Secondly no names were revealed in the study and all the information provided was kept confidential. The student who had approval form parents were only given questionnaires. Moreover there are some statements used in the study which were made by others and have been credited for. The students and teachers were aware of the purpose of this research and no students were pressured to provide information
Conclusion
From the findings of this research it can be concluded that bullying is a major problem in schools in Fiji which need to be addressed in schools. Bullying does not let a child proper in education but later on portray violence and become violent adults which leads to criminal activities as well. Education is important for everyone to have a better life. The major form of bullying that came up was punching and the main people who are a bully are mostly the senior students who are willing to show their power. The Ministry of Education needs to take bullying as a serious offence and action must be taken against those who are found bullying. Parents and the community at large can be informed about the consequences of bullying in schools. There is also a need to talk to student about sharing their feelings and emotion with peers or teachers and break the silence of being bullied.
Reference
- Barrington, K. (2018 May 01) How does bullying affect a student’s academic performance. Retrieved From https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/how-does-bullying-affect-a-students-academic-performance
- Daniel, J. (2018 June 25) What are the problems and solutions of bullying in schools. Retrieved from https://www.theclassroom.com/problems-solutions-bullying-school-8017158.html Retrieved from https://www.educationmattersmag.com.au/bullying-not-just-a-problem-for-schools/
- SPCC retrieved from https://americanspcc.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Bullying-Causes-of-Courtesy-of-nobullying.pdf
- How to stop bullying in schools: what works what doesn’t work? Retrieved from https://www.today.com/parents/how-stop-bullying-schools-what-works-what-doesn-t-t159669
- Fiji education. Info Retrieved from https://www.fijieducation.info/career-options/career-guide/bullying.html
- Bennet, C. Literature review of bullying at schools. Retrieved from https://umanitoba.ca/faculties/education/media/Bennett-09.pdf Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/research/action/bullying
- Smith, K. P (2016) Bullying: Definition, causes, type, consequences and intervention. (36)
- Tambawal, M. U bullying and its effects on secondary school students. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/3819788/BULLYING_AND_ITS_EFFECTS_ON_THE_ACADEMIC_PERFORMANCE_OF_SECONDARY_SCHOOL_STUDENTS_IN_NIGERIA
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