engleski

Participation in Bullying Awareness Program and Pupils' Recognition of Various Manifestations of Bullying Occurrence

Educational interventions aimed at promoting respect in relationships and strategies for responding to inappropriate pupil behaviors result in a significant increase in awareness of bullying. The presented data were collected as a part on the evaluation of the bullying reduction program. The program has been implemented in 121 school with over 60 000 children, and has been successfully completed in 50 schools by the time of evaluation. Reported findings are based on the data collected prior to the program implementation and evaluation survey administered subsequent to the program implementation. The sample of pupils who participated in the evaluation survey consisted of 302 pupils. In the evaluation survey, 42% of pupils report they were not victims of the bullying in this school year, and 45% of them say that it happened once or twice. Less than 10% were bullied monthly or weekly. After one-year period of program implementation, there is significantly greater proportion of pupils who report that they were victims once or twice. Accordingly, the proportion of pupils who were not victims is significantly smaller (x2=57.382, df=4, p<.001). The answers of pupils revealed that there is significant decrease in calling pupils names and making fun of them in an offensive manner at the time of second testing (x2=80.177, df=4, p<.001). It is possible that this kind of bullying is now more visible and more frequently perceived as bullying than it was before and perhaps does not appear as often as it did before. In the first data collection there was significantly smaller incidence of ignoring or excluding pupils from the peer-group (x2=55.742, df=4, p<.001). This form of bullying seems to be more present (or recognized) than it was before. As the results indicate, during the implementation of the program pupils obviously recognized that there are forms of violence other than the most frequently mentioned physical violence. This is especially the case with verbal abuse as one of the most frequent forms of bullying. Hitting, kicking, pushing, throwing things at pupils and locking pupils up in room are now less reported than a year before (?2=30.886, df=4, p<.001). Telling lies, spreading rumors and turning other pupils away from the victim are also less reported than in the first data collection (x2=12.935, df=4, p<.02), as well as extorting money or other personal belongings and destroying them (x2=38.129, df=4, p<.001). Calling names related to pupil's origin is also reported less than before (x2=60.321, df=4, p<.001). In a one-year period of program implementation some manifestations of bullying have decreased and the only form of bullying which has increased is ignoring other pupils and excluding them from the peer-group. Pupils report that physical violence is now less present, and forms of violence such as verbal abuse or extorting personal belongings have decreased as well.

g; pupils; bullying awareness program

nije evidentirano