Abstract
School bullying is a complex social phenomenon that negatively impacts the psychosocial well-being of students, as well as the overall culture and climate of schools. Designing appropriate interventions to combat bullying in South African schools requires nuanced information about this phenomenon. This paper examines the extent and nature of bullying in schools located in different and unequal socio-economic contexts. It then examines the risk factors associated with being a victim of bullying. Self-reported data from a nationally representative sample of 12,514 Grade Nine South African students, who participated in the 2015 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, was used. Data were subjected to analysis using independent samples t-tests and hierarchical generalised linear modelling. The results revealed different patterns of bullying victimisation and perpetration by the socio-economic status (SES) of the school, with students attending schools with a low SES reporting higher levels of bullying. Factors resulting in higher odds of being a victim were students’ gender and psychosocial characteristics. Perpetration as a risk factor for victimisation (bully-victims) was found across bullying types. The results suggest that students play different participant roles as bully and victim, and that the two behaviours reinforce one another. Keywords: bullying; bullying risk factors; bully-victim; school safety; South Africa; TIMSS
Highlights
Bullying is an international phenomenon (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2017), the occurrence of which has become increasingly evident in South African schools (Isdale, Reddy, Juan & Arends, 2017; Zuze, Reddy, Visser, Winnaar & Govender, 2018)
The least common form of victimisation reported by students was having information about themselves posted online
The link between school socio-economic status (SES) and being a victim of bullying is evident as all the differences between no-fee and fee-paying schools were statistically significant at the 99% level
Summary
Bullying is an international phenomenon (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2017), the occurrence of which has become increasingly evident in South African schools (Isdale, Reddy, Juan & Arends, 2017; Zuze, Reddy, Visser, Winnaar & Govender, 2018). This phenomenon has become visible through mainstream media reports and viral social media video clips (Ncontsa & Shumba, 2013), resulting in public concern about the lack of safety in South African schools. Studies have found that a positive culture and climate are associated with less bullying behaviour in schools (Guerra, Williams & Sadek, 2011; Låftman, Östberg & Modin, 2017)
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