Abstract
The problem of bullying in schools is an issue of national importance. Research points to an abundance of negative impacts on students involved in bullying and require the attention of adults to address and resolve bullying incidents between students. This study, giving credence to the voices of eighth graders in one central Massachusetts middle school, sought to uncover not only student perspectives about bullying but also to determine what these perceptions revealed about the effectiveness of the school district's anti-bullying policy. Using a mixed methods design, employing a survey instrument and focus group discussions, this study found that about 33 percent of the students in the sample experienced some sort of bullying in the past month with verbal bullying was the most common type of bullying experienced. Themes that emerged from focus groups revolved around confusion regarding the definition of bullying, skepticism in the survey results, the notion that adults are too far removed from youth culture to be truly helpful, and that a teen's search for autonomy may actually prevent adults from making effective inroads into this pervasive problem. Finally, participants discussed specific ways adults could be more helpful to them in combating the problem of bullying.
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