Middle school students and bullying behavior

Durdle, Reginald (2008) Middle school students and bullying behavior. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine if the likelihood of middle school students engaging in physical or verbal bullying behaviors (specifically, breaking other people's things, trying to hurt or bother people, teasing other students, fighting with other students, and talking back to teachers) can be predicted by examining personal and school related factors, such as belief in pro-social norms, level of social integration, commitment to school, attachment to school, peer drug modeling, attitudes against substance use, self esteem, positive peer modeling, age, grade and gender. -- The data for this study was archival, having been originally collected by the researcher in 2004 to assess the impact of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program in a rural Newfoundland and Labrador school. Logistic Regression Analysis was used to analyze the responses of 107 students in grades six to eight on the You and Your School questionnaire. -- The current study indicates that both physical and verbal bullying is influenced by gender and age. Self-esteem was also revealed as an important factor as were level of social integration, positive peer support and commitment to school. Implications for these findings are discussed in the context of creating a positive school environment. Limitations and recommendations are also discussed.

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