The aim of the study was to reveal the forms of bullying experienced by children and the factors that contribute to it; as well as strategies to mitigate bullying in the school context. The study showed that teachers are also the perpetrators of bullying in one way or another.
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Boys were more exposed to bullying than girls, while girls were more exposed to indirect and subtle forms of bullying. At the time of writing, incidents of bullying in South African schools appeared to be on the rise (Isolezwe, 2013).
THE GEOGRAPHIC AND SOCIAL CONTEXT OF THE STUDY
Schools are now responsible for finding alternative ways to deal with delinquency, a move towards creating safe schools that promote health” (Asmal, 2000, p. 2). The new government also introduced other legislation aimed at improving education in South Africa.
THE PURPOSE, RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
5 facilities and also emphasized the need for improvements in the safety and security elements of education in the teaching and learning process. The Bill of Rights in the 1996 Constitution lists a number of human rights that are protected and enforced by law.
STRUCTURE OF THE DISSERTATION This dissertation is organized as follows
In line with my main aims underlying this study (see Chapter 1), we hope that my engagement with these children's narratives will serve to raise awareness of bullying in South African schools and provide a platform for children to offer their reflections on how bullying in schools could be eradicated. I begin my review of these studies by considering works that offer some understanding of bullying among children.
UNDERSTANDINGS OF BULLYING
Given that my research sample is children between the ages of 14 and 16, I consider studies that explored the understanding of bullying among children of similar ages. Fred (2009) concentrates more on the forms of bullying rather than on the understanding of bullying.
FORMS OF BULLYING
Therefore, cyberbullying is described as a form of bullying that can easily go unnoticed due to a lack of parental/authoritative supervision. Since bullies can impersonate someone else, cyberbullying is the most anonymous form of bullying.
THE CAUSES OF BULLYING
Personality
16 Olswald (2011) states that bullies can sometimes have their own problems; they may feel upset, angry or like they don't belong; maybe they have problems at home; they are afraid of being bullied, so they do it first; they are bullied themselves, perhaps by someone in their own family or by other adults; and many do not love themselves and therefore take it out on someone else. Their studies were conducted among children from semi-urban areas between the ages of fifteen and seventeen, so their research is useful for this study.
Peers
Dunham (2006) points out that victims of bullying often suffer from psychological disorders with high levels of depression and suicidal thoughts. Victims of bullying often take their frustrations home from school and lash out at their parents; are more than likely unaware of their children's suspension at school.
POSSIBLE WAYS TO PREVENT BULLYING
What could children and a school do to prevent bullying?
Most researchers refer to Farrington's (1995) study on bullying issues and measures that children and schools can take to prevent bullying. There are common myths about school bullying; things like school size seem to be a problem with bullying.
What can parents and teachers do to prevent and stop bullying?
The study conducted by Lombard (2006), in Cape Town and Durban schools, shows that over a third (36.3%) of students were involved in bullying behaviour; 8.2% are bullies; 19.3% were victims and 8.7% were victims of bullying (those who bully and are bullied by others). The findings of the study confirm that bullying is a serious problem in South Africa with 36.3% of all students involved.
CONCLUSION
INTRODUCTION
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
Thus, the wealth of data in qualitative research allows a better understanding of the phenomenon under investigation. Denzin and Lincoln (2003) and Nieuwenhuis (2007) define qualitative research as the study of things in their natural settings and phenomena in terms of the meanings people attach to them. Denzin and Lincoln (2003) show that qualitative research also uses different methods of data collection, and the use of these multiple methods reflects an attempt to gain an in-depth understanding of a given phenomenon.
THE SCHOOL CONTEXT AND PARTICIPANTS
This means that qualitative researchers collect data in the field where participants live and experience the problem being studied. In this study, I used various methods to collect data to have a deep understanding about bullying in school. The cultural beliefs and traditional customs of Africans, which are patriarchal, are also reflected in the schools.
THE STUDY SAMPLE AND SAMPLING PROCEDURES
Individual semi-structured interview
The advantages of the semi-structured interview are that it provides the opportunity to explore and clarify issues. Semi-structured interviews have the opportunity to collect descriptive data from a few participants who have knowledge of the phenomenon under investigation. The interviews were conducted in a language that the children could understand and code switching was used where necessary.
Focus group interview
In this study, I paid careful attention to nonverbal cues that might indicate that students were uncomfortable with certain aspects of the discussion. I assured participants that the audio tapes would be kept strictly confidential and would only be used by me for the purpose of the study. By drawing these maps I got a clearer picture of the bullied and the bullies, including the unsafe places in their environment.
School records
Children were asked to draw the maps of their school and the places where they feel vulnerable.
DATA ANALYSIS
32 Qualitative data analysis aims to investigate the meaningful and symbolic content of qualitative data (Nieuwenhuis, 2007). Babbie and Mouton (2001) make a distinction between the coding of the manifest content - the visible, surface content and the content, that is its underlying meaning. The study was informed by my research questions, my conceptual framework and the literature I studied.
TRUSTWORTHINESS
The data was analyzed and coded, noting similarities, differences, and relationships, and categorizing them into patterns or categories of meaning.
VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Narrative analysis uses a variety of procedures for interpreting texts and may include structural analysis which involves an examination of the structure or organization of a story, its development, and where and how it begins and ends (Maree, 2007) . In this case, the interview schedule was clearly structured to take into account bias in terms of my expectations as a researcher, my views on bullying and my objectives in terms of the research questions.
ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Participants were informed that participation in this research would be voluntary. They were informed of their rights and that they were free to leave the research site if they felt uncomfortable in any way, in response to the questionnaires or in interviews. All participants were to receive feedback on the results of the research and conclusions.
CONCLUSION
The aim was to answer the following research questions: what is children's understanding of bullying. The research found that abuse of power, abuse and domination were important features in children's understanding of bullying. The other dynamic that shapes children's understanding of bullying has to do with the types of families these children come from.
COMPLEX FORMS OF BULLYING
As with most of the research studies reviewed while conducting this study, for example the study by Done, (2002) "How teachers and students in a Durban school understand and cope with bullying", the other study reviewed was by Squelch (2000 ) of the African Rand University. This study also showed that name-calling was a common form of bullying. For example, all participants agreed that physical bullying is a serious form of bullying found among boys.
PLACES AND SPACES OF BULLYING
Only the aunts in the kitchen who can save you when you are in trouble (Siyanda). What makes this place unsafe is that most students use different types of drugs in the toilets. This showed that children bully, but are tired of the behavior they exhibit.
CONCLUSION
59 If my mother always shouts at me, then I come to school and someone teases me, then I start hitting someone for no reason (Samkelo). Sometimes children take out their anger and frustration on others about things that may have happened at home. They start playing at home with other children, sometimes older than themselves, and take that with them to school.
INTRODUCTION
The investigation showed that there was a high level of bullying that took place at the school. Children's understanding of victims and perpetrators of bullying reflects the social power inequalities at school and in the wider community. As indicated above, the study found that bullying was mainly committed by boys against girls.
IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
66 Motivational speakers should be invited to discuss the problems of bullying with children at school because some children think that nothing can be done about this problem. Social workers should be invited to school to speak to children about the different types of bullying and its impact on their lives. Experts, such as those from Love Life and the South African Police Service, should also be invited to schools to talk to both perpetrators and victims of bullying about the dangers of this phenomenon.
CONCLUSION
Students are expected to answer each question in a way that reflects their own personal opinions. Pseudonyms will be used (real names of the participants and the institution will not be used throughout the research process). There will be no benefits that your child will receive from participating in this research project.
Your child will be expected to answer each question in a way that reflects his/her personal opinions. You are expected to answer each question in a way that reflects your personal opinions.
