There was a surge of interest in bullying and violence as precursors to aggression became ominously present on a global scale. The aim of this effort was to examine the nature and extent of bullying and violence in secondary schools in Durban South, gather children's lived experiences of it and explore structural/procedural barriers to systematic, mandatory school-wide responses. Reporting of bullying and violence was found to be problematic as current school procedures are ad hoc.
Recommendations include the development of a school anti-bullying policy and comprehensive efforts by the school community to systematically monitor and address bullying and violence.
CHAPTER FIVE: DATA ANALYSIS
CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
APPENDICES
LIST OF GRAPHS
LIST OF TABLES
CHAPTER ONE
CONTEXTUAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF THE STUDY
The University of Colorado's evaluation of the Olweus Bully Prevention Program reported a reduction in bullying and other antisocial behavior by more than 50% at the 42 participating schools (Wiesner & Ittel, 2002). According to Robinson, teachers and social workers are concerned about the same children from the same families, often the very children who are failing to realize their educational potential and are also experiencing social breakdown.' The common concerns for both professions are aptly stated here. Although students' rights are documented in legislation, all the newspaper articles cited in this study provide grim testimony to the prevalence of bullying and violence in South African schools.
Focus group members freely shared some personal information and complaints with the researcher.
CHAPTER TWO
FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO BULLYING AND VIOLENCE
Therefore, responses at home can be experienced as somewhat 'automatic'. The difficulty then is when these reactions are treated as normal by family or peers. What we already know about ourselves is compared to our ideal self (i.e. the types of talents, values, popularity, etc. we want to experience). Rademeyer (2006) and Reddy (2006) confirm that bullying in South Africa has reached frightening levels and Bateman (2006) suggests ways to deal with it in his newspaper article entitled 'Break the Silence'. The 'safer schools' program was launched in response to the shooting deaths of people on school grounds (Van Niekerk et al, 2002; Bezuidenhout & Joubert, 2003).
In larger settings, there is an opportunity to stay away from 'troublemakers'. The physical characteristics of schools can contribute to overcrowding as mentioned in this chapter.
CHAPTER THREE
MANIFESTATIONS AND INTERVENTION MEASURES RELATED TO BULLYING AND VIOLENCE
As mentioned in the previous chapter, most young people still measure their worth in terms of the approval received by others. These findings are consistent with Sigwick's (1886:47) comment that "no boy will bear witness against his fellows." Loyalty to a friend or the fear of reporting wrongdoing appear to have been stable constructs throughout the ages. She therefore warns that adults must be aware of the experiences of children in their care.
Slater & Muir (1995) state that a victim's cognition may be 'I can't fight' while the bully's may be 'I am dominant'. The behavior of the former is shaped by physical weakness, shyness/anxiety and overly protective family relationships. Physical abuse, threats and spreading rumors followed respectively in terms of frequency of bullying. Colorosso (2002) describes a 14-year-old Canadian boy who was known as "everyone's best punching bag." He killed a 17-year-old colleague and was arrested. The daily news of 03/14/06 informs us of a 19-year-old Umlazi youth who took his father's gun to school apparently for self-defense.
There should be public awareness of the consequences of bullying and violence in schools where the intolerance of unacceptable behavior is openly expressed. These measures may be one end of the continuum of ways to deal with bullies and may be recommended by the social worker for school safety reasons. Role players in education must be aware of the short and long ten effects of bullying.
Some, if not all of the interventions listed can be adopted in local schools. The research methodology was adopted in function of the needs of this study and is described in the following chapter.
CHAPTER FOUR
What is actually possible to achieve in the school environment is determined by the resources available, and Chapter 1 gives an indication of the deprivation felt in many South African schools. Some role players feel that the educational process will be compromised when human services merge with education (Kotze, 1995; Kasiram, I995). Therefore, the demands and dynamics of each district must be taken into account in creating effective responses to bullying and violence.
The literature is replete with how bullying appears to fuel the ego in the presence of others.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Therefore, the stance of the researcher must be neutral, as he/she is considered a passive observer in the research and an "outsider" to the research. The information that was elicited from the data was not necessarily specified prior to data collection, as noted by Smith & Glass (1987). Mouton (cited in Mudaly, 1998) advises against 'reducing social life to variables and their relationships'. Instead, the emphasis was on understanding the perspectives of students and educators on bullying and violence, allowing for a semi-structured interaction.
Regarding the students, the researcher relied on the most available subjects who were willing to participate in the study. Varied information was received in a flexible environment, to the extent that students assisted in recording and reorganizing the site. The strength of the qualitative approach is that it allows the researcher to play an active role in collecting information.
Instead, the aim was to gather in-depth commentary on bullying and violence with the objective of furthering the interests of the participants. The reliability of this study is increased by the use of the questionnaire (Leedy & . Ormrod, 2001). The ratio of the sample to the student population in this study (grades 8 and 9) is about 1:8.
The researcher's presence during the completion of the questionnaire may have either led learners to provide answers or lead them to omit questions. A letter was drawn up with the help of the supervisor to the principals of the mentioned 4 schools.
CHAPTER FIVE
DATA ANALYSIS
What she found most challenging was the apparent indifference of the students to the goals of the school and the duties of the teachers. Most parents of students are busy, they don't have time to enter. It seemed that at every part of the school day there were children who were left unsupervised.
Bullies are aware of the increased vulnerability of their peers in the absence of educators/adults. A threat note is a subtle form of bullying that simultaneously instills fear in the recipient and protects the identity of the sender. The need for teachers to be seen patrolling the 'out of the way' zones is discussed in Chapter Six.
One hundred (39.8%) respondents stated that they bear the pressure to have smart school equipment. Optional items of sandals, takkies and jackets are to be included as part of the uniform in the hope of reducing financial costs. About 42% of students said they reported bullying to an adult (parent/teacher) or an older sibling.
Forty-eight percent of the 96 boys and 46% of the 155 girls reported being embarrassed in the presence of supportive others. The majority of respondents (574%) agreed that bullying occurs mainly when a person is in the company of their friends, while 19.5% disagreed. Here, the majority of respondents (39% = 98 students) believed that educators are not aware of the extent of bullying in school.
This is encouraging in terms of raising awareness that bullying is unacceptable and should be reported.
CHAPTER SIX
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter provides an overview of the feedback received in this study and attempts to describe some of the gaps in tackling bullying and violence. Some incidents merited media attention (for example the child stabbed in the head with a screwdriver during a lesson) and the fact that they remained out of the spotlight reflects that a fraction of bullying and violence may be reported by the media. Smith & Sharp (1998:5) are quoted as saying: 'Bullying is difficult to stop because of the unwillingness of peers to provide information and the unwillingness of the bullied students to complain very loudly.' The assumption that there were no regulated means for students to inform teachers about bullying was confirmed.
There is no doubt that they experienced very real and troublesome problems (ie the alcoholism and marital discord of their parents). Approximately 50% of the learners in the two Merebank schools were Africans who may not have lived in Umlazi. A majority of the questionnaire respondents (57.4%) in this study agreed that the impetus for a bullying scenario stems from the group context.
The author notes that there are short-term violence prevention programs in American schools that have shown positive results, but long-term evaluations seem to be still lacking (e.g., zero-tolerance policies implemented in some states have not ensured that 'problems' is not stigmatized or alienated to students). All of the above seemed very relevant to the topic of bullying and violence, and their detailed investigation is recommended as an extension of the information gathered here. His school has recently been made safe with the active participation of community members (eg Barnbanani volunteers who serve as guards).
In accordance with the ecological framework, the tasks of the school social worker are focused on the different levels described (i.e. individual, family, school and community). It is generally accepted that the main service of the school is to educate students and that social services will be given a lesser status.
Children's thinking about aggression: Differences between Japan and the United States and implications for school discipline. Access and use of students' cultural beliefs about human reproduction in a high school biology class. 1991). A study of attitudes towards violence and tolerance towards it by a group of school children. Maatskaplike Werk/Social Work,.
Learn Lessons in Fearful Disgust.Sunday Tribune, pp. Research and Evaluation in Education and the Social Sciences.
APPENDIX A
GANGES SECONDARY
APPENDIXB
APPENDIXC
This means that you can choose not to participate, or withdraw your participation, if you so wish.
APPENDIXD QUESTIONNAIRE
It's a teasing name that sticks, c) someone insults my family member, .. e) people like to throw my school bag around or damage my stuff. Students are not really afraid of being scolded or punished by teachers, so they continue to upset or harass other students. a) agree b) unsure c) disagree.
