U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Observation of Bullying in Schools by Learners

NCJ Number
217329
Journal
Acta Criminologica Volume: 17 Issue: 1 Dated: 2004 Pages: 139-153
Author(s)
J. Neser; M. Ovens; E. van der Merwe; R. Morodi; A. Ladikos; J. Prinsloo
Date Published
2004
Length
15 pages
Annotation
This article reports on a South African survey that measured students' feelings of safety at their schools and their views of the frequency, nature, and location of bullying, as well as the characteristics of bullies.
Abstract
The survey found that 54.4 percent of the students always felt safe at school; however, 10 percent of the respondents "hardly ever" (2.9 percent) and "never" (7.3 percent) felt safe at school; 19 percent reported that they "sometimes" felt unsafe at school. Approximately 15 percent of the boys indicated that they "hardly ever" or "never" felt safe at school, compared to 7.4 percent of the girls. Out of the total sample of respondents, 59.4 percent of those under 15 years old said that they always felt safe at school, compared with 48.8 percent of students over 15 years old. Only 41 percent of White students felt safe at school, compared with 65.7 percent of "colored" students, 59.8 percent of Black students, and 59.1 percent of Indian students. Nearly 42 percent of the students believed that students were bullied every day, and 29.5 percent reported that students were bullied once or twice a week. Regular bullying was perceived as being mild, such as unpleasant teasing. Physical attacks and threats of physical attacks were viewed as occurring less often. The most common locations for bullying were reported to be the playground, followed by classrooms and while walking to and from school. Boys and groups of boys were viewed as the most frequent perpetrators of bullying. The survey was conducted in the first term of 2003. A total of 1,926 questionnaires were completed by students in grades 6 through 11 from 9 primary, 8 secondary, and 2 special schools in District 4, Tshwane South. 7 tables and a 8-item bibliography