Bullying in early adolescence

Abstract

Background and objectivesThis study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of bullying among intermediate school students in Saudi Arabia to inform preventive measures.Materials and methodsQualitative methods were applied. The study was conducted at four intermediate schools. Students, parents, and school professionals participated, and data were collected through observations, interviews, and focus groups. Emergent themes and subthemes were identified through coding.ResultsA total of 91 individuals participated: 40 students, 31 school professionals, and 20 parents/caregivers. Three main themes and multiple subthemes were identified: 1) types of bullying, 2) factors encouraging bullying, and 3) the impact of bullying. The lack of safe environments, recreational facilities, and inconsistencies in addressing problematic behaviors were subthemes that were found to be conducive to bullying, whereas dislike of school, racism, aggressiveness, and social isolation were emergent subthemes that were reflective of the potential impact of bullying. With this process, a model for bullying practices is described.ConclusionA better understanding of the bullying experiences among adolescents has been obtained. Preventive measures need to target the factors that the participants identified as conducive to bullying.

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“…In this study, the prevalence of being bullied was more than triple the one reported in a health survey conducted on Saudi adolescents, 2014 (Al Buhairan et al, 2016). Our study was conducted on younger children who usually are naive and sincere in their reporting of events, while older students might get ashamed if they are bullied so they under-report their events (Napolitano, 2011).…”

“…The Peer Interaction in Primary School Questionnaire designed by Tarshis and Huffman and Adolescent Peer Relations Instrument by Parada, R. are used to build the study questionnaire. (Tarshis, 2007;Al Buhairan et al, 2016).…”

“…Children start a new psychological period and development of experience in elementary school, which affectthe direction of their emotional and social attitude (AlBuhairan et al, 2016;Demirbağ et al, 2017). The bully, the victim, and the observers of bullying may have serious and long-term psychological, social, and physical consequences (Al Buhairan et al, 2016;Smokowski et al, 2005). The victims might suffer from isolation, having low self-esteem, feeling less engaged in the school, having eating disorders, or having mental health problems (Gladden et al, 2014).…”

School Bulling in Saudi Arabia

“…Only 7% of U.S. parents are worried about cyberbullying, even though 33% of teenagers have been victims of cyberbullying. 18% of 8 to 10-year-olds spend time on some kind of social networking site daily [10][11][12][13][14].…”

Parental Reported Bullying among Saudi Schoolchildren: Its Forms, Effect on Academic Abilities, and Associated Sociodemographic, Physical, and Dentofacial Features

“…Prevalence estimates in these countries ranged from 20.9% to 44.2%. In Saudi Arabia, AlBuhairan et al [14] explored the topic in the capital city (Riyadh) and reported that all forms of bullying (verbal, physical, sexual, psychological/social, and cyberbullying) were present in the Saudi community. Cyberbullying is a new form of bullying where the aggressive or intentional act is carried out repeatedly and over time by a group or individual, using electronic forms of contact, mainly through phones and the internet, against a victim who cannot easily defend against it [15].…”