Teacher Perceptions and Practices Regarding School Bullying Prevention

TLDR

The study surveyed a nationally representative random sample of teachers about their perceptions and practices related to school bullying prevention. Among the 52.4% of teachers who responded, 86.3% reported having serious talks with both bullies and victims, yet fewer than one-third allocated classroom time or involved students in rule‑making, and while most saw no barriers, they rated post‑bullying interventions as most effective, indicating a need for enhanced pre‑professional and continuing education on classroom‑based bullying prevention.

Abstract

This study examined a national random sample of teachers regarding their perceptions and practices concerning school bullying prevention activities. A total of 359 of 700 (52.4%) teachers responded. Most (86.3%) teachers had serious talks with both the bully and victim. Less than one-third set aside classroom time to discuss bullying (31.7%) or involved students in creating classroom rules against bullying (31.2%). Most perceived no barriers to implementing these activities. Teachers perceived post-bullying activities as the most effective means of reducing bullying problems, followed by improved student supervision, and by environmental bullying prevention activities. The findings suggest that preprofessional and continuing education are needed to improve teacher knowledge about effective classroom-based bullying prevention activities.