Coping with school bullying: a cross national pilot intervention study

In Australia and Greece the issue of school bullying is a significant concern of educators and students. While victims are not to be blamed for being bullied, research suggests that the strategies utilised by victims to cope with bullying may inadvertently reinforce victimisation. This paper will outline the successful Australian “Coping with School Bullying” (CWSB) program, including the use of a translated Greek version of the CWSB DVD, and describe the outcomes of the replication of the CWSB questionnaire with Greek students to identify effective and ineffective coping. Preliminary research conducted in Greek schools indicates that the CWSB program was successful in significantly reducing bullying amongst Greek students who had reported being seriously bullied pre-program. The intervention will now be rolled out to a larger number of schools in Greece in 2013

School Belongingness and Coping with Victimisation in Bullied and Non-bullied Students: A Discriminant Analysis Approach

All rights reserved © 2017, Modern Greek Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand. Reproduced with permission of the publisher.Documented evidence has raised public and professional concern regarding the prevalence of victimisation in schools and the established immediate and long-term adverse consequences it has on many aspects of the development of adolescents. The purpose of our research was a) to examine the frequency of self-reported victimisation b) to investigate the victimisation coping strategies c) to examine possible gender and age effects and d) to identify differences between bullied and non-bullied students with regard to coping strategies and school belongingness. Eight hundred sixty students (860), aged 12 to 16, from 15 public secondary schools of Greece participated in the study. Gender proved a stronger differentiating factor than age in reporting being victimised, in coping with victimisation and in perceived school belongingness. Being a boy and feeling rejected in school puts individuals at high risk for being victimised. These results are in line with ecological approaches to school bullying phenomena

TOCSIN project: Dimensions and impact of the greek economic crisis upon early childhood education

Σύμφωνα με τη Eurostat (2014) περισσότερο από το ένα τρίτο (1/3) του ελληνικού πληθυσμού βρίσκεται κάτω από το όριο της φτώχειας. Η παρούσα έρευνα υλοποιήθηκε στο πλαίσιο των δράσεων του προγράμματος TOCSIN (βλ. www.tocsin.uth.gr) με την υποστήριξη του Χρηματοδοτικού Μηχανισμού του ΕΟΧ (ΓΓΕΤ – ΧΜ ΕΟΧ), με στόχο τη μελέτη των απόψεων και των αναπαραστάσεων των εκπαιδευτικών σχετικά με τις συνέπειες της ολοένα αυξανόμενης οικονομικής κρίσης σε ευάλωτους πληθυσμούς της πρώιμης σχολικής και προσχολικής ηλικίας. Στην έρευνα συμμετείχαν 316 διευθυντές και προϊστάμενοι δημοτικών και νηπιαγωγείων, κυρίως από τους Νομούς Αττικής, Θεσσαλονίκης και Μαγνησίας, οι οποίοι συμπλήρωσαν ηλεκτρονικά ένα ερωτηματολόγιο ειδικά κατασκευασμένο για τους σκοπούς της έρευνας. Τα στοιχεία της έρευνας αφορούν συνολικά σε 20.155 μαθητές, 5.688 της προσχολικής εκπαίδευσης και 15.070 των τριών πρώτων τάξεων του δημοτικού. Η έρευνα έδειξε ότι αυτό που επλήγη περισσότερο είναι η συμμετοχή των παιδιών σε σχολικές δραστηριότητες, όπως οι εκδρομές και άλλες εκπαιδευτικές και ψυχαγωγικές δράσεις, ενώ οι περισσότεροι από τους μισούς εκπαιδευτικούς ανέφεραν προβλήματα στη σίτιση, ένδυση και υπόδηση των μαθητών. Η μείωση της γραφικής ύλης και των υλικών που απαιτούνται από τους μαθητές, τα προγράμματα συναισθηματικής υποστήριξης των μαθητών καθώς και η επικοινωνία-συνεργασία με άλλους φορείς, αποτελούν τις πιο συχνά επιλεγόμενες στρατηγικές από τα σχολεία για την υποστήριξη του μαθητικού πληθυσμού τους, σύμφωνα με τους εκπαιδευτικούς.Introduction: The financial crisis in Greece has had a heavy impact on the socio-economic status of Greek society during the past seven years. Such changes are shrinking incomes, increased taxes and unemployment which lead systematically to increasing poverty. Particularly, Eurostat (2014) indicates that more than one third of Greek people is under the poverty line. Therefore Greece is categorized as the one of the European countries with the highest percentage of poverty, following Bulgaria and Romania. Unfortunately, poverty reflects on Greek families with children as the most tragic victims. Parental unemployment usually causes negative emotions to the family members, constraints on entertainment and joint family activities and fewer opportunities for learning activities. On the other hand, the teachers’ role becomes especially important during periods of crisis when weaker social groups are affected. Teachers need to explore and diagnose the educational context and all the factors that relate to it, so as to look for solutions that will allow children to learn and develop.Purpose of the study: The basic concept of the “Teacher suppOrt Confronting Social Inequalities” (TOCSIN) (conducted after received funding from the [EEA] Mechanism 2009-2014 under Project Contract n° 3708) (see www.tocsin.uth.gr) is to study the consequences of the escalating economic crisis upon vulnerable populations in early childhood education schools. TOCSIN aims to record and analyze existing issues and difficulties that children face during their early childhood schooling experience in the context of social and income inequalities in Greece, and their practices to confront them. Method: Online questionnaires (specifically designed for the purpose of the study) were administered to 316 school principals and vice-principals of early childhood education schools mostly from the broader prefectures of Attika, Thessaloniki and Magnesia. Data were collected for 20.758 students enrolled in public schools, 5.688 preschoolers and 15.070 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade elementary students. The study complied with ethics and was conducted after written consensus from the Hellenic Ministry of Education was received. Results: According to the results, 10% of the early childhood population is already affected by the crisis very seriously, lacking the basics for an uninterrupted school attendance. Unemployment has also affected one in five families. Overall, the most seriously affected by the economic crisis are students’ participating in school activities such as school excursions, museum and theatre visits and in extra curriculum activities. More than half of the principals reported difficulties in students diet and dress. Cut-downs in the cost of stationary, communication with other welfare organizations and bodies (such as Church) were reported as the most frequent measures in coping with the effects of crisis.Conclusions: The results indicate that the economic crisis has profoundly affected the schools’ capacity to connect with children’s lives. It’s also difficult to think how modernization in education, as set within the European Union priorities could take place under those circumstances

Self-reported harm of adolescent peer aggression in three world regions

While the poor psychosocial outcomes of young people who have experienced bullying are well known, the harm associated with experiences that do not meet the bullying criteria is not well understood. The aim of this study was to examine the level of harm associated with experiences of peer aggression, as well as bullying, by directly measuring the four elements of intent, perceived harm, repetition and power imbalance that comprise the bullying criteria. The purpose of the study was to establish whether bullying was the most harmful form of peer aggression and whether other types of peer aggression that did not comprise all elements of bullying were comparably harmful. Over 6000 students (aged 11\u201316) from 10 countries completed a student victimization and aggression questionnaire. Data showed that approximately 50% of participants were not intentionally harmed through peer aggression, although this varied across countries, ranging from 10% in India to 87.5% in Taiwan. In all countries, analyses identified a group that had experienced repeated peer aggression, but with no power imbalance, comparable in size to the bullied group, suggesting that bullying is just \u201cthe tip of the iceberg\u201d. Victims of bullying self-reported the greatest experiences of harm, although victims of repeated aggression reported comparable harm. The findings show that peer aggression experiences that do not meet the bullying criteria are also rated as harmful by victims. More research is needed to fully understand negative peer interactions that include behaviors outside the scope of the bullying definition, particularly with regard to repeated peer aggression. This study suggests that researchers should consider the level of harm experienced by individuals and avoid terminology such as bullying, while policy makers should place a strong and explicit focus on encompassing a broader realm of harmful peer aggression

Self-reported harm of adolescent peer aggression in three world regions

While the poor psychosocial outcomes of young people who have experienced bullying are well known, the harm associated with experiences that do not meet the bullying criteria is not well understood. The aim of this study was to examine the level of harm associated with experiences of peer aggression, as well as bullying, by directly measuring the four elements of intent, perceived harm, repetition and power imbalance that comprise the bullying criteria. The purpose of the study was to establish whether bullying was the most harmful form of peer aggression and whether other types of peer aggression that did not comprise all elements of bullying were comparably harmful. Over 6000 students (aged 11–16) from 10 countries completed a student victimization and aggression questionnaire. Data showed that pproximately 50% of participants were not intentionally harmed through peer aggression, although this varied across countries, ranging from 10% in India to 87.5% in Taiwan. In all countries, analyses identified a group that had experienced repeated peer aggression, but with no power imbalance, comparable in size to the bullied group, suggesting that bullying is just “the tip of the iceberg”. Victims of bullying selfreported the greatest experiences of harm, although victims of repeated aggression reported comparable harm. The findings show that peer aggression experiences that do not meet the bullying criteria are also rated as harmful by victims. More research is needed to fully understand negative peer interactions that include behaviors outside the scope of the bullying definition, particularly with regard to repeated peer aggression. This study suggests that researchers should consider the level of harm experienced by individuals and avoid terminology such as bullying, while policy makers should place a strong and explicit focus on encompassing a broader realm of harmful peer aggression

Harmful peer aggression in four world regions : relationship between aggressed and aggressor

Research is sparse on who targets whom in peer aggression. In this study, we investigated the harm associated with the type of relationship between aggressed and aggressor with an international sample of over 5,000 students aged 11-16, living in 12 nations. Best friends and individuals with whom the respondent had no relationship were the least likely to engage in aggression, while one-third of peer aggression could be attributed to friends (not best friends), and classmates/peers. Greater harm was experienced between best friends only when it involved relational aggression, such as spreading rumors and being left out. Harm from aggression varied by world location and number of different experiences of aggression, while gender and age differences were inconsistent. Intervention programs could take advantage of the vital role that friends play as socializing agents during adolescence that focus on the harmfulness of aggression undertaken in the guise of a joke