Speaker
Description
Background/ Objective: The harmful effects of peer bullying are well-established, but bullying by teachers has received little attention. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate that bullying by teachers is a serious problem comparable to bullying by peers and that an authoritative school climate (characterized by high disciplinary structure and high staff supportiveness of students) might mitigate its impact.
Methods/ Results: This study extended the limited previous research on teacher bullying in a sample of 200,000 Virginia (USA) high school students who completed a statewide survey with measures of school climate, bullying by peers and teachers, and suicidal thoughts and attempts, in the past year. Students were classified into four victim groups: no bullying (n = 182,503; 83%), peer bullying (n = 20,028; 9%), teacher bullying (n = 9,754; 4%), and dual bullying (n = 6,889; 3%). Approximately 9% of non-victims, 30% of peer victims, 22% of teacher victims, and 45% of dual victims reported suicidal ideation. A logistic regression model found that the odds of suicidal ideation for students with average perceptions of school climate were 3x greater for peer victims, 2x greater for teacher victims, and 5x greater for dual victims compared to non-victims. A positive school climate was associated with less suicide ideation among all victim groups. Additional analyses on suicide attempts, the measurement of school climate, and interaction effects will be presented.
Conclusions: Teacher bullying is a serious, pervasive problem that warrants more attention. Implications for practitioners and future research will be discussed.
Keywords
teacher bullying, suicide, Authoritative School Climate
| Please also indicate what kind of contribution it is: | Scientific |
|---|---|
| Please indicate what type of scientific contribution it is | Quantitative method study |
