Parental attitude and teacher behaviours in predicting school bullying

Abstract

The main goal of this research is to present the relationship between “parental attitude and teacher behaviors in predicting school bullying”. The population of this research is consisted of all primary school 4th grade students within İstanbul Küçükçekmece Municipality borders. Data were gathered from lower, mid and upper socio-economic level schools (2 schools on each level, 6 schools in total.) 702 volunteer students constitute the sample of this research. 363 (52%) of these students are female students and 338 (48%) of the students are male students. Tendency for Bullying Scale, Parental Attitude Scale, Perceived Teacher Behavior Scale and an information form which was developed by the researcher were used in collecting data. T-test, one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression analysis were used in data analysis. Female students who do not attend cultural activities and who have low success levels have a higher bullying tendency. As students’ ages increase, bullying tendency increases, too. Authoritarian behaviors of teachers, mothers and fathers (respectively) are the main predictors of bullying. Students who cannot have emotional sharing, who like to use force and who reflect negatively about events have a higher bullying tendency. Positive attitudes of teachers especially and their efforts to develop empathy skills in students are thought to be important in decreasing school bullying.