Teacher Recognition and Attitudes Toward Student-on-Student Bullying

Bullying in the schools is a pervasive issue and has been attributed to a myriad of highly publicized incidents of school violence. This quantitative study informs bullying intervention design by examining one component of the ecological system inside schools in regard to bullying: the teacher. This study examined the attitudes of teachers with regard to student-on-student bullying as well as their ability to recognize student-on-student bullying behavior. The study examined multiple school districts that shared similar demographic constitutions in two Northeastern California counties. A population of 4,418 7th-12th grade teachers was identified for the study with 558 participating. The study found that a relatively high number of participants (31.9%) did not recognize bullying behaviors. Additionally the study found that teachers attitudes toward student-on-student bullying vary by a surprising degree. Lastly the study found that a number of participants found bullying to be not a serious problem or even beneficial.Ed.D., Educational Leadership and Management -- Drexel University, 201