Bullying and Resilience in Elementary School Children and Mitigating Pro-Social Behaviors

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between bullying behaviors, as measured by the Personal Experiences Checklist (PECK), and resilience, as measured by the Social Emotional Assets and Resilience Scales (SEARS), as well as whether the prosocial behaviors of controling anger, solving problems, and cooperating with others during activities mitigated the effects of bullying behaviors. A relationship between bullying behaviors and resiliency in children has been shown in past research. The theoretical framework for this study was social learning theory. The foundation of social learning theory is that children learned behaviors by imitating the behaviors of others. A sample of 8- to 11-year-old students from local primary schools in Bermuda completed the PECK and the SEARS. Simple regression, multiple regression, and ANOVA were used to analytically examine the relationship between variables. The findings of this study built on existing research, which suggested that children who were more resilient and exhibited more prosocial behaviors, experienced less victimization through bullying. In this study, it was found that the more children were bullied, the less resilient they were. The results of this study have the potential for positive social change through being used for the development and implementation of appropriate social and emotional learning programs. The long-term results of such programs include the reduction of bullying behavior during childhood, adolescent, and adult years, with children having more control over their behaviors, reducing their involvement with the justice system both in their childhood and adult years