Abstract
Bullying is regarded as an emotional issue which affects the entire school community. A
lot of studies have been carried out in the developed world where it was concluded that
bullying has short and long term negative effects on the lives of both victims and
perpetrators. In Namibia, apart from this study, no study was carried out in order to
determine the nature of bullying in Namibian schools. This is the main reason why this
study was initiated in order to look into the extent to which bullying is happening in
schools, the causes and effects of bullying, and the strategies used by teachers in order
to combat bullying in schools.
A mixed methods research study was carried out. Purposeful sampling was used to
select 7 secondary schools in the Oshana Region and 30 learners per school were used
for this study. Fifteen learners per school were selected for focus group discussions.
Learners were divided into 3 groups, namely: Group A for learners perceived as
perpetrators of bullying, Group B for learners perceived as victims of bullying and
Group C for learners who were randomly selected. In addition, 5 teachers per school
were interviewed during focus group discussions.
The findings revealed that the majority of teachers and learners were aware that bullying
took place in their schools. The most common types were physical and emotional
bullying. New types of bullying also emerged through the study. Chi-square analysis
indicated that there is a relationship between bullying, and school size, school
performance, school setting as well as grade repetition. It was revealed that very big
schools and weak performing schools experienced more bullying activities in
comparison to medium sized and excellent performing schools.
The causes of bullying varied from school to school. Poor school rules, school setting,
and peer pressure emerged to be some of the most common causes of bullying. Bullying
has long term effects on the lives of both victims and perpetrators. Ample evidence from
the analyses of data showed that bullying contributes negatively to academic
performance, discipline in schools and self-esteem. Although the impact of bullying is
huge, the findings revealed that there is no ministerial policy which specifically
addresses bullying in schools. Each school tends to deal with bullying the way teachers
find it best and it seems teachers lack skills on how to handle bullying cases.
In conclusion, bullying in schools is worse than people outside can imagine. Learners
and teachers are living in fear of their lives. There is an urgent need for intervention
from the policymakers so that anti-bullying policies are introduced in schools. It is never
too late to plan but it will be too late to reverse the situation if there is no action taken
against bullying in Namibian schools.
SAM, A (2021). An Investigation Into The Nature Of Bullying In Selected Secondary Schools In The Oshana Education Region Of Namibia. Afribary. Retrieved from https://track.afribary.com/works/an-investigation-into-the-nature-of-bullying-in-selected-secondary-schools-in-the-oshana-education-region-of-namibia
SAM, AUNE "An Investigation Into The Nature Of Bullying In Selected Secondary Schools In The Oshana Education Region Of Namibia" Afribary. Afribary, 27 Apr. 2021, https://track.afribary.com/works/an-investigation-into-the-nature-of-bullying-in-selected-secondary-schools-in-the-oshana-education-region-of-namibia. Accessed 06 Nov. 2024.
SAM, AUNE . "An Investigation Into The Nature Of Bullying In Selected Secondary Schools In The Oshana Education Region Of Namibia". Afribary, Afribary, 27 Apr. 2021. Web. 06 Nov. 2024. < https://track.afribary.com/works/an-investigation-into-the-nature-of-bullying-in-selected-secondary-schools-in-the-oshana-education-region-of-namibia >.
SAM, AUNE . "An Investigation Into The Nature Of Bullying In Selected Secondary Schools In The Oshana Education Region Of Namibia" Afribary (2021). Accessed November 06, 2024. https://track.afribary.com/works/an-investigation-into-the-nature-of-bullying-in-selected-secondary-schools-in-the-oshana-education-region-of-namibia