Prevalence, types, motives and impact of bullying among senior high school students in the Ajumako Enyan-Essiam district

Abstract

This is a study into bullying practices in Senior High Schools. The main objective of the study was to examine the prevalence, types, motives and impact of bullying behaviour among Senior High School students in the Ajumako Enyan-Essiam District. The study was carried out in two schools; Bisease Senior High and Mando Senior High Schools. Descriptive survey design was used to guide the study. A population of 3,709 made up of first and second year students in the schools were used. The sample size for the study was 350 participants of which 344 respondents were used in the analysis. Proportional stratified sampling and simple random sampling procedure was used in arriving at the sample size for the study. Selected teachers were interviewed. The questionnaire answered by the participants consisted of 30 items. Simple frequencies, percentages and chi- square were used to analyse the data collected. The main findings of the study were that teasing and kneeling down were the most frequently used practices by the students to intimidate their peers. More girls than boys were psychologically affected by bullying practices and as a result impacted negatively on their school attendance. The study recommended that all stakeholders of education must be involved in designing unique anti-bullying programmes through seminars and conferences that will serve specific needs of each school.