Pupils’ perceptions of bullying and disruptions to concentration and attention to school work

Abstract

It is well known that many pupils are bullied and suffer in a variety of ways as a result. This study looks at a largely overlooked outcome of bullying that may have direct consequences for academic success – disrupted concentration and attention to school work. Using pupil perceptions as the source of data, the two main aims were to quantify the proportion of pupils affected by bullying in this way, and to solicit their views on possible solutions. Subsidiary aims were to test for gender and school year differences in these variables. Among the 485 participants as a whole, only modest levels of disruptions attributable to bullying were evident but more disturbing was the finding that on nine out of eleven separate questions, around one in twenty pupils reported that this happened ‘lots of times’. The most common solutions provided by pupils to help children affected in this way involved:

1. helping them feel safe from bullying in class;

2. reminding them to disclose/seek help if they are bullied;

3. encouraging teachers to be supportive of victims of bullying;

4. encouraging teachers to be on the look out for signs that pupils have been bullied; and

5. using social support from other pupils.

No significant sex or school year differences were found.

Keywords:

• bullying
• primary schools
• attention
• concentration in class