Lower secondary school pupils’ written descriptions of their experiences with bullying and the tendency to seek help

Figures & data

Table 1. Coded features of students’ descriptions of bullying as percent of total number of participants (n = 223)

Feature	Example	Percent
bothering or harassing	‘when someone bothers someone else’ ‘insulting a person’	34%
repeated over time	‘over a long time’ ‘repeatedly’	35%
negative verbal statements	‘says mean things’ ‘calls you names’	23%
physical aggression	‘pushes, kicks, or hits’	23%
relational behaviour	‘if people talk bad about you online’^1 ‘dirty looks or being shut out’	19%
social media or other digital communication	‘it is easier to bully others online’ ‘sending mean messages’	9%
group or individual	‘if one or more people … ’	5%
power imbalance	‘a weaker person that is often alone’	2%

Note. ¹An example of a statement coded under two categories (i.e. relational and digital).

Table 2. Examples of student descriptions of bullying and how these were coded

Example	Coding
I know there has been some bullying in my little brother’s class. There was a kid who had to change classes.	Role: other/witness Location: school
I haven’t experienced bullying, but once I saw a boy standing in the middle of a gang of boys and they took away his backpack and his hat and were really cruel to him.	Bullying: unclear/single incident Role: witness, group Location: school Behaviour: physical
Someone I know has been hit a bunch of times (not hard, but just like irritating) for a while and it made him afraid to go to school and now he has really big problems. That person is now in treatment at the hospital and is in a lot of pain. Not with his body, but emotionally, his mood, feelings and body are damaged in a different way. You can’t see it on the outside, but the inside is hurt, and he may never be as good as he was. It’s not like a bruise that disappears after a while. I feel like the adults should have done something about this before it got so bad.	Role: other/witness Location: school Behaviour:verbal, physical
One time, me and a bunch of my friends started a message group, but then we started arguing a little. I don’t remember about what, because it was so long ago. So, after we had argued a bit, a bunch of them started to talk bad about one person (me). Even my closest friends were afraid to get involved to help me.	Bullying: unclear Role: victim, group Location: digital Behaviour: relational, verbal
Often on the school bus, 10th graders pick on two 8th graders. They say a lot of mean things about their family and where they come from. Everyone sees it, but no one is brave enough to do anything.	Role: witness, group Location: school Behaviour: verbal
I’ve been bullied before. I was bullied because I am short and I’m not from Norway. I was scared to go to school because I knew I would meet them on the way to school. I was mostly sad.	Role: victim, group Location: school Behaviour: verbal
It was at school. We were in arts and crafts. Suddenly a bunch of people start saying bad stuff about a person sitting there. I’m just in complete shock and can’t say anything. Everything they say is like ‘wrapped up’ so well. It’s kind of like a lot of people against one. I should have said something, but I couldn’t. It was like nothing I’m used to. They kept going for a while and then calmed down. The person who it was against just sat there, giggling a little. But I could tell that he was hurt.	Bullying: unclear/single incident Role: witness, group Location: school Behaviour: verbal

Figure 1. Percent of different categories of reported experiences (n = 116) grouped by location, role and type of bullying behaviour

Note. ‘Free time’ includes organized activities such as sports teams and youth clubs.