Dropping out because of the others: bullying among the students of Estonian vocational schools

Abstract

Although it is arguably a fundamental democratic or human right of a child to feel safe at school, many children and adolescents have to face peer victimisation in schools on a daily basis, and occasionally through several levels of education. Long-term victimisation may have detrimental consequences for the victim, including a negative effect on educational attainment. This study provides an insight into the lives of five young people who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out from Estonian vocational schools because of peer victimisation. The study is based on in-depth face-to-face personal interviews. Four superordinate themes with associated subthemes are addressed: ‘experience of victimisation’, ‘social context’, ‘lack of support’, and ‘quitting as a survival strategy’. The stories of the bullying victims reveal how the victimisation has shaped them and their educational pathways by compelling them to discontinue their vocational training.

Keywords:

• Bullying
• peer victimisation
• vocational training
• adolescents
• dropouts

Notes

1. In Estonia, after completing nine years of basic school, pupils usually proceed to a three-year upper secondary school. They can choose between an academic or vocational track. Around 26–28% of the pupils choose the vocational track (Estonian Ministry of Education and Research 2015). For more detailed description of vocational schooling in Estonia, see Beilmann and Espenberg (2016).

2. All names of the participants have been changed.