Perceptions of Bullying amongst Spanish Preschool and Primary Schoolchildren with the Use of Comic Strips: Practical and Theoretical Implications

Pedro Miguel González Moreno, Héctor del Castillo and Daniel Abril-López
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Pedro Miguel González Moreno: Departamento de Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad de Alcalá, 19001 Guadalajara, Spain
Héctor del Castillo: Departamento de Ciencias de la Educación, Universidad de Alcalá, 19001 Guadalajara, Spain
Daniel Abril-López: Departamento de Geología, Geografía y Medio Ambiente, Universidad de Alcalá, 19001 Guadalajara, Spain

Social Sciences, 2021, vol. 10, issue 6, 1-15

Abstract: Bullying research among preschoolers and the early grades of primary school is still scarce. With the aid of a set of cartoons representing prototypical bullying scenes, we interview 120 schoolchildren (50% girls) from kindergarten to third grade (age range: 5.44–9.58) from three mainstream public schools located in the eastern Community of Madrid, in order to analyse their perceptions regarding this phenomenon. Results show that 94.2% ( n = 113) of schoolchildren are able to recognize when a partner is victimized. Nevertheless, significant differences were found by grade ( p = 0.017), with kindergarteners giving more responses classified as one-off aggressions. Most students ( n = 102) empathize with the victims´ emotions and condemn the bullies’ behavior, regardless of their gender ( p = 0.637) or grade ( p = 0.578). A total of 53.9% ( n = 64) of students think these bullying situations are partly caused by previous conflicts; girls are inclined to think this more often than boys ( p = 0.003). Furthermore, 53.8% ( n = 64) of the students would request help from their schoolteachers if they were bullied, with no statistically significant differences by gender ( p = 0.254) or by grade ( p = 0.133). These results serve as a rationale to develop bullying prevention programs from a very early school age to provide information regarding its causation and coping strategies, among others.

Keywords: bullying; kindergarten; primary education; implications for theory and intervention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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