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The Relationship Between Peer Group Pressure And Bullying Among Adolescents In Selected Secondary Schools
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Schools
have always been recognised as an institution for the transfer of
knowledge and culture to the future generation. It is a dynamic human
system dedicated to the nurturing of mutual growth and understanding
between children and adult.
The school is an institution designed for
the teaching of students enrolled in it and part of the purpose of the
school is to develop the student through knowledge acquisition so that
he/she may become a social being. By this, the student is expected to
learn how to relate with fellow students, teachers and significant
others in the school on the one hand, live in a harmonious way (by
blending with societal values) in the society on the other hand. The
school is also expected to be a place where students should feel safe
and secure, and where they count on being treated with respect. The
reality, however seem to be that only few students or pupils can
harmoniously with their school mates without experiencing violence in
the school.
Human beings are gregarious and social in nature. They
hardly live in isolation but prefer to live and interact with one
another. The urge to interact creates some challenges, which need to be
addressed. Therefore, in order to achieve development, norms are
developed to guide human interactions. Although, the norms may vary from
one place to the other, there are some commonalities. One of such
norms, which promotes friendship and discourages aggressive behaviours
is positive interpersonal relationship. However, interpersonal
relationship among secondary school students in Nigeria is gradually
being threatened by deviant behaviours such as bullying. Bullying has
become a source of concern to counsellors, teachers, school
administrators and parents due to its adverse effects on relationship
among students. Smith (2001) reported that ten percent of children in
America indicated that they had ben bullied by other students, but had
not bullied others. Another six percent stated that they had been
bullied and had also bullied other children. A total of thirteen percent
of the students noted thatthey had bullied other students but had not
been bullied. Stephenson and Smith (1989), Olweus (1991) and Craig and
Pepler (1997) observed that most bullying take place in school and
usually encouraged by the audience. The researchers noted that the
victims of bully are the most insecure, the least likeable and the most
unsuccessful in school. Also, children who are bully-victims appear to
be at the greatest risk of adjustment difficulties. Boys and girls are
equally likely to report being victimized by bullies. It was found that
most bullies have littles or no empathy for their victims and show
littles remorse about bullying.
Bullying takes place in social
settings with many onlookers aware of the distress caused to victims. Up
until relatively recently, most researchers have tended to employ a
standard, internationally accepted definition of bullying, and many
studies are based on the work of Olweus (1992): ‘A person is being
bullied when she or he is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative
actions on the part of one or more persons.’ Olweus further argues that
bullying involves an imbalance of power. Bullying has various forms, it
can be verbal (e.g., name-calling), physical or indirect (e.g.,
spreading unpleasant rumours) (Olweus 1992). Bullying is thus a complex
phenomenon, and despite the generally accepted definition, bullying
behaviour has been conceptualized in different ways.
Olweus (1972)
coined bullying as “mobbing,†and defined it as an individual or a group
of individuals harassing, teasing, or pestering another person.
Bullying and victimization are prevalent problems in the area of
adolescent peer relationships.
Experiences with peers constitutes an
important developmental context for children and adolescents (Rubin,
Bukowski, & Parker, 2006). Children’s experiences with peers occur
on several different levels: general interactions with peers,
friendships, and in groups. Social competence reflects a child’s
capacity to engage successfully with peers at different levels. This
section will provide an introduction and overview of friendships, peer
groups, and socio-metric status, with attention to developmental changes
that occur during childhood and adolescence.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]This study examined the relationship between peer group pressure and bullying behavior among adolescents in selected secondary schools in Lagos metropolis. The descriptive survey design was used in this study. The research instrument used for this study was a questionnaire tagged PPBBAQ which was adapted by the researcher. The population of this study covered the students in selected secondary schools in Ejigbo Local Government area of Lagos State where data was collected using simple random sam ... Continue reading---
