Is school a safe place? Prevalence of bullying in a sample of public school students of Sorocaba

Abstract

ABSTRACT, INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE Bullying is a frequent form of violence among adolescent students, leading to serious physical and psychological damages. This study's objective is to identify the prevalence and factors associated with bullying among adolescents in public high schools. Methods: This is an observational, transversal study, with the participation of 47 14 - to 17-year old male and female adolescents from a public high school. Subjects answered a standardized questionnaire to assess the behavioral characteristics of victims, perpetrators and witnesses of bullying. Victimization was classified as either verbal or physical. This study was authorized by the local Ethics Committee, and both parents and adolescents signed a consent form. Results: 47 adolescents with an average age of 15,6 ± 0,9 years old participated in the study. The average age of girls was 15.5 ± 0.7 and boys 15.6 ± 0.9 years (p > 0.05). Approximately 13% of respondents reported having been verbally bullied, with no difference between genders. About 28% of the total reported having witnessed some form of verbal abuse at school. With regard to offenders, 19.1% of respondents,all of the male, reported having been verbal bullies. All of the attackers said that there was no penalty for their act of bullying. Conclusion: two in every ten adolescents reported having verbally bullied someone at high school, whereas about 28% of respondents reported at some point having been witnesses of physical or psychological bullying at school.