Bullying and victimization of adolescent students, in primary schools of Male’.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out extend of bullying and victimization in adolescent students, in primary schools of Male’, based on descriptive cross-sectional survey was done using quantitative data to identify the causes which increase the risk of being victims and their impacts. Total 120 students studying in grade 6 and 7, from different 5 schools in Male’ city, took part in this study, from which it has shown 60 percent students were being bullied. Boys are more involved in bullying activities, where 54 percent of the victims said they were being bullied by boys, which is 36 percent higher than the girls. Most of the students were bullied verbally, followed by physical bullying and indirect bullying. Moreover, most victims are not satisfied with their body image or they are less popular among the students, and no significant impact on academic performance and self-esteem of the students were found. Likewise, the extent of being bullied, affect social and emotional behaviors of students were studied and found that there is a high chance (Adjusted OR 1.353) to be lonely among the group who are bullied than those who are not bullied. Variable feeling sad and hurt at school has a high significant association with a P value of 0.001 with an (Adjusted OR 3.103). This indicates that those who have being bullied have 3.103 times higher chance of feeling sad than those who are not bullied. However, to reduce further risks, schools should strengthen their anti-bullying policies and educate students about bullying and victimizations and their risks.