UC San Diego

While bullying has been prevalent in public schools for generations, the increased media attention to cases of suicide or homicide have thrust this epidemic into the spotlight. Bullying has become a student health and safety issue, as schools and lawmakers race to enact policies that deter bullying from occurring. The research investigated the lack of a universal definition of bullying and why a universal definition was a necessity in research, especially when involving possible strategies for teachers to identify bullying behaviors in their classrooms. The goal of the research was to understand students' and teachers' perceptions of bullying in the classrooms in a middle school. Participants in the study included students from one sixth-grade classroom, one seventh-grade classroom, and one eighth-grade classroom selected through the school's Bully Awareness Program. One teacher from each of the three classrooms also participated in the study. The student population consisted of 1660 students from a suburban middle school located in a western state. Constructivist grounded theory and student voice were used to qualitatively code an anonymous writing prompt, student and teacher interviews, and classroom observations to provide rich data on both perceptions of bullying and desired strategies to decrease bullying behaviors in the classroom that could be shared with teachers during future professional development. Six main themes were abstracted from the data: Definitions of Bullying, Examples of Bullying, About the Bully, Preferred Teacher Interventions, Ways of Coping, and Teacher Data. A student's positive relationship with a teacher or staff member was identified as an important factor in coping, as well as their overall outlook when confronted with different bullying situations. Also identified were foundational strategies for teacher trainings. Implications for educators, teacher training, and future research were discussed