Bullying: what does it mean to children?

Abstract

This study investigated the meanings for children of bullying and whether children's own videos can be used to access children's worldviews. It used a combination of written work, videotapes of children's focus groups, and children's video documentaries to gather data on children's understanding of bullying. The participants were a class of boys and girls from an intermediate school in a large city in the North Island of New Zealand. The research was conducted at the school. It found that gaining access to children in school is problematic but that using children's videos is a feasible way of conducting research with children. Findings concerning children's understanding of bullying included that they consider a much wider range of behaviour to be bullying than commonly included and that anyone can bully. Bullying was found to be linked to popularity and through this link to contribute to social integration in children's peer groups.