Bullying at school: Teachers’ actions, punishing actions, and preventive activities

Abstract

The purpose of this study is three-fold: 1) to analyze teachers’ actions when they identify bullying behaviors at school; 2) to study the punishing actions carried out in the educational centers the previous course; and 3) to identify activities to prevent conflicts among the students that were carried out at the schools. Moreover, analyses were performed to determine whether there were differences between the educational stages (PE-Primary Education / ESO-Secondary Education) or between networks (public/private). This study uses a descriptive, epidemiological,  crosssectional methodology. The sample comprised 169 headmasters of 169 educational centers of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country. A questionnaire with three questions was administered, one for each goal study. The results showed that: 1) when bullying behaviors are
identified, the level of actions of the teachers of ESO and of the private network was superior; 2) in the previous school course, a higher level of punishments was found in ESO and also in the private network; and 3) in the preventive activities carried out by the teachers on peer conflicts,
there were very few differences between the educational cycles (PE-ESO) and between networks (public/private).