Levels of Bullying as Related to Personal and Family Characteristics of

Intermediate students of Cainta elementary School

CHAPTER 1
The Problem and Its Background

INTRODUCTION

One of the most serious problems and violence happening among students nowadays is
the continuous attack of bullying. It happens in all places depending on the environment but
most of the cases happen in school. Many students today cannot control themselves in doing
negative behavior. They know that they can hurt others, they continue to do what they want
for some specific reason. They did not know their actions have tremendous effects in the life of
the victims. For many generations students used to tease and annoy their classmates such
behavior demonstration considered to be a normal growing procedure and a mean of
socialization both by the school community and the family environment.
Family is the primary institution of individuals socialization and also the institution which
shapes the personality and behavior of the underage members (Kataki 2015). It’s considered to
be the one having the longest influence in every aspect of life. Family characteristics can also
play a role in determining an individual's risk of being bullied. For example, children who come
from families with a history of violence, neglect, or abuse may be more likely to both
experience and perpetrate bullying behaviors. Additionally, children who lack parental
supervision or support may be more vulnerable to being bullied. Furthermore, family dynamics
and communication patterns can influence an individual's ability to cope with bullying, so a
supportive family environment can act as a protective factor.
Nevertheless, the ‘parenting style’ construct has recently acquired new dimensions and has
been described with greater precision, which enables us to attempt to outline the possible
contribution of parents and, in general, of the educational climate in the family to the risk of
getting involved in bullying.
The different levels of bullying can also have varying impacts on individuals and their
families. Some levels of bullying are physical and verbal bullying and these levels it is the most
common and happening when it comes in elementary level. Physical bullying is the most
obvious that cause a lot of damage to their victims physically, bullies use force and body
strength to overpower their victims. Most of this level occurs in and around the schools,
Physical bullying includes kicking, punching hitting and other physical attack on the other hand,
Verbal bullies intimidate and harm their victims’ using words. It occurs when some uses
language to gain power or his/her peers make use of relentless insults and tasing to bully
his/her peers. (Gonzaga 2016) pointed out that verbal abusers are not likely to apologize calling
names, spreading rumors, threatening somebody and making fun of others are all form of
verbal bullying. In verbal the main weapon the bully uses their voice even though verbal
bullying creates no physical damage this abuse can have lasting psychological impact on victims.
 William (2018) found out in his study that the themes were identified including reasons
students bully and are bullied such as weight size clothing being perceived as different sexual
preferences and placement in special education. De lara et al (2017) stated that bullying
negatively affects both the child being victimized and the child who is bully. There are always
short-term effects and if the bullying is severe enough there can be also long-term effects.
Smokowski and kopash (2015) stated that victims may suffer from low self-esteem loneliness
depression, anxiety absenteeism and academic difficulties.
Espero Et Al (2014) stated in his study that bullying is an impediment to education.
Many students who have been victims of bullying decided to drop from school. Even those who
just witnesses bullying are more probable to skip school. Victims are more likely to lose focus
and to perform poorly in their academics and it may affect to the relationship to the family.
Having been the identified the causes and effects of bullying by the former researchers
this dilemma must come to an end. There are many ways or things to do to stop bullying, many
programs help to address the same protective and risk factors that bullying programs to do. The
best way to address bullying is to stop it before it starts, hence the researcher undertook to
conduct this study in the levels of bullying as related to personal and family characteristics of
intermediate students and propose anti bullying action plan for the protection of the students
and to make the other people realize that too much bullied can cause an effect to the students.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

As previously stated, bullying happens mostly in school and the role of the school to
prevent it is very crucial. The schools have partners in educating and molding the youth to be a
responsible person, first and foremost are the parents, and then we have the community and
other stakeholders and the environment where the students belong. They must form a team in
order to have a clear guideline such as policies cooperatively planned and prepared by the
team. Schools cannot handle it single handedly it is always with the participation and support of
the team and it does not start from the school. The home is the first place where these
students learn how to adapt themselves outside so what we need are responsible parents,
responsible peers’ community and school.
One effective means to bust or arrest bullying in the Philippines is the Act known as
(Anti-bullying Policy Act) the bill seeks to mandate and compel the school to create policy to
address the existence of bullying in their respective institutions’ act is further improved to
republic act no.10627 also known as the ‘’Anti Bullying Act of 2013’’All elementary and
secondary schools are hereby directed ton adopt policies to address the existence of bullying in
their respective institutions. School shall provide students and their parents or guardians a copy
of the Anti-bullying policies being adopted by the school. Such policies shall likewise be
included in the school students and or employee handbook and shall be conspicuously posted
on the school walls and website if there is any. The department of education (DepEd)shall
include in its training programs, courses of activities which shall provide opportunities for
school administrators, teachers, stakeholders and other employees to develop their knowledge
and skills in preventing or responding to anti bullying act.
 It is very imperative to investigate the student’s awareness regarding bullying and to
find out the incidents of bullying at the elementary level .it is very important to identify high
risk children or those who have tendency of being bullied. School administration should
therefore plan a bullying awareness campaign and involvement in all levels. The emphasis is on
developing a positive and caring school environment conducive to the attainment of the
learning objectives, development of healthy relationship to other people. The administrator’s
faculty, staff, parents and students should know the basic facts about bullying and how to deal
with such situation. School staff need to learn when and how to intervene confidently. The
teacher should know how to intervene in bullying incidents improve classroom management
and recognize and reinforce positive behaviors of students. The homeroom advisers can discuss
bullying and ways to get along with others and build a strong teacher-pupils relationship deeply
understand the behaviors of the pupils.

Statement of the Problem

R ecent studies have shown that over 3.2 million students fall victim t o
b u lly in g worldwide each year and approximately 90% of teens are involve in this case.
According to the UNESCO website, a person is bullied when he/she is exposed
r ep eat ed ly and overtime to negative actions on the part of one or more other person,
and he/she has difficulty defending himself/herself.
This study aims to determine the Levels of bullying as Related to Personal and Family
Characteristics of students.
1. What are the levels of bullying encounter by intermediate student in terms of
1.1 physical, and
1.2 Verbal
2. How may the intermediate student describe the causes and effect of bullying in
terms of personal and family characteristics.
3. Is there significant difference on the assessment of bullying in the intermediate student in
terms of personal and family characteristics.
4. What interventions can be applied to lessen or eradicate bullying incidence.

Chapter Two: Literature Review

Bullying is no longer considered as a normal rite of passage, but a primary public health
problem, which is known to pose serious long-term impacts in schools (Swartz, 2016). Some
children and youths are victims of bullying in schools, and they are bullied through different
electronic means (Swartz, 2016). It is well established that bullying among children and youths
lead to different physical symptoms such as headache and sleep disturbances. Bullying in
schools also leads to anxiety, depression, and substance use, especially among youths Menesini
& Salmivalli, (2017). Similarly, perpetrators experience long-term consequences such as higher
risks for depression and can engage in activities, such as vandalism and theft (Swartz, 2016).

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508_0.pdf
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/8/1/25
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/8/1/25#B27-socsci-08-00025
https://research.library.mun.ca/14613/1/thesis.pdf
https://www.scribd.com/document/508848250/Bullying?
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