Date of Conferral
5-13-2024
Date of Award
May 2024
Degree
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
School
Education
Advisor
Shelly Arneson
Abstract
Bullying is known to have far-reaching negative implications for students and the school community. One important first step toward successfully preventing and addressing school bullying is to ensure that all members of the school community have a common understanding of the nature of bullying. The problem investigated in this study was the significant disparity between substantiated and unsubstantiated bullying reports made by parents, students, and staff in the local middle school. Given that parents at the local middle school had not received ongoing bullying prevention training, the purpose of this study was to investigate parents’ perceptions of bullying and the process for reporting bullying in the local middle school. Guided by the interconnected systems framework, this basic qualitative study used semistructured interviews to capture the insights of five parents who had experience with bullying in the local middle school. Inductive, open coding was used to identify themes in the interview data. Results indicated parents perceived bullying as encompassing different types of behaviors, had a lack of awareness about and displeasure with the bullying reporting process, and desired training about bullying prevention using a holistic, scenario-based approach. Findings from this study were used to develop a comprehensive 3-day bullying prevention training for parents and the school community focusing on accurate identification of bullying behavior, understanding the bullying reporting system, and preventing bullying via a holistic, community-based approach. By providing parents and the broader school community with the knowledge and tools needed to accurately identify, address, and prevent bullying, the negative implications of school bullying on students can be mitigated successfully resulting in positive social change over time.
Recommended Citation
Reid, Clifphene, "Parents’ Perceptions of Bullying in a Local Middle School" (2024). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 15783.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/15783
