At risk: Age, gender, and socio-economic status in bullying victimisation among South African primary school students

While there is public and political consensus on the need to safeguard the physical and psychological welfare of students while at school, little is known about which South African students are at risk of exposure to bullying, or the nature and extent of bullying in primary schools. Such data is cr...

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Main Authors: Andrea Juan, Sylvia Hannan, Jaqueline Harvey
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of the Free State 2025-05-01
Series:Perspectives in Education
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/pie/article/view/7662
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author Andrea Juan
Sylvia Hannan
Jaqueline Harvey
author_facet Andrea Juan
Sylvia Hannan
Jaqueline Harvey
author_sort Andrea Juan
collection DOAJ
description While there is public and political consensus on the need to safeguard the physical and psychological welfare of students while at school, little is known about which South African students are at risk of exposure to bullying, or the nature and extent of bullying in primary schools. Such data is crucial in informing the development of appropriate school safety programmes. This paper uses self-reported nationally representative data from 11 891 Grade 5 students who participated in the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), to first examine the extent and nature of bullying in South African primary schools nationally and by school socioeconomic status, and then to look at the risk factors associated with being a victim of bullying. The results point to significant age and gender differences, where boys and older students are more likely to be victims of bullying. The paper concludes that policymakers, teachers, and principals must take these factors into consideration when designing interventions to support safe learning environments for students in South African primary schools.
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spelling doaj-art-bee8b948080740e9a01ad671461a020f2025-08-20T03:48:06ZengUniversity of the Free StatePerspectives in Education0258-22362519-593X2025-05-0143110.38140/pie.v43i1.7662At risk: Age, gender, and socio-economic status in bullying victimisation among South African primary school studentsAndrea Juan0Sylvia Hannan1Jaqueline Harvey2 University of KwaZulu-Natal, South AfricaHuman Sciences Research Council, South Africa Human Sciences Research Council, South Africa While there is public and political consensus on the need to safeguard the physical and psychological welfare of students while at school, little is known about which South African students are at risk of exposure to bullying, or the nature and extent of bullying in primary schools. Such data is crucial in informing the development of appropriate school safety programmes. This paper uses self-reported nationally representative data from 11 891 Grade 5 students who participated in the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), to first examine the extent and nature of bullying in South African primary schools nationally and by school socioeconomic status, and then to look at the risk factors associated with being a victim of bullying. The results point to significant age and gender differences, where boys and older students are more likely to be victims of bullying. The paper concludes that policymakers, teachers, and principals must take these factors into consideration when designing interventions to support safe learning environments for students in South African primary schools. http://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/pie/article/view/7662school bullyingTIMSS 2019bullying risk factorsSafe learning environments
spellingShingle Andrea Juan
Sylvia Hannan
Jaqueline Harvey
At risk: Age, gender, and socio-economic status in bullying victimisation among South African primary school students
Perspectives in Education
school bullying
TIMSS 2019
bullying risk factors
Safe learning environments
title At risk: Age, gender, and socio-economic status in bullying victimisation among South African primary school students
title_full At risk: Age, gender, and socio-economic status in bullying victimisation among South African primary school students
title_fullStr At risk: Age, gender, and socio-economic status in bullying victimisation among South African primary school students
title_full_unstemmed At risk: Age, gender, and socio-economic status in bullying victimisation among South African primary school students
title_short At risk: Age, gender, and socio-economic status in bullying victimisation among South African primary school students
title_sort at risk age gender and socio economic status in bullying victimisation among south african primary school students
topic school bullying
TIMSS 2019
bullying risk factors
Safe learning environments
url http://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/pie/article/view/7662
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AT sylviahannan atriskagegenderandsocioeconomicstatusinbullyingvictimisationamongsouthafricanprimaryschoolstudents
AT jaquelineharvey atriskagegenderandsocioeconomicstatusinbullyingvictimisationamongsouthafricanprimaryschoolstudents