Educator-Targeted Bullying: Fact or Fallacy?

• NCJ Number: 217065
• Journal: Acta Criminologica Volume: 19 Issue: 2 Dated: 2006 Pages: 53-73
• Author(s): N. C. de Wet; L. Jacobs
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 21 pages
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: South Africa
• Note: To access the full text PDF: 1) select the provided link; 2) from the Acta Criminologica Web site, select "Table of Contents"; 3) select the corresponding Volume and Issue (see the NCJRS abstract record for the exact Volume and Issue); 4) scroll the Table of Contents to the exact article; and 5) click on the "full text" icon. Downloaded on January 23, 2007.

Annotation

This study examined the nature, extent, and effects of educator-targeted bullying (ETB).

Abstract

The educator-targeted bullying (ETB) phenomenon is not a fallacy but a fact. The majority of respondents indicated that they were exposed to some form of ETB. The results were in line with research findings abroad and in South Africa that educators are often verbally abused by their learners, ignored by learners, and that damage is done to classrooms by learners. The study is, by implication, a confirmation of a researcher’s perception that the educator-learner relationship has progressed from authoritarian to the view that the learners’ rights equal or even surpass those of their educators. The data makes it apparent that ETB is prevalent in some Eastern Cape and Free State schools. In a literature review on the extent of ETB, it was noticeable that educators and educational leaders were unwilling to break the code of silence surrounding ETB. It therefore becomes important that ETB form an integral feature of a whole school anti-bullying policy. Key features of an anti-bullying policy are presented. Research on the prevalence of bullying behavior among learners suggests that the problem is very widespread and that most children will experience or witness bullying at some point in their school career. In contrast, little evidence could be found of research on ETB. After a literature review, this study examined the nature and extent of ETB, the influence of ETB on the victims’ private and professional lives, and the identification of the most likely victims of ETB. To accomplish this task a quantitative study was undertaken among 544 responding educators in the Free State and the Eastern Cape. Tables and references