Volume 21, No. 1, 2024
The Perceived Impact Of Bullying On Academic Performance Of High School Learners
Okeke, C. , Akobi, T. , & Maseli, M.
Abstract
Bullying occurs in all phases in South African schools. Despite the existence of this ugly anti-social behaviour among students, the extent to which it affects their academic performance is not research in modern times especially in South African schools. Three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. The study adopted a descriptive research design with a sample size of 120 respondents. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire designed by the researchers. The instrument was validated by experts and the internal consistency was determined using Cronbach’s alpha and reliability coefficients of 0.87, 0.81 and 0.88 were obtained respectively for clusters A, B and C. The researchers used direct administration and retrieval method in data collection process. Mean and standard deviations were used to answer the research questions that guided the study, while t-test statistic was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that: increased anger, rage, jealousy, urge to be in control, attention seeking and family dynamics among others are the causes of bullying among students. It was also found that bullying among high school students can affect their academic performance negatively. The study also found that setting up anti-bullying team in schools, building a positive school climate for learning, teaching kindness and empathy to the students and creating opportunities for connections among students were the notable strategies that can be employed to deal with bullying among students. It was therefore concluded that bullying has negative implications on students’ academic performance.
Pages: 51-63
Keywords: Bullying, Learners, High School, Academic Performance.