Influence of bullied status on Self-esteem of higher primary students

Abstract

Bullying is usually a form of aggression in which one or more children intend to harm o another child who is perceived as being unable to defend himself or herself. Bullying represents a significant problem in schools. The aim of this study was to assess the influence of bullying on self-esteem of higher primary school students. The study sampled 240 students from 47 higher primary English medium private schools in Dharwad, and 12 higher primary English medium private school in Mudhol. 60 students from two schools studying in 5-7th class in Dharwad and Mudhol of Karnataka were selected. The tools used wereself-structured questionnaire and The Olweus bully/victim questionnaire (OBVQ) Dan A. Olweus (1996) was used to assess bullied status and Rosenberg self-esteem scale was used to assess the self-esteem. The results revealed that Majority of the students were in not and moderate bullied status (35) in Dharwad and majority of the students were in severe bullied status (36.7) among Mudhol. Majority of the students were in high self-esteem (89.1) in Dharwad and similar results was found in Mudhol (87.5). With respect to self-esteem who were having low self-esteem were in severe bullied status and students who were having high self-esteem were in not bullied status. Similar results were found among Mudhol students. The students with low self-esteem may appear less confident and more susceptible to bullying, making them more attractive targets for bullies. Students with low self-esteem may have difficulty standing up for themselves or asserting their boundaries, which can make them less effective at deterring bullies.