Understanding the perceptions of school professionals as regards to bullying in early childhood

Abstract

Bullying has negative long-lasting effects on children’s growth and development. Research has shown that bullying is a widespread phenomenon and that it exposes both the bully and the bullied to varying problems. The focus of this study is to investigate and understand the different perceptions that school professionals have as regards to bullying in early childhood. This research also explores the techniques and strategies that are put into place to prevent bullying from happening. Since our study is about different perspectives, we carried out interviews with kindergarten assistants, teachers, school counsellors and psychologists who engage regularly with children in the early years. We conducted primary research related to our study through the literature review which was then compared with the information gathered from the data analysis obtained during the interviews. Analysis of the responses substantiated the concepts put forward by various authors that bullying exists under different formats and may cause different degrees of pains which therefore asks for certain remedies. This underpinned the concept of our study which aimed at helping children, teachers, other professionals and parents to become more knowledgeable about bullying and aware of the common factors which surround it.