Background Bullying and peer victimization are the most pressing social problems affecting the wellbeing of children and adolescents. This study attempts to estimate the prevalence and examine the association of bystander’s sex, her/his relationship with the victim and with the bully, and bystander’s reaction to school bullying in East Gojjam Administrative Zone, Ethiopia. Methods This study followed an explanatory mixed-method study design. For the quantitative phase, 612 participants were selected using multistage cluster sampling techniques and for qualitative phase, 18 participants were selected using purposive sampling technique. We used self-reported questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to collect data from students attending grades 7, 8, 9, and 10. Results This study revealed that 55% of bystanders remained passive while 38% of them defended the victim upon witnessing bullying incidents. Pearson Chi-Square test for independence indicated a significant association between bystanders’ relationship with the victim and/or bully, and bystanders’ reaction. In contrast, sex has no significant association with bystanders’ reaction. The semi-structured interview data also suggested that large number of bystanders most often stood by passively while some of them defended the victim. Conclusion The practice of defending among students attending their education in governmental primary and secondary schools in East Gojjam Administrative Zone was low. Close social relationships (being close friends, relatives, and classmates) with the victim and bully were significantly associated with the practice of defending.

Despite its risks for accident and illegality, little is known about the magnitude and associated social and cognitive factors that motivate drivers to use mobile phone while driving. The present study, guided by theory of planned behavior, aimed at describing the magnitude of mobile use while driving and examining the role of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and risk perceptions in predicting drivers’ intentions to use mobile phone while driving. A total of 155 public service vehicle drivers, who were selected from Debre Markos Town and its vehicle terminal took part in the study. To select study participants, systematic random sampling technique was employed. The instrument used to collect data was self-report questionnaire. The results indicated that more than two-third (69%) of the participants used their mobile phone while driving over the past week. Hierarchical regression analysis displayed that perceived behavioral control, risk perception, and attitude were found to be the most significant social and cognitive predictors of public service vehicle drivers’ intention to use mobile phone while driving, but not age and subjective norm variables. So as to reduce drivers’ intention to use mobile phone while driving, intervention strategies should focus on enhancing their confidence to avoid this behavior; alerting drivers to the traffic control regulation and the dangers of using mobile phones while driving.

The aim of this study was to investigate factors that enhance or hinder teachers reactions to children's misbehaviours. Twenty one semistructured individual interviews were carried out with teachers. Grounded theory method was employed to analyze the data. The analysis of teachers' voices revealed that all participants of the study perceived children's sneaking out from home or playing truant as morally wrong and labeled it as misbehaviour. The findings also demonstrated that most of the teachers did not want to intervene while fewer teachers intended to intervene in the situation of observing misbehaviours. Concerning the reasons for teacher's reactions to children's misbehavior, six set of themes emerged. These were: nature of the event, teacher–parent/child relationship, parenthood status, perceived consequences of the action, emotional feelings, and responsibility attribution. Intervention programs that enhance sense of responsibility, concern for the welfare of children, interpersonal relationship, and trust among neighbors have to be designed. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement.

Guided by Thornberg et al.'s (2012) framework on motivation to intervene, the present study examines whether personal and situational factors are associated with defending and passive bystanding behaviours in school bullying. Selfreported survey data were collected from 612 students (aged 12-16 years) attending grades 7,

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