Being mean: children’s gendered perceptions of peer teasing

Abstract

Recent research suggests that social cognition may play a role in the connections among gendered experiences of teasing within the grade school classroom. Within the framework of socialcognitive developmental theory, this qualitative research study investigates how gender may influence young children's experiences and perception of teasing within the context of peer relationships. The present study explored the role gender plays in 89 Canadian children's (4-9 years of age, 39 girls, 50 boys) perceptions of peer teasing through participants' drawings and accompanying narratives. Results indicate that gender may help shape girls' and boys' perceptions of peer teasing in the classroom and suggest the need for educators to build a school culture of kindness, peace, and compassion to enhance children's social-emotional lives.

Full Issue

“…The development of this scale mirrored work done by other researchers who used drawings to examine constructs such as teasing (Bosacki et al, 2012), school violence (Yurtal & Artut, 2010), and bullying (Andreou & Bonoti, 2009 …”

“…Although the drawings themselves are important because they pictorially illustrate and emphasize various dimensions of concepts being studied from the child's perspective, the interpretation of children's drawings by adults must be undertaken with caution because adult perspectives and interpretations can be markedly different from those of children (Bosacki, Harwood, & Sumaway, 2012;Yurtal & Artut, 2010). It has been argued that children's interpretations of their drawings are necessary (Stanczak, 2007) and that assurances to capture these interpretations must be incorporated into data collection methodology.…”

“…Analyses of students' drawings provide researchers with rich insight into children's views and perceptions of social and educational phenomena. Bosacki et al (2012) highlight the difference between coding for pictorial depictions (e.g., objects found within drawings) versus coding for subject matter content, which can be affiliated with emotion or affect (e.g., teasing, bullying, sharing). The distinction between these two elements of a child's drawing requires thoughtful consideration in the coding process.…”

“…Current research using drawings to capture students' perspectives and understandings of social and psychological constructs appears to favour a focus on negative constructs such as teasing (Bosacki et al, 2012), violence in school (Yurtal & Artut, 2010), and bullying (Andreou & Bonoti, 2009). There is both a lack of empirical investigation of positive constructs such as kindness, certainly from students' perspectives, and an absence of research using drawing as a means of accessing students' views of kindness.…”

“…The participants' drawings were analyzed for both pictorial depictions and subject matter or thematic content (Bosacki, Harwood, & Sumaway, 2012). Pictorial depictions involved identifying specifics dimensions found within each drawing, including: (1) the number of individuals depicted; (2) identification of the depicted individuals (e.g., friend, teacher, parent); and (3) the context or location of the drawing.…”