Empathy Training as a Means of Preventing Bullying in Selected Secondary Schools: Alimosho Local Government Area, Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Bullying is a maladaptive behaviour that children and adolescents face daily in schools all around the world. It is prevalent in today's schools and is commonly found in secondary schools. It is a complicated social problem that can have serious negative implications for both bullies and victims, especially when the victim is physically or psychologically harmed. The study, therefore, examines empathy training among students to prevent bullying behaviour in selected secondary schools in Alimosho local government area of Lagos state. A survey method was utilized using the structured questionnaire as an instrument of data collection. Utilizing a simple random sampling, three hundred and seventy-six copies of the questionnaire were administered to students in the four secondary schools. However, three hundred and thirty were retrieved which were used for the analysis. Quantitative data were tested using Quantitative data was analysed utilizing the descriptive statistics with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 23. A descriptive analysis was used with the use of frequency counts and percentages for the analysis of the data. Findings of the study shows that many victims of bullying get involved in substance abuse and lose interest in schooling. Therefore, empathy training and encouraging victims to make timely reports on incidences of bullying are crucial to mitigating bullying and its consequences in secondary schools in Lags State. Keywords: Bullying, Empathy training, prevention of bullying, Secondary schools