Listening to Shy Voices: Shy Adolescents’ Experiences with Being Bullied at School

Abstract

This study examined bullying related to adolescents exhibiting shyness as an emotional and behavioral problem in the school context. It is based on in-depth interviews and observations of severely shy girls between the ages of 14 and 18 years. Given this group of students' difficulties with social skills, peer rejection, and victimization, we sought to explore (a) the form that bullying takes, (b) the genders commonly represented among aggressors, and (c) the reasons that shy adolescents give for being bullied. Resultsshow that shy adolescents perceive a nonsupportive class environment to be a primary explanation for why they are bullied, and relational bullying is the dominant form of bullying exclusion.Keywords shyness, bullying, emotional and behavioral problems, adolescence Initiating, developing, and maintaining caring and committed relationships are the most important activities in our lives. Relationships are the core of our existence (Hart & Smith, 2002;Heidegger, 2002;Rutter, 1997). We are conceived within relationships, are born into relationships, and live our lives within relationships. We are dependent on other people for healthy development; for guidance in learning the essential competencies required to survive in our world; and for fun, comfort, love, and fulfillment. For this reason, it is of the greatest importance to highlight, prevent, understand, and discuss relationships that fail and to determine how negative relational patterns develop through bullying and victimization.Previous research has shown that shy adolescents have increased difficulties with social skills and peer rejection, which can lead them to become likely targets for victimization by their peers

Dropping out of school as a meaningful action for adolescents with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties

“…Being ignored and excluded from social settings can be connected to bullying. Subsequently, this study confirms earlier research underlining the connection between bullying and its effect on students with SEBD (Lund et al., 2010; Olweus, 1993) and bullying and dropout (Bauman and Del Rio, 2005).…”

“…Among the students with internalised problems, there were three (out of a total of five) who maintained that their dropout behaviour was caused by non‐supportive teachers and classroom environments in both the past and the present. These findings correlate with earlier research related to this adolescent group's experiences with adults and peers at school (Bauman and Del Rio, 2005; Lund, Ertesvåg and Roland, 2010; Ogden, 2001).…”

Victim no more: a temporal-causal analysis of how a mediator can help out a bullying victim

“…Various studies have been carried out which indicate the prevalence of bullying, for example, a meta-analysis was conducted which indicated that 36% of participants were involved in traditional bullying, while 15% were found the victims through social media (Modecki, Minchin, Harbaugh, Guerra, & Runions, 2014). Among the victims, some approach their bully, to stop them by mentioning their concerns to the related behaviour (Brent, 2016), and some avoid their bully to keep themselves safe from further victimization (Lund, Ertesvåg, & Roland, 2010). Another study of 269 undergraduate students indicated that, students who were bullied in early age felt excluded and rejected from their society.…”

“…There are many example scenarios that can address this kind of reaction or strategy chosen by a victim. For example, 'They called me bad names, and I didn't know what else to do than walk away from them' (Lund et al, 2010). This example scenario is shown in the simulation results that are depicted in Figure 3.…”

På vei mot en ny forståelse av mobbing i et folkehelseperspektiv

“…Der laerere utsetter elever for mobbing, vil det ofte vaere ulike virkelighetsoppfatninger av hva som har skjedd i mobbesituasjonen. Studier der barn og unge blir intervjuet om mobbing, viser at ulike virkelighetsoppfatninger er grunnlag for manglende tiltak og oppfølging ifølge elevene selv (Lund, Ertesvåg & Roland, 2010;Frisen, Holmquist & Oscarsson, 2008)). Ifølge Bang (2013) er virkelighetsoppfatninger i en organisasjon oppfatninger som medlemmene utvikler sammen og tar for gitt.…”