School Violence Prevention Testimony

Abstract

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Cultural Validation of the Multidimensional Peer Victimization Scale in Nigerian Children

“…There is now enough research evidence confirming the incidence and prevalence of peer victimization in various levels of society with particular emphasis on children and adolescents in many countries of the world (Hoover, Oliver, & Thompson, 1993;Juvonen, 2001;Mynard & Joseph, 2000;Slee, 1995). However, peer victimization has not been viewed as a serious problem in Nigeria by either the government or researchers.…”

“…Hawker and Boulton (2000) defined it as the experience among children of being a target of the aggressive behavior of other children who are not siblings and not necessarily age mates. Juvonen (2001), in a more direct approach, defined peer victimization as repeated maltreatment of a peer, where there is an imbalance of power between the perpetrator and the victim. Olweus (1973) also defined peer victimization as repeated negative actions targeted at an individual who has difficulty defending himself or herself.…”

“…The statistics on the prevalence of peer victimization is frightening enough to bring the issue to the front burner of research and advocacy. Juvonen (2001) reported that peer victimization occurs at every grade level from kindergarten to high school in the United States. According to Juvonen (2001), 20% to 30% of students (more than 10 million students) in America's elementary schools are directly involved in peer victimization.…”

“…Juvonen (2001) reported that peer victimization occurs at every grade level from kindergarten to high school in the United States. According to Juvonen (2001), 20% to 30% of students (more than 10 million students) in America's elementary schools are directly involved in peer victimization. Rigby and Slee (1991) also reported that 1 child in 10 is repeatedly and persistently victimized by peers and many more children are victimized less severely in Australian schools.…”

Coping With School Violence Through the Lens of Teachers' Role Breadth

“…V iolence is a growing concern for most industrialized countries (Culley, Conkling, Emshoff, Blakely, & Gorman, 2006;Galand, Lecocq, & Philippot, 2007), and students' experiences of victimization in schools appear to be an international phenomenon (Astor, Benbenishty, Zeira, & Vinokur, 2002). In this study, school violence refers to various aggressive and antisocial behaviors among students, ranging from serious physical acts involving the use of lethal weapons (Cantor & Wright, 2002) to less serious physical behaviors such as shoving and pushing (Juvonen, 2001). School violence also includes acts that result in emotional harm and hurting others' feelings such as verbal harassment, rumor mongering, and verbal threats (Blaya, 2003).…”