Developing Strategies to Combat Bullying at the Middle School Level

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Abstract

Developing Strategies to Combat Bullying at the Middle School Level. Sharocka L. Melton, 2016: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education. Keywords: bullying, incident; anti-bullying program, parent involvement.

This applied dissertation is designed to investigate the concept of bullying in the middle school setting. Bullying is a type of behavior among school-aged children, which “involves real or perceived power inferiority” (Stop Bullying, 2016a, 1). This aggressive behavior tends to peak in late childhood and early adolescence. Approximately one third, of all students in Grades 6-12 experienced bullying in the U. S. (Stop Bullying, 1016b). That is why it is important to put an emphasis on the middle school level in investigating bullying in American schools. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate and proactively create a school-wide initiative to combat bullying and evaluate whether it reduces the number of bullying incidents.

The dissertation will utilize a survey strategy to gather primary data from students. Participants will provide responses to a variety of scenarios, which focus on bullying and those responses will be collected and analyzed. The sample will draw 200 male and female students from two urban inner city schools in the same target district outside Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, teachers at the target schools will be asked to complete questionnaires to identify their role in bullying incidents at the middle school level. A sample of ten teachers from the two schools will be drawn for this research study.