The prevalence of cyber bullying in Gauteng private schools among grade 7 to 9 learners
Date
2016-11-07
Authors
Liebenberg, Annelet
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This study investigated the prevalence of cyber bullying among Grade 7, 8 and 9 learners in private
schools within the Gauteng area. The research design was quantitative, exploratory and contextual. Data
collection was done through a self-developed structured questionnaire survey. Data analysis was done through
descriptive statistics. The sample for this research was 60 learners from 2 schools in Grade 7, 8 and 9. Results
showed that girls were twice as likely to be victims as well as perpetrators of cyber bullying as compared to
boys. The anonymity of cyber bullying was shown not to be relevant as the perpetrators of cyber bullying were
known to 85% of the victims and all the victims were known to the perpetrators. The results show that 62% of
the victims reported being cyberbullied at home and 100% of the perpetrators of cyber bullying did so from
their homes. It is a concern that 40% of learners were not aware of any programmes at their school to prevent
cyber bullying. Most parents in this study spoke to their children about cyber bullying, internet danger and
online safety. However, they still did not have enough systems in place to protect their children from these
very real dangers. The educational implications of this study needs to be seen from the perspective of each
learner having the right to a safe environment that is conducive to learning. Cyber bullying interferes with this
right. Therefor schools need to become proactive at establishing classroom interventions as well as individual
interventions when cases of cyber bullying come to light. This type of intervention can however only be
effective if there is parental involvement. The results of this study should be seen as an exploratory pilot study
and should be replicated as it is with a larger sample
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of Masters in Educational
Psychology in the Humanities Faculty, University of the
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Keywords
Citation
Liebenberg, Annelet (2015) The prevalence of cyber bullying in Gauteng private schools among Grade 7 to 9 learners, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/21431>