INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OFMULTIDISCIPLINARY EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH

ISSN: 2277-7881; IMPACT FACTOR – 5.818; IC VALUE:5.16; ISI VALUE:2.286

VOLUME 7, ISSUE 4(3), APRIL 2018 Tehseen Haroon
Dept. of Psychology
Ankara University
Ankara, Turkey

Impact of bullying on academic performance of high school students

Abstract
Bullying, a specific form of aggression, which is intentional, has been identified as a problematic

behavior among adolescents, affecting not only the normal life of an individual but also have dire

consequences on academic performance of adolescents. A pragmatic effort has been made to

study the impact of bullying on academic performance of high school students. The present study

was directed on 100 adolescents (Boys n=50, & Girls n=50) by using simple random sampling.

Bullying was assessed by using Peer Bullying Survey Questionnaire, developed by Metin Pisken

(2010). After analyzing data by using simple regression and simple independent t-test, it was

found that bullying have direct impact on academic performance of high school students and also

girls are more bullied than boys.

Keywords: Bullying, Academic Performance, High School.

Introduction

Concept of Bullying

Bullying has been a critical issue in schools for decades. Looking back to the18th century

peer-on- peer harassment was just as commonly seen as it is today. Bullying is not a

contemporary problem, but has always been a part of life. The first significant journal article

which addressed bullying among young people was written by Burk (1897), but since then there

was a long gap before the issue was taken up again. Of course, during that time bullying was

newly recognized and little understood. What may be seen as violent behavior today might not

have been in that time. While bullying in schools remains a critical issue, throughout the years

several events and studies have taken place that have made a significant impact on bullying and

have expanded its meaning in many ways.

Bullying is a serious problem that has increased in recent years in our schools (Brindley,

2010:2). The term bullying has changed drastically over time. In the 18th and 19th centuries

bullying was mainly viewed as physical or verbal harassment commonly linked with, “…death,

strong isolation or extortion in school children…” (Koo, 2007).Any type of aggressive behavior

was simply seen as mischief and a normal part of childhood. In fact, according to Koo (2007),

bullying was thought of as an innocent “misadventure” or “misbehavior” among school

boys.This type of bullying was clearly observed at King’s Boarding School in the U.K when a
twelve-year old boy was killed from bullying behaviors by his older classmates (Koo, 2007,

p110). The schoolboys involved were not held accountable for his death because the school

viewed the behavior as a normal misadventure among the teens (Koo, 2007). It may be fair to

say that this situation would be viewed much different today and that the bullying behaviors then

were viewed as a normal part of growing up among children.

Concept of Academic Performance

The terms “performances", "academic achievement" and "outcomes" are commonly used

differently by researchers and sometimes used interchangeably. Performance is defined as the

observable or measurable behaviour of a person an animal in a particular situation usually

experimental situation (Simpson and Weiner. 1989). This means that performance measures the

aspect of behaviour that can be observed at a specific period. Singer (1981) defined performance

test as the type of mental test in which the subject is asked to do something rather than to say

something. Performance test is the type of test which throws light on the ability to deal with

things rather than symbols (Drever, 1981). Achievement is defined as measurable behaviour in a

standardized series of tests (Simpson and Weiner. 1989). Achievement test is usually constructed

and standardized to measure proficiency in school subjects. In most of the cases,

"accomplishment" is sometimes used in place of "achievement". According to Bruce and Neville

(1979) educational achievement is measured by standardized achievement test developed for

school subjects. What this means is that academic achievement is measured in relation to what is

attained at the end of a course, since it is the accomplishment of medium or long term objective

of education. What is important is that the test should be a standardized test to meet national

norm. For a test to be standardised, it must be valid for over a period of time. Achievement is

regarded as action of completing or attaining by exertion. It subsumes anything won by exertion,

a feat, a distinguished and successful action. Simpson and Weiner (1989) contended that

achievement test intends to measure systematic education and training in school occupation

towards a conventionally accepted pattern of skills or knowledge. Several subjects may be

combined into an achievement battery for measuring general school proficiency either in point

score or achievement age and perhaps achievement quotient. And finally the term outcome is a

generic word which can be used for both performance and attitude or achievement and attitude.

In other words, outcome measures the general statement which provides for both academic

performance/achievement and attitude Learning outcome also provides for measurement of

specific actions designed to achieve some future behaviour. However, learning outcome is more

of curriculum content than measurement.

The term academic has been derived from the term ‘academy’ which means “a school

where special types of instructions are imparted”. Academic achievement has been assessed in a

variety of ways such as Grade Point Average (GPA), performance on standardized tests such as

the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT), the Science Research Associate Test (SRA) and scores on

essay type examination etc. In many studies, performance in various courses such as

mathematics, reading and other areas has been linked with yet another aspect of performance in

the classroom, the verbal behaviour of high and low achieving children. Academic achievement

is the core of a wider term i.e. educational growth and plays on important role in the life of a

child. High academic achievement in the school builds self-esteem and self-confidence which

leads to better adjustment with the group. Achievement encompasses enhancement, self-

actualization, self-improvement and some form of competitiveness (Maslow, 1954). In view of

Good (1959), and Biswas and Aggarwal (1971), there seems to be considerable similarities in as

much as all of them place emphasis on knowledge attained or skills developed in the academic
subjects usually designated by test scores. It is different from proficiency in the area of different

arts or physical skills. Academic or educational age, accomplishment-quotient or achievement

quotient are the most commonly used means to interpret the level of academic achievement of

pupils in general or in specific subject-matter.

Literature Review

Chaux et al. (2009) argued that ten to fifteen percent of adolescents worldwide are bullied

two or more times a month. Skrzypiec (2008) found that third of students who had been seriously

bullied reported having serious difficulties in concentrating and paying attention in class because

of bullying and the fear associated with. Glew et al. (2005) reported that bullying prevents

concentration and subsequent academic achievement since bullying victims lose interest in

learning and experience a drop in academic grades because their attention is distracted from

learning. Mishna (2003) indicated that bullying is “a form of aggression in which there is an

imbalance of power between the bully and the victim that occurs largely in the context of the

peer group”.

Roman and Murillo (2011) found that aggression in schools has a negative effect on

academic achievement in Latin America. They affirmed that students who have been physically

or verbally abused perform less. Marcela and Javier (2011) found that bullying is a serious

problem throughout Latin America they indicated that; students who suffer from their peers

aggression have lower performance in reading and math than those who do not; and students

who are in classrooms with more physical or verbal violence perform are more worse than those

in less violent classroom settings. Konishi et al. (2010) found that school bullying affects

negatively academic achievement.

 Brank et al. (2012) indicated that bullying victims are weak, shy, and anxious. They

added that victims’ performance is poor in school and seek to avoid attending school classes for

the purpose of avoiding victimization. Victimization experiencing can lead to poor academic

performance and leading to absenteeism. Ammermueller (2012) found that being bullied has a

significantly negative impact on present and future students’ performance in school.

Cythia (2014) analyzed bullying impact on student’s performance either in short or long term.

She found that there are differences in relationship between bullying level and academic

performance depending on student´s academic achievement.

Objectives;

1. To examine the impact of bullying on academic performance of high school students.

2. To examine the difference between boys and girls in terms of bullying.

Methodology

Tools used

Bullying was assessed by using Peer Bullying Survey Questionnaire, developed by Metin

Pisken (2010). For academic performance previous class records of students were taken.

Sample

The sample for the study was taken from high schools. Purposive sampling technique was
used to select the participants. The total no. of participants consisted of 100 students, Boys=50,
Girls=50.

Procedure
 The data of the present study was collected through personal contact with the
participants. Before administering the tool, the purpose of the study was explained to the
participants and they were assured that their responses would be kept as confidential and will be
used for research purpose only. After establishing the rapport with the participants, they were
requested to fill the bullying questionnaire. The questionnaire took 25 mints to complete. In this
way, the data was collected from the participants. The obtained data was analyzed by the means
of simple regression.

RESULTS

Table 1.1 Showing overall differences between boys and girls in terms of bullying.

GENDER N MEAN SD t-value SIG

Boys 50 108.18 12.668 - .003*

3.042
Girls 50 116.22 13.740

Note *p <0.05

By testing the difference between boys and girls on bullying we will get t-value= -3.042,
which indicates that the (second group was higher than the first group) resulted in sig (p) value
(p=.003), that was less than our alpha of 0.05, on the basis of which we may conclude that there
is a significance difference between boys and girls in terms of bullying. By examining their
group means, we may conclude that Girls with (Mean=116.22) are more bullied than boys with
(Mean=108.18).

Table 2.1. Simple Regression of bullying among high school students.

Model R R2 F p-value
 1. .827 .684 38.95 ˂.001

Predictor: (Constant) Bullying

Table 2.1. Of simple regression analysis indicates that bullying is the significant predictor of

academic performance among high school students, (R=.827 R2=.684) accounted for 68.4% of

variation in academic achievement among students. With F=38.95, p˂.001, we may conclude

that there is a significant relationship between bullying and academic performance of high school

students.

Table 2.1.A. Showing coefficient of regression for high school students with regard to their bullying.

Variables Standard T p-value

Coefficients
Β

Bullying -.827 6.42 .000

a. Dependent Variable: Academic performance.

The table gives the beta coefficient of predictor variable, indicating the significant relationship of
predictor variable with academic performance. The value of partial coefficient for bullying (r=-
.827), shows that there is a negative correlation between bullying and academic achievement
among high school students. With “t” value 6.42, a significant relationship was found between
bullying and academic performance.

Conclusion

The study concluded that bullying takes place at every phase of life. Not only the girls but boys
are also vulnerable to bullying. Boys are found to be more bullied than girls. It was also found
that bullying have negative impact on academic performance of students. Students who faced
bullying most of the time in school had the greatest risk of low achievement.

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https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1144634.pdf assessed on 2nd March 2018.