Sultan Shujja

Prevalence of Bullying and Victimization among Sixth Graders with Reference to Gender, Socio-economic Status and Type of Schools

Abstract Current study was aimed to find overall prevalence of bullying, victimization and fighting behavior among 836 sixth graders (M = 12, SD= 1.20) and specifically in context of socio-economic status, type of schools and, gender in Pakistan. Data were collected from 16 private and public schools using Illinois Bullying Scale (Urdu translation) along with demographic form. Findings revealed 19.6% - 24.1% prevalence among sixth graders generally and 20.9% - 21.8% among children of low socio-economic status and, 22.7% - 23.6% among average socio-economic status specifically. Furthermore, prevalence among private and public school children ranged from 20.4% - 23.8% and 19.1% - 24.9% respectively. Children of public schools were found more involved in bullying, fighting and victimizing others as compared to private school children. Gender-wise prevalence has been found as 22%- 24.9% in boys and 22% in girls. Boys were engaged in more bullying, victimization and fighting than girls.