BULLYING BEHAVIOUR AND COUNSELLING INTERVENTION AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN KWARA STATE

Magaji-Yusuf, K.; Prof. Esere, M. O. & Oniye, S. T.

Abstract

Bullying is a source of concern to parents, counsellors, teachers, school personnel and families in the society today. This study examined the bullying behaviour and counselling intervention among secondary school students in Kwara State, Nigeria. The research was a descriptive survey using 710 respondents from 10 randomly selected senior secondary schools in Kwara State. Adapted questionnaire entitled bullying behaviour and counselling intervention questionnaire was used with a reliability index of 0.73. The findings of the study revealed that the major type of bullying behaviours among secondary school students in Kwara State were exposure to physical bullying. The counselling interventions applied mostly by the school counsellors were to give report on each students with bullying behaviour as a way of preventing reoccurrence, encourage students to be their brothers’ keeper, talk about the effect of bullying on the assembly ground and encourage students to say no to violence within and outside the school. In addition, there was a significant difference on the bullying behaviour and counselling intervention based on gender, but there was no significant difference on the bullying behaviour and counselling intervention based on age. Based on the finding, researchers recommended the school authority put in place effective sanctions against any type of bullying behaviour and their perpetrators.