The influence of Physical Education in school bullying: The solution or part of the problem?

Authors

  • Fernando Marcelo Ornelas Melim Universidade do Minho, Portugal.
  • Maria Beatriz Ferreira Leite de Oliveira Pereira Universidade do Minho, Portugal.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35362/rie671264

Keywords:

Bullying | School | Physical Education.

Abstract

The discipline of Physical Education has a strong socializing effect on young people and should have a major role in the struggle against violence, indiscipline and bullying related problems that concern today’s school community. This research aims to analyse the interaction between Physical Education and bullying behaviour and to understand to what extent this problem undermines the relational, humanistic and ethical purposes of this school subject. Cross-sectional analytical study conducted in a sample of 1818 students from portuguese schools, with a mean age of 12.8 years.
We conclude that the attitudes and opinions of students with experiences of bullying, relatively to participation in physical education classes, are distinct from other students’: students who have bullied someone show better agreement with arrogant and unjust opinions than those didn’t and students who were victims of bullying experience more difficulties and constraints towards their participation in physical education class, than their colleagues who were never victimized; it was also confirmed that students with who have experienced bullying (either victimization or aggression) have lower expectations regarding learning in this course. Lastly it was confirmed that a negative assessment in this discipline was a significant risk factor for a student’s probability of being bullied by his or her peers.

Published

2015-01-15

Issue

Section

- Physical education