Perceptions and experiences of bullying in younger pupils

A pictorial questionnaire was devised to explore definitions and experiences of bullying with Year 2 pupils (6-7 years). The questionnaire was given individually to 60 pupils from two schools, balanced by sex. Various indicators suggested that the children responded reasonably consistently to the questions; they had an understanding of what bullying meant, irrespective of questionnaire format, which included indirect as well as direct forms; and they had some understanding of the time frame of reference. The reports of being bullied were quite frequent, consistent with an extrapolation from the age trend reported by Whitney & Smith (1993), to younger pupils. However, despite evidence for general consistency in responses, many children extended their definition of bullying to include fighting behaviour and aggressive behaviour, which was not necessarily repeated, or qualified in other ways. The implications of this for possible age changes in definitions of bullying, and hence for interpretations of the apparent decline in experiences of bullying with age, are considered.