The social context of school bullying: evidence from a survey of children in South Wales

The article presents a descriptive review of the various patterns of association with school bullying that were revealed in a survey of over 26,000 children aged 11–16 in South Wales. The survey examined risks and protective factors for young people and included a question about being a bully and another about being bullied. Following regression analyses, significant associations were found between being a bully and various attitudinal and behavioural factors. There was a modest but ambiguous association with socio‐economic status, and no independent association with minority ethnicity. There was a strong independent association between being a bully and being bullied. Some comment is made about the implications of the findings for policy, including the apparently positive effect (as revealed in the survey data) of schools being perceived by children as having clear rules on bullying.