Parent and Teacher Attitudes Toward Bullying In School

Bullying is a problem in elementary schools and has been shown to negatively affect a student's academic performance, friendships, and attitudes towards bullying. Bullying often occurs on the playground when teachers do not observe the bullying behavior first hand. Likewise, parents depend on their child's report about bullying in school. In one study, only one-third of parents contact their child's teacher when bullying occurred in school, while in another study teachers failed to communicate effectively with parents when bullying occurred in school. The objective of the study was to facilitate in a collaborative relationship between parents and teachers when bullying in school occurs. Previous research has indicated that parents' and teachers' attitudes toward bullying and victimization can influence elementary children's views of bullying, yet little research has compared parents' and teachers' attitudes toward these bullying behaviors of children in elementary school.