3. Chapter 1 - The Problem

CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM I.

Introduction

Bullying is intentional aggressive behavior. It can take the form of physical or verbal harassment and involves an imbalance of power (a group of children can gang up on a victim or someone who is physically bigger or more aggressive can intimidate someone else, for instance). Bullying behavior can include teasing, insulting someone (particularly about their weight or height, race, sexuality, religion or other personal traits), shoving, hitting, excluding someone, or gossiping about someone. Roland and Idsøe (2001) have investigated how reactive aggressiveness and two aspects of proactive aggressiveness, power-related aggressiveness and affiliation-related aggressiveness, are related to being bullied and bullying others. In addition they have also attempted to differentiate between different kinds of aggressiveness in bullying among boys and girls in different grades. Overall, they have found that there was a good correlation between both proactive power-related aggressiveness and proactive affiliation-related aggressiveness, and being involved in bullying. However, reactive aggressiveness was not a good predictor for bullying behavior. Fandrem et al. (2009) have also conducted a bullying study in Norwegian schools using the same scales developed by Roland and Idsøe. The result showed that proactive power-related aggressiveness and affiliation-related aggressiveness are related to bullying behavior, but

2

somehow different in strength in gender relation. Thus, although there might be different results in other studies, Roland and Idsøe and Fandrem et al. in their studies have somehow shown associations between bullying cultural patterns and aggressiveness as well as between gender and degree of aggressiveness. Roland and Idsøe (2001) defined the two different dimensions of aggressiveness as follows: “reactive aggressiveness is a tendency to express negative behavior when one is angry, while proactive aggressiveness is the tendency to attack someone to achieve some material or social rewards”. Bullying can cause a victim to feel upset, afraid, ashamed, embarrassed, and anxious about going to school. It can involve children of any age, including younger elementary grade-schoolers and even kindergarteners. Bullying behavior is frequently repeated unless there is intervention. Bullying is characterized by an individual behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person. According to statistics by ABC News (2008), nearly 30% of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying. In short, bullying has an effect on the students especially their self-esteem. In The Social Outcast (2005) the authors agree that bullying can lead to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem and susceptibility to illness. As the Internet and online social networks continue to grow, so does the phenomenon known as cyber bullying. This type of bullying describes when a child or teenager is harassed, humiliated, embarrassed, threatened or tormented using digital technology. Emotionally, cyber bullying can be scarring, since it involves threats and humiliation. Mostly, the school is the place where bullying problems occur. This study showed the relationship of

3

bullying behavior and self-esteem of grade seven students of Aura de Laurentus Business High School (ADLBHS), Olongapo City, Philippines. A.

Objectives The study determined the relationship between bullying behavior and self-

esteem of grade seven students of Aura de Laurentus Business High School. B.

Research Problems 1. How may the respondents be described in terms of: 1.1 Age; 1.2 Gender; 1.3 Self-esteem and 1.4 Bullying behavior? 2. Is there a relationship between the respondents’ self-esteem and bullying

behavior? C.

Hypothesis This study tested the following hypothesis: H1 : There is a significant relationship between the respondents’ self-esteem and

bullying behavior. H0 : There is no significant relationship between the respondents’ self-esteem and bullying behavior.

4

D.

Conceptual Framework

BULLYING

SELF-ESTEEM Figure 1 Conceptual Framework of the Study

E.

Significance of the study The study aimed to find out the relationship between self-esteem and bullying

behavior. To some extent bullying can lead to a broader context of violence. The present study, which has addressed particular issues of bullying and self-esteem, enriched the teacher’s sphere of knowledge concerning the phenomenon of school bullying. The researcher also took the advantage of this study by using it as a reference for further investigation on other contexts of bullying. Parents can be aware whether their children are victims of bullying or not. F.

Scope and Limitations of Study The variables of the study were limited to self-esteem and bullying behavior. It

targeted the grade seven students of ADLBHS who are enrolled in the academic year 2014 – 2015.

5

G.

Locale of the Study

Figure 2 Showing the map of Aura de Laurentus Business High School in the City of Olongapo The Business High School is a 4-year program of the Aura de Laurentus Business High School with the K-12 program that puts special concentration on business subjects using BEC as the core curriculum. It is a program that answers the need for economic self-sufficiency by preparing our high school graduates to manage small – scale businesses. The program is such that after graduation, the student can run his/her own business or be an engineer or professor and still be a businessman at the same time. Aura de Laurentus Business High School is the first and only secondary school of its kind in the City of Olongapo.

6

Responding to the call for more competent high school graduates, AdLBHS does not only aim to effectively facilitate learning but also to provide students with theoretical input and practical output on technical subjects. Part of the school curricula are highly technical subjects such as entrepreneurship for 7th Grade, business management for 8th Grade, accounting I for 9th Grade and accounting II for 10th Grade For Junior High School and two years of Bus Management Subjects for Senior Year High School. Both Years having certificates after graduation. The institution believes that learning should not be confined to the four corners of the classroom. As one educator once mused, “Tell them and they will understand: teach them and they will learn; involve them and they will participate.” The technical subjects have lecture hours with field or office practice. Case studies and apprenticeship programs are implemented to aid in the translation of theories into practice. H.

Definition of Terms These are the key descriptors used in the study:

Aggressiveness. It is a mode of communication and behavior where one expresses their feelings, needs and rights without regard or respect for the needs, rights and feelings of others. Anxiety. It is a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. Victims of bullying often experience this.

7

Bullying. Bullying is repeated verbal, physical, social or psychological behaviour that is harmful and involves the misuse of power by an individual or group towards one or more persons. Cyberbullying refers to bullying through information and communication technologies. Depression. This is more than just sadness. People with depression may experience a lack of interest and pleasure in daily activities, significant weight loss or gain, insomnia or excessive sleeping, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide. Self-Esteem. This describe a person's overall sense of self-worth or personal value. Selfesteem is often seen as a personality trait, which means that it tends to be stable and enduring. Self-esteem can involve a variety of beliefs about the self, such as the appraisal of one's own appearance, beliefs, emotions, and behaviors. Self-esteem levels at the extreme high and low ends of the spectrum can be damaging, so the ideal is to strike a balance somewhere in the middle. A realistic yet positive view of the self is often considered the ideal.