Bullying Problem in a Nigerian Secondary School an...

BULLYING PROBLEM IN A NIGERIAN SECONDARY SCHOOL: AN EDUCATIONAL MANGER’S SOLUTION Abstract Bullying problem is pervasive and a serious concern for all stakeholders of education who desire to make school climate a safe haven. This paper is thus moved by this desire, to identify bullying and prevalence of bullying among secondary school students in Nigeria as a matter of urgent attention. The paper brings into concrete terms, bullying situation in Hibiscus College (pseudonym) a secondary school in Nigeria and prescribes a series of decision making process for solving the problem. These include, provision of helping services for schools; sensitization and capacity building of stakeholders in bullying detection and prevention;†¦show more content†¦In recent times, it is becoming a bigger crisis with vicious consequences. Bullying is not just a child’s play, but a terrifying experience many school children face everyday (Aluede, 2006; Beran, 2005; Craig, 1998; Thornbery, 2010). As Beran (2005) further noted, in spite of school officials, teachers, parents and st udents exerting great efforts to make schools friendlier and safer places, a reduction of bullying is not always evident, as threats of attacks in schools often leading to breakdown of rules and orders are often the case in many Nigerian schools. The multifaceted nature of bullying has made its definition a complex task, as no single definition can cover all aspects of bullying. Notwithstanding, bullying is a form of aggression, a particular kind of violence to which students are exposed. It is a form of social interaction in which a more dominant individual (the bully) exhibits aggressive behaviour intended to cause distress to the less dominant individual (the victim). In most cases, bullying can be seen as acting in any way that threatens or hurts someone less powerful. Bullying does not occur when there is conflict between people of equal or similar power. This distinction is important because of the effects of being repeatedly attacked or threatened by a more powerful person or group are likely to differ from the effects of being threatened or attacked by someone of equal power. In the former case, one is apt