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“It was never really bullying, but…”: Reflections of Adolescents and Parents on Experiences of Microaggressions in School

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Abstract

School bullying receives considerable attention in research and in prevention and intervention activities, but microaggressions (a related form of aggressive behaviors) are largely ignored. This exploratory and descriptive qualitative study reports on diverse students’ experiences with microaggressions related to racism, homophobia, transphobia, and anti-fat bias, and school responses to such incidents. As part of a larger study on bullying, we conducted four focus groups (n = 25 youth) and 13 dyadic interviews (n = 26 youth and parents). Questions about experiences of bullying gave rise to descriptions of numerous incidents that were classified as microaggressions in inductive thematic analysis. Four themes emerged: (1) Many types of microaggressions communicate marginalization, stereotypes, and lack of acceptance; (2) Experiences of microaggressions negatively affect mental health and school engagement; (3) Many youth stay silent in the face of microaggressions, but some stand up to aggressors; and (4) School and teacher responses to microaggressions are perceived mostly as nonexistent or ineffective. Schools should consider microaggressions a subset of bullying behaviors and address them in prevention activities, as well as provide resources and activities to engender a school climate that is respectful and supportive of diverse students.

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Funding

Funding for this research came from the University of Minnesota Department of Pediatrics New Team Science Grant, supported by the Minnesota Masonic Charities Fund. The sponsor had no role in the study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing the report; and the decision to submit the report for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, 308 SE Harvard St, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Marla E. Eisenberg, Amy L. Gower & Camille Brown

  2. School of Nursing, University of Minnesota, 717 Delaware St. SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55414, USA

    Camille Brown

  3. Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 420 Delaware St. SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA

    Yoon-Sung Nam & Marizen Ramirez

  4. Institute for Sexual and Gender Health, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    G. Nic Rider

Authors
  1. Marla E. Eisenberg
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  2. Amy L. Gower
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  3. Camille Brown
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  4. Yoon-Sung Nam
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  5. G. Nic Rider
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  6. Marizen Ramirez
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marla E. Eisenberg.

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Ethics Approval

The University of Minnesota’s Institutional Review Board approved all protocols for this research (#STUDY00005952).

Informed Consent

Parental consent was obtained for all minor participants; adults (parents and youth aged 18 years) self-consented for this research.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Eisenberg, M.E., Gower, A.L., Brown, C. et al. “It was never really bullying, but…”: Reflections of Adolescents and Parents on Experiences of Microaggressions in School. Int Journal of Bullying Prevention 4, 285–296 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42380-021-00103-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42380-021-00103-9

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