Abstract
School bullying has become a spreading and explicit problem in Hong Kong schools and is an issue of growing concern for parents, teachers, and educators. It is one of the top three types of misbehavior in students, with increasing frequency and severity. Bullying refers to intentional, oppressive behavior against another person that causes physical and/or psychological harm. Research studies have shown that school bullying has detrimental effects on victims, bullies, and even bystanders, affecting their academic, social, emotional, mental, and psychological functioning as well as physical health. A number of variables have been found to correlate with victim and bullying behavior and will be presented. Finally, different bullying intervention approaches will be critically examined. Specifically, focus will be on (1) remedial, preventive, and developmental guidance; (2) interventions at individual student level, classroom level, and whole-school level; and (3) peer-led intervention.
The preparation for this work and the Project P.A.T.H.S. were financially supported by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. This paper is based on two articles originally published by The Scientific World Journal Hui et al. (2011): Combating school bullying through developmental guidance for positive youth development and promoting harmonious school culture. The Scientific World Journal, 11, 2266–2277. Tsang et al. (2011). Bystander position taking in school bullying: the role of positive identity, self-efficacy, and self-determination. The Scientific World Journal, 11, 2278–2286.
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Tsang, S.K.M., Hui, E.K. (2015). Preventing and Combating School Bullying: A Conceptual Review. In: Lee, T., Shek, D., Sun, R. (eds) Student Well-Being in Chinese Adolescents in Hong Kong. Quality of Life in Asia, vol 7. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-582-2_4
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