The prevalence of teachers who bully students in schools with differing levels of behavioral problems.
OBJECTIVE
This study looked for a relationship between the prevalence of teachers who bully students and school behavioral problems reflected in suspensions from school.


METHODS
A convenience sample of 214 teachers answered an anonymous questionnaire about their perceptions of teachers who bully students and their own practices. Teachers were grouped into whether they taught at schools with low, medium, or high rates of suspensions. Analyses of variance were used to analyze continuous variables, and chi-square statistics were used to study categorical variables.


RESULTS
Teachers from schools with high rates of suspensions reported that they themselves bullied more students, had experienced more bullying when they were students, had worked with more bullying teachers over the past 3 years, and had seen more bullying teachers over the past year.


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that teachers who bully students may have some role in the etiology of behavioral problems in schoolchildren.
Twemlow
Stuart W
SW
Department of Psychiatry, Menninger Clinic, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77280-9045, USA. stwemlow@aol.com
Fonagy
Peter
P
D000328:Adult; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D000378:Agonistic Behavior; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005178:Faculty / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012574:Schools / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data