Gender-Based Bullying in Elementary School: Prevalence and Impact on Student Experience

• In Event: Bias-Based Bullying: The Implications of Multiple Forms of Discriminatory Victimization

Abstract

Negative attitudes, remarks and actions can create a school climate that can impact students’ feelings of safety and their interest in school and learning. For secondary school students, the most commonly reported reasons students are targeted for victimization include actual or perceived sexual orientation and gender (GLSEN & Harris Interactive, 2006). It may be that gender and sexual orientation become targets in secondary school because the topics become more salient with the onset of adolescent sexual development. However, attitudes about gender and diversity related to sexual orientation may start in early schooling through messaging about socially acceptable gender expression. Although there has been increased attention to bullying and harassment among elementary school children, there has been less attention paid to the reasons why students are targeted. These early messages about gender and sexuality may, in fact, manifest in the younger grades through targeted bullying.

Methods

The purpose of this paper is to examine bullying related to gender and teacher practices regarding gender and their relationship to student well-being and feelings about school among elementary students. In a national sample of 1,065 elementary school students (grades 3 to 6), students were asked about to report the frequency of being told to act in “gender appropriate” ways (i.e., being told not to do something because of their gender) and frequency of being taught about gender equity (i.e., “girls and boys can do the same things.”). We hypothesized that gender-based bullying would be related to diminished well-being and feelings about school. We also hypothesized interactions effects of teacher practice, such that positive messaging regarding gender would be off-set the impact of bullying and negative messaging would exacerbate its impact.

Results
Well-Being. Results from ordinary least squares hierarchical regressions, controlling for student demographics (age, gender, public/private school), indicated that gender-based bullying and negative teacher practices were significantly related to poorer outcomes. Positive teacher practices was not related to well-being directly but moderated the relationship between bullying and well-being such that the positive practices off-set the negative effect of bullying.

Feelings about School. Gender-based bullying was significantly related to diminished feelings about school, although the beta weight was no longer significant when the interactions were entered into the equation. Teacher practices about gender, both positive and negative, were significantly related to feelings about school in the hypothesized directions. Further, the interaction of positive teacher practices by bullying was marginally significant (p < .10), indicating that the absence of positive messaging about gender increased the negative effect of bullying on feelings about school.

Significance
These findings highlight the saliency of gender in elementary schools, demonstrating that the pressure to conform to gender norms may begin early in a child’s educational career and affect children at early ages. Also, early learning of the importance of gender conformity may set the stage for stigmatization of gender non-conforming adolescents. Yet positive educator practices and messaging about gender may ameliorate the negative consequences of gender-based victimization. Implications for future research and for professional education for school professionals will be discussed.

Author

• Joseph G. Kosciw, Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network