Abstract
School bullying is a significant health concern for youth worldwide. The struggle to combat bullying in schools is an ongoing issue. There is no universally accepted definition for bullying, though there is widespread agreement. The voice and understanding of those that experience bullying the most has not been considered in defining and describing bullying in the literature. This phenomenological study aimed to understand the lived experience of rural middle school students who had been bullied. Participants were rural middle school students, in grades 6-8, who had filed a bullying report in the past two years. Findings suggested four main themes with one subtheme that indicated rural middle school students had a deeper description of bullying than the accepted definition in the literature. Their descriptions were thick with feelings and emotions demonstrating that bullying is a very personal experience, deep seeded in challenging emotions. Themes also indicated that students had a resilient spirit that gave them great strength to cope. With the voice of students being heard, the experience of bullying for rural middle school students today can be better understood and the work done to prevent harmful long-term consequences can be more effective. Specific areas of future research and suggestions for future interventions are identified.
Advisor
Helena Stevens
Committee Member
Rick Auger
Committee Member
Diane Coursol
Committee Member
Ann Miller
Date of Degree
2022
Language
english
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Program of Study
Counselor Education and Supervision
Department
Counseling and Student Personnel
College
Education
Recommended Citation
Lendt, S. (2022). What rural middle school students who have been bullied can teach us about bullying: A phenomenological study [Doctoral dissertation, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/1244/
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
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