CARIBBEAN ADVANCE PROFICIENCY

EXAMINATION
SOCIOLOGY INTERNAL ASSESSMENT

Research Question: What procedures are being taken by the

disciplinary body of a prominent high school in Kingston and St.
Andrew to deter the act of bullying within the school body/population?

Candidate’s Name: Patrece Campbell

Candidate’s School: Merl Grove High School
Center Number: 100076
Candidate’s Number:
Subject: Sociology
Teacher’s Name: Mrs. Leveridge
Territory: Jamaica
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The researcher will like to graciously extend feelings of gratitude to the following person.

The almighty God for instilling in the researcher the wisdom and understanding necessary to

complete this Internal Assessment. Mr. P. Campbell for giving the researcher the wonderful

opportunity to an education and financial needs for this IA. Mrs. Leveridge, for helping the

researcher to understand sociological concepts so the researcher could apply them throughout

this IA as well as for reviewing this IA. Their help is highly appreciated and the researcher

further thank them.

 Table of Content

SECTION 1

Background 1

Definition of the Research Problem 2

Aim and Objectives 3

Literature Review 4-5

SECTION 2

Research Design 6-7

Sociological Perspective 8-9

Sample Selection 10

Data Collection Techniques 11

SECTION 3

Presentation of Findings 12 - 27

Analysis of Findings 28 - 32

SECTION 4

Discussion of Findings 33 - 37

Conclusion 38

Bibliography 39 - 41
 BACKGROUND

Merl Grove High School once called “Little Red House” is a secondary educational

institution located at 77-79 Constant Spring Road, Jamaica. It was founded in 1920 by Nathaniel

Speid. According to Miriam Speid, Nathaniel Speid’s daughter and former principal of this

institution, the school was given its name by her mother Virginia. Virginia had five children with

which she used to form the name of the school – “M” for Miriam, “E” for Effery, “R” for

Reginald and Ruth and “L” for Lucille to form MERL. The area around had a lot of different

fruit trees, hence the name GROVE.

Over the years Merl Grove High School had gain excellent principals who all put their

best foot forward to make the school better. The current principal of the school is Dr. Marjorie

Fullerton who gained her position on April 1, 2016. Her love for the student body and staff has

paved the way to a “MUST go to” traditional high school for girls. However, over the years this

prestigious high school has had issues with behavior policies in regards to bullying.

I became interested in this issue because throughout high school I had been a victim of

bullying and I know how it feels to be bullied. Therefore, I am interested in knowing what my

school, Merl Grove High School, is doing about bullying and what are the major causes of

bullying within the school.

 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This Internal Assessment is based on empirical research done at the Merl Grove High

School on the subject of bullying. According to www.stopbullying.gov, a federal government

website managed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “Bullying is unwanted,

aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power

imbalance”. At the Merl Grove High School bullying is a constant issue, for students believe that

they must overpower each other or treat others unfairly. In most cases this is because of the

social backgrounds, appearances and academics of students attending the school. Bullying is a

vicious act which may lead to serious consequences such as suicide and must be stopped before

it reaches thus far. In this Internal Assessment the issue of bullying and how it affects students

will be discussed; as well as the sanctions/techniques used by the school that have been

successful for such deviant acts at Merl Grove High School.

 AIM AND OBJECTIVES

Aim

● To investigate ways in which the disciplinary body of Merl Grove High School governs the issue

of bullying within the school's environment and how students are affected by acts of bullying.

Objectives:

● To determine what motivates students to bully each other at school

● To observe how bullying affects students' social behavior at school

● To assess the different sanctions available for an antagonizer/bully at the school

 LITERATURE REVIEW

According to an article published by Psychology Today entitled “Understanding

Bullying”, “bullying is a distinctive pattern of harming and humiliating others, specifically those

who are in some way smaller, weaker, and younger or in any way more vulnerable than the

bully”. The act of bullying is very devious and is a developing behavior of children with bad

backgrounds who feels they have to empower the vulnerable. There are various types of bullying

such as physical bullying, verbal bullying, rational aggression, cyberbullying, sexual bullying

and prejudicial bullying.

According to an article from The Gleaner, by Andrea Martin Swaby, cyberbullying has

become the most dominant form of bullying in Jamaica. Cyberbullying is the use of electronic

communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an intimidating or

threatening nature. Andrea goes on to say that, “Online bullying is not very distinct from the

traditional form of bullying in school. In fact, it is a mutated form. Both include nagging,

humiliation, forms of intimidation, aggression, teasing and overall aggression. What poses a real

cause for concern for cyberbullying is that in this set-up, unlike its historical version, the

perpetrator can hide in cyberspace under the clout of anonymity.”

Additionally, according to another article by the gleaner, the violence in communities as

aided in the development of bullies within schools. “Jamaica has earned itself a long history of

struggle with violence which sadly, our children have not been immune to experiencing either as

a victim or a perpetrator. The Child Development Agency (CDA) unearthed some worrying

information on the status of bullying in Jamaican schools. The study concluded that 70% of the

1,876 students surveyed said they were bullied over the 2013-2014 school year. Regarding the
types of bullying these children were experiencing, 57.6% said they being teased or called

names; 31.5% cited being hit, kicked or shoved; 28.6% said they have had lies told on them and

13.7% reported to have been ignored or excluded”.

Consequently, being bullied can lead to psychological effects such as low self-esteem,

bad moods, isolation, depression, substance abuse and the most dangerous of them all, self-harm.

According to an article from nobullying.com, entitled “Discover the Psychological Effects of

Bullying”, self- harm can take the forms such as cutting, persistent scratching, skin picking,

choking oneself, burning oneself, substance abuse, reckless behavior, eating disorders and

possible suicide. Children and adolescents will use self-harm as a mean of communicating

distress. In addition to the physical short-term effects, the individual will experience symptoms

related to depression. The most relevant will include suicidal ideation, depressed mood, fatigue

and a change in sleep patterns. If the issue of self-harm is not addressed the child is at risk of

chronic depression and anxiety disorders with a greater chance of suicide.

It is of sociologists’ view that bullying is tied to adults’ anti-social behaviors. Matt

DeLisi, an ISU associate professor of sociology and director of the criminal justice program,

believes that bullies are more antisocial. They’re engaged in problem behaviors that over time,

add up. His studies compares numbers of different kinds of antisocial behaviors with adults who

had a history of bullying and those who did not have a history of bullying. According to the

study, adults with a history of bullying were 10 times more likely to lie than those with no

bullying history. They were also six times more likely to get in a fight and two-and-a-half times

more likely to harass or threaten someone than those with no bullying history. Therefore, the

actions and behaviors portrayed by adults can afftect their children’s behaviours.
 RESEARCH DESIGN

Research design is a detailed outline of how an investigation will take place. According

to the Business Dictionary, This involves how the data is to be collected, the instruments

employed, how the instruments will be used and the intend means for analyzing data collected.

In this research two types of data sources were used; primary and secondary sources. The

primary sources used were questionnaires and interviews. The secondary sources used were

textbooks, articles and websites. Also, in this research both quantitative and qualitative methods

of data collection was collected and utilized.in addition, questionnaires and interviews were used

as a data collection instrument.

A questionnaire is a set of printed or written questions with a choice of answers, devised

for the purposes of a survey or statistical study. It is a cheap, quick and efficient way of acquiring

information from a numerous amount of persons. In the questionnaire there were two types of

questions asked; these are open and closed questions. Closed questions structure the answer by

only allowing one to choose from pre-decided options. For example; ‘yes’ or ‘no’, or ‘male’ or

‘female’. Closed questions can be advantageous as they provide information that can be easily be

transformed into quantitative data and providing one with statistical data analysis. However they

lack details since the information given is fixed. On the other hand Open questions allows

respondents to use their own words and give explanation in a more detailed manner. For

examples, “what are your views on bullying?” this is advantageous as qualitative information is

acquired as the respondent gives a more detailed point of view. However, it may be time

consuming as respondent may take a longer time to complete the questionnaire.

 An interview is a conversation, such as one conducted by a reporter, in which facts or

statements are elicited from another. Interviews is a form a qualitative data collection which

makes the research being carried out somewhat logical. Interviews can be conducted either face-

to-face or over the telephone. Questions asked are open ended which allows the respondent to

give a more personal and detailed response. Interviews can be very advantageous as it gives the

researcher the opportunity to collect personal opinions, values, and beliefs and ask further

questions on a particular issue. However, an interview may be disadvantageous as the respondent

may give bias information which may not be beneficial to the research.

For this research a total of 25 questionnaires will be issued. It will be distributed to 5

random persons of grades 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 each. It is issued this way to give variation to the

research being conducted and protect the respondent’s confidentiality. Randomization is efficient

as it provides variation since each respondent has had their different experiences with the issue

of bullying. In addition an interview was conducted between the researcher the guidance

counsellor. This was done so that the researcher could acquire information on the point of view

of the guidance counsellor since she is responsible for bullying. Also, another interview was

conducted between the researcher and the Dean of Discipline so the researcher could acquire

information on the penalties allocated for matters concerning the bullying of students.

Therefore, primary and secondary data collection sources were used in order to

effectively carry out this research. These sources include questionnaires, interviews, articles,

textbooks and websites respectively. As a result this researcher was well carried out and contain

firsthand and logical information.

 SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

According to Carlton Chinapoo, a sociological perspective/theory is a body of knowledge

that helps to explain how something works and each theory has its particular way of viewing

reality.1 There are six major types of sociological perspectives; Marxism, Functionalism,

Interactionism, Interpretivism, Positivism and Feminism. However, the issue of bullying is

elaborated on by mainly two sociological perspectives; functionalism and Marxism (conflict

theory). However, only positivism and interpretivism constructed the study of sociology.

Positivism is brought forward by the founder of sociology Auguste Comte. Positivism

suggests that the scientific study of humans is possible using the methods and procedures of

natural science such as observation, multivariate analysis and correlation.2 Comte and other

scientist believed that it was possible to create a ‘science of society’ based on the same principles

of natural science. Functionalist in particular have a penchant for positivist methods since they

believe that social structure was objective.3 Positivism employs methods that are very scientific

and provides a form of quantitative research. For example; Emile Durkheim’s classic study

Suicide (1970, first published 1897) is often seen as a model of positivist research and it does

indeed follow many of the methodological procedures of positivism.4

On the hand, interpretivism was brought forward by Max Weber, who was opposed to the

idea that human behavior was quantifiable. He proposed instead that there were aspects of

human behavior that could not be measured because they were concerned with emotions and

1 Chinapoo, Carlton, et al. “Cape Sociology Units 1 & 2”. London, UK; Hodder Education. 2015. Pg. 23
2 Mustapha, Nasser. “Sociology for Caribbean Students”. Jamaica; Ian Randle Publishers. 2013. Pg. 41
3 Chinapoo, Carlton, et al. “Cape Sociology Units 1 & 2”. London, UK; Hodder Education. 2015. Pg. 47
4 Haralambos, Holborn. “Sociology Themes and Perspectives”. United Kingdom; Collins Educational. 2000. Pg. 966
feelings.5 This approached was adopted by a number of American sociologists such as G.H.

Mead, E. Goffman and H. Garfinkel that employed subjective approaches in their researches.

The interpretivist approach involved a systematic analysis of socially meaningful actions through

the direct, detailed observation of people in natural settings in order to arrive at understandings

and interpretations of how people create and maintain their social worlds.6 Interpretivism

employs methods that provides qualitative research. For example; Max Weber’s study in the

Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1958), one of his main concerns was to interpret

the beliefs and motives of the early Calvinists.7

5 Mustapha, Nasser. “Sociology for Caribbean Students”. Jamaica; Ian Randle Publishers. 2013. Pg. 41
6 Chinapoo, Carlton, et al. “Cape Sociology Units 1 & 2”. London, UK; Hodder Education. 2015. Pg. 51
7 Haralambos, Holborn. “Sociology Themes and Perspectives”. United Kingdom; Collins Educational. 2000. Pg. 972
 SAMPLE SELECTION

A sample is a selection from a general population with similar characteristics; chosen to

be participants in a research study.8 A sample is chosen because it is impractical if not impossible

and time consuming to study a whole population. Therefore, the most suitable sample is selected

to represent that population, making it possible to make observations or draw valid conclusions.

A sampling frame was selected in order to effectively represent the population. A sampling

frame is a list of persons drawn from the population.9 The sampling method of stratified random

sampling was chosen. The sample units was organized based on their grades and then the

questionnaires was randomly distributed to 5 individual per grade. The sample was entirely

females from the Merl Grove High School ranging from ages 12–18. A total of 25 questionnaire

were issued and retrieved. This method was effective because it created variation in the sampling

as different individuals of different age, background and experiences were able to participate in

this research.

8 Chinapoo, Carlton, et al. “Cape Sociology Units 1 & 2”. London, UK; Hodder Education. 2015. Pg. 63
9 Mustapha, Nasser. “Sociology for Caribbean Students”. Jamaica; Ian Randle Publishers. 2013. Pg. 74
 DATA COLLECTION TOOLS/RESEARCH
TECHNIQUES

Both primary and secondary sources were used in order to gather effective information

for this research. The primary sources used were questionnaires and interviews which are both

quantitative and qualitative data collection methods respectively. Questionnaires provided this

research with data that could be easily tabulated, measured and analyze through the use of

statistics. It was advantageous as it was not costly and saved the researcher time. Structured

Interviews provided this research with professional and detailed information. It was

advantageous because misunderstood questions were clarified and the researcher was able to

detect lies, bias and inconsistencies in the interviews’ account by observing facial expressions,

phonetics (tones) and body language. The secondary sources used in this research are textbooks,

websites and articles. This aided in giving the research additional information the phenomenon

being studied and other perspectives as well as research on the matter. All these aided in making

this research factual and adequate.

 COVER LETTER
54 Olympic Way,
Kingston 11.

Dr. Marjorie Fullerton

(Principal)
77 -79 Constant Spring Road,
Kingston 10.

February 20, 2018.

Dear Dr. Fullerton,

I am currently a student of the Merl Grove High School who will be required to sit a

Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examination (CAPE) in May. As a part of this examination I am

required to do an Internal Assessment which incorporates a research. I hereby ask your

permission to conduct my research on the topic which would be entitled, “The Issue of Bullying

within Merl Grove High” at your institution. I would like to issue some questionnaires and

interview the Dean of Discipline and Guidance Counsellor at your school as a part of my data

collection. I hope that you will therefore grant me the permission necessary to conduct my

Internal Assessment as it is highly beneficial to my academic achievements.

Yours Sincerely,
Patrece Campbell.
 QUESTIONAIRE
This questionnaire is solely used for the purpose of gathering information for an Internal
Assessment. The information given will be kept confidential, thus, you are not required to write
your name. Please answer ALL questions below as honestly as possible. Select ONLY ONE
answer per question. Thank you for your participation.
1. What age group do you belong to?

• 11 - 14

• 15 -18

2. What gender are you?

• Male

• Female

3. What grade do you belong to?

• 7

• 8

• 9

• 10

• 11

1. Have you ever been bullied?

• Yes

• No

2. How did bullying affect your social behavior at school?

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

3. If yes at what age? ______________ (If no proceed to question #7).

4. How did you feel after being bullied?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

5. Were you ever a bully?

• Yes

• No

6. If yes what factors motivated you to bully others? (If no proceed to next question).
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________

10. What do you think are the common elements of bullying?

• Stealing of lunch money

• Beating a person up

• Laughing at a person

• Saying harsh words

• Provocation

11. What sanctions do you know are given to bullies at your school?

• Order Marks

• Detention

• Suspensions

• Expulsion

• Others (please state) __________________________________________

12. Do you think the sanctions given by your school is effective?

 • Yes

• No

13. How does your school make it known to the school population that bullying is wrong?
Through the use of:

• Posters

• Signs

• Presentations during assembly

• Guidance Class

• Others. (please state) _____________________________________________________

14. What was the type of bullying you received?

• Cyberbullying

• Verbal Bullying

• Physical Bullying

• Sexual Bullying

• Others. (Please state) _____________________________________________________

• None

15. How often were you bullied?

• Every day

• Every other day

• Once a week

• Not so regular
 • Not at all

16. Have u ever felt suicidal or like you would hurt yourself after being bullied?

• Yes

• No

17. How did bullying someone make you feel?

• Good

• Bad

• Powerful

• Normal

• Others. (please state) ______________________________________________________

18. On a scale of 1 to 5 how much do you tolerate the act of bullying? __________________
(1 being no toleration and 5 being high toleration)
19. If you were ever bullied did you speak up for yourself?

• Yes

• No

20. What are your comments on bullying in general?

__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

INTERVIEW #1
Dean of Discipline

1. What are the sanctions available for an antagonizer at this school?

Answer: The topic sanctions varies: an aggressor based on the severity of her case may be dragged to the board and
then immediate expulsion. Aggressors in the form of cyber bullying they are referred to the School Resource Officer
who will bring the matter to the attention of the cyber-crime unit of the JCF which will adjudicate over the matter
according to find where any breach may arise. Order Marks are given which are placed on the files of the students
which are not expunged; suspension for a maximum of nine days; in class suspension; community Service;
Behavioral Modification Camps inter alia.

2. What do you think motivates students to bully each other at school? (E.g. peer pressure,
background, etc.)
Answer: Bullying within our current reality stems from sensationalism. The strong influence of hype and likes on
social media give some students the drive to want to bully. Students patronize and model behavior so social class,
background and peer groups are some of the myriad of factors which stem to bullying in school. Connections with
internal and external gang sometimes contribute to school bullying.

3. What advice do you give to antagonizers?

Answer: I would recommend that they think before they act and if they act before they think then the full force of
law should be meted out to them. I would advise them to think of their sisters feeling being a victim of any form of
bullying and try to relate how they would respond if she were the victim of bullying.

4. What are the most common types of bullying reports you get? (E.g. Cyberbullying, etc.)
Answer: Gang bullying and cyber bullying.

5. How does bullying affects the school in general?

Answer: At our current school the impact of physical bullying that is the traditional bullying has not impede the
school that much. Cyber bullying seems to be the new phenomenon. This affects not only the school but the wider
community that affiliates with the school. The cyber bullying victims feel emotional, psychological and
physically scarred when derogatory things are posted on social media about them. Most of the case that we have to
deal a bitter taste in our mouth having have to adjudicate over distasteful and a raunchy contents. When the cyber
bullies post their comments, video about other fellow school mates it puts the school into a negative light that will be
hard to erase.

6. How does the school advice other students on the act of bullying?
Answer: There are constant educational campaign being done by the Dean's office and the Guidance Counsel
Department to treat with such abnormal behavior. Signs are placed at strategic location which depicts: stop bullying.
They are constant been reminded that bullying especially cyber bullying is a criminal offence which is punishable by
law. Students sometimes are called upon to do skips and other presentations relating to the issue of bullying in
school and its ripple effect on the school and the wider society.

7. Do you have any comment on the issue of bullying?

Answer: Certainly I have an issue with bullying. The reason I say so boldly is that every victim that is being bullied
reacts to bullying differently and most time out of fear and frustration so students will snap and create some
unforeseen damages. The victims of bullying are normally demoralize and oftentimes want to stay away from
school. Some of the victims don't even feel comfortable to bring the matter to the relevant authorities as they feel no
justice will be given.

INTERVIEW #2

Guidance Counsellor
 1. How does bullying affect students of the Merl Grove High School? (e.g.: do they become deviant.
Lower their academics etc.)
Answer: the students that I have interacted with within my seven years who have been victims of bullying are
usually depressed, they hate coming to school, they sometimes can't focus on their academics, sometimes they
become angry and very aggressive and there are times when they become withdrawn.

2. How does bullying affects students' social behavior at school? (E.g. Isolation from other student,
no participation in class, etc.)
Answer: I suppose my previous answer would answered this question.

3. What do you think motivates students to bully each other at school? (E.g. peer pressure,
background, etc.)
Answer: low self-esteem is always the number one thing. Students who bully other students generally doesn't have a
good perception of themselves. They want everyone to know that they are tough and that nobody should mess with
them. Sometimes it’s wrapped up in jealousy. They sometimes wish they had the support or the material things that
the other student had. As you stated sometimes its peer pressure, maybe their friends are encouraging them to say or
do something naughty and they feel they must respond in order to get their friends respect.

4. What advices do you give to students that are bullied?

Answer: students who are bullied feel threatened and afraid so the first thing you want to do is reassure their safety.
Let them know that they safe a no one should let them feel uncomfortable, you seek to empathize with them and
then gentle encourage them to disclose who are the persons bullying them. If needs be you can advise student that
parents may have to be called in depending on the situation and also a meeting with the students who are causing
harm.
5. What do you think are the factors that lead to a student becoming an antagonizer?
Answer: this question is similar to question 3. Nevertheless one other thing could be that the child has a behavioral
disorder. If the child had a psychological issue this will make them very defiant and troublesome (conduct disorder)
these category of children also known as "children at risk" can become bullies based on behavioral challenges that
they have.

6. How to parents react when they hear of their child/children being bullied?
Answer: Generally parents are angry when they get this information. They also tend to be afraid depending on the
nature of the bullying.

7. Do you have any comment on the issue of bullying?

Answer: Bullying is a real issue in our Jamaican school system. I believe all schools should do their best to promote
an environment that doesn't tolerate bullying. Whether they want to have a formal anti-bullying campaign or they
want to activities thought-out the school year to emphasize the effects of bullying and the consequences that can
reach the culprit if they are found to be bullies.

PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS

QUESTION 1
 tally table showing the age groups of the 25
students
11-14 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

15-18 ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Key
♥ - number of students = 1

Figure 1: A Tally Table representing the 25 students’ responses to question 1, “What age group

do you belong to”. The table shows that 13 students are from age 11-14 and 12 are from age 15-

18. From the diagram it is safe to say that majority of the students who participated in this

diagram are from the lower school of grade 7-9 as the age range for these students are ages 11-

14.

QUESTION 7
 BARGRAPH SHOWING THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS
WHO WERE ACTUAL BULLIES
25

20
20
NUMBER OF STUDENTS

15

10

5
5

0
YES NO
RESPONSE TO EVER BEING A BULLY

NUMBER OF STUDENTS

Figure 2: A Vertical Bar Graph showing the 25 students’ response to question number 7, “Were

you ever a bully”. 5 students responded saying ‘Yes I was once a bully’ and 20 responded saying

‘No I was never a bully’.

QUESTION 10
 PIE CHART SHOWING THE COMMON
ELEMENTS OF BULLYING

2; 8% Stealing of lunch money

6; 24% Beating of a person
5; 20% Laughing at a person
Saying harsh words
Provocation

12; 48%

Figure 3: A Pie Chart showing the 25 students’ response to question number 10, “What do you

think are the common elements of bullying”.12 students agreed that it was saying harsh words

which represents 48% of the sample. 6 students agreed that it was provocation which represents

24% of the sample. 5 students agreed that it was laughing at a person representing 20% of the

sample. 0 students said it was stealing of lunch money which represents 0% of the sample.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the major element of bullying the students experienced at

Merl Grove High School is the saying of harsh words and the least is the stealing of one’s lunch

money.

QUESTION 11
 BARGRAPH SHOWING THE SANCTIONS FOR BUL-
LYING AT MERL GROVE HIGH SCHOOL

Expulsion 4

Suspension 11
SANCTIONS

Detention 2

Order Mark 8

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
NUMBER OF STUDENTS

Number of Students

Figure 4: Horizontal Bar Graph unveiling the students’ response to question number 11, “What

sanctions do you know are given to bullies at your school”? The graph unveils that 8 students

responded that the school gives order marks as sanctions for bullying. 2 student responded that

the school gives detention as a sanction. 11 students responded that the school gives suspension

as sanction for the act of bullying. 4 students said that the school gives expulsion as a sanction

for bullying at Merl Grove High School. Therefore, according the majority of the students, to

their knowledge the school gives mostly suspension for the act of bullying at Merl Grove High

School.
QUESTION 13

DOUGHNUT CHART SHOWING THE STU-

DENTS RESPONSE TO HOW THE SCHOOL
MAKES IT KNOWN THAT BULLYING IS
WRONG
3; 12% 2; 8%

5; 20% Posters
Signs
Presentations in Assembly
Guidance Class
11; 44%
4; 16% Visitor Speeches

Figure 5: Doughnut Chart showing the students’ response to question number 13, “How does

your school make it known to the school population that bullying is wrong”. This diagram

reveals that 11 students agreed that Guidance class is aid in making the school population

knowledgeable about bully being wrong which represents 44% of the sample. 5 students agreed

that Signs aided in making the school population knowledgeable about bullying being wrong

which represents 20% of the sample. 4 students agreed that presentations in the assembly aided

in making the school population knowledgeable about bullying being wrong which represents

16% of the sample. 3 students agreed that speeches from visitors aided in making the school

population knowledgeable about bullying being wrong which represents 12% of the sample. 2

students agreed that posters aided in making the school population knowledgeable about bullying

being wrong which represents 8% of the sample. Therefore, it can be concluded that guidance

classes is what mainly aided in the students becoming knowledgeable about bullying being

wrong.
QUESTION 14

BARGRAPH SHOWING THE TYPE OF BULLYING THE

STUDENTS RECEIVED

Sexual Bullying

Physical Bullying

Verbal Bullying

Cyberbullying

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Number of Students

Figure 6: Horizontal Bar Graph showing the students’ response to question number 14, “What

was the type of bullying you received”. This graph is a representation of the 15 students who said

they were bullied as only these students were able to answer this question. According to the

graph, 6 students said that they received verbal bullying. 5 students said they received

cyberbullying, 4 students said they received physical bullying and 0 students said they received

sexual bullying. Therefore, it is safe to say that the students of Merl Grove High School mostly

experience verbal bullying over the other forms of bullying.

QUESTION 15

PIE CHART SHOWING HOW OFTEN THE

STUDENTS WERE BULLIED

2; 8%

9; 36%

10; 40%

2; 8% 2; 8%

Every Day Every Other Day Once A Week Not At All Not So Regular

Figure 7: A Pie Chart revealing the students’ response to question number 15, “How often were

you bullied”? The chart unveils that 10 students weren’t bullied at all. These are the 10 student

who said that they were never bullied before which represents 40% of the sample. 9 students said

that they were everyday which represents 36% of the sample. 2 students said they were bullied

not so regular, another 2 said they were bullied every other day and another 2 said they were

bullied once a week. This represent 8% of the sample for each of these response.
QUESTION 17

PIE CHART SHOWING HOW BULLYING

MADE THE ANTAGONIZERS FEEL
Good Bad Powerful Normal

1; 20%

2; 40%

2; 40%

Figure 8: A Doughnut Chart representing the students’ response to question number 17, “How

did bullying someone make you feel”. This question was answered by the 5 students who

indicated that they have been antagonizers sometime in the past. 2 students said that they felt

good after bullying a person and another said they felt powerful. This represent 40% each of the

5 students from the sample. 1 student said they felt normal after bullying a person which

represents 20% of the sample. 0 students said they felt bad after bullying which represent 0% of

the sample. As a result, it can be concluded that after bullying most antagonizer feel powerful

and good about their actions.

QUESTION 18

LINE GRAPH SHOWING THE STUDENTS

TOLERATION FOR BULLYING
15
NUMBER OF STUDENTS

4 4
2
0
1 2 3 4 5
Toleration Rate

Rates

Figure 9: A Line Graph show the students’ response to question number 8, “On a scale of 1 to 5

how much do you tolerate the act of bullying (1 being no toleration and 5 being high toleration)”.

With reference to the graph 15 students responded with 1 saying that they had an extremely low

tolerance for bullying. 4 students responded with 2 saying they had a low toleration for bullying.

Another 4 students responded saying that they had an averaged toleration for bullying. 2 students

responded with 4 saying that they tolerated bullying; while 0 students responded with 5 saying

that they sought no problem with bullying. Therefore, it can be concluded that majority of the

students who participated in this research had a low tolerance for bullying.

QUESTION 19
 PIE CHART SHOWING THE NUMBER OF STUDENT
WHO SPOKE UP ABOUT BEING BULLIED

40% YES I SPOKE UP

NO I DID NOT SPEAK UP
60%

Figure 10: A Pie Chart representing the students’ response to question 19, “If you were ever

bullied did you speak up for yourself”. This question was answered by the 15 students who

indicated that they have been bullied before. According to the chart, 9 students said ‘Yes’ they

spoke up for themselves; this represents 60% of the sample. 6 students said ‘No’ they did not

speak up for themselves; this represents 40% of the sample. Thus, it can be conclude that over a

half of the students from the sample spoke up for themselves about being bullied.

ANALYSIS OF DATA
 Merl Grove High School is a prominent secondary educational institution that has a

reoccurring issues with bullying. Bullying is a distinctive pattern of harming and humiliating

others, specifically those who are in some way smaller, weaker, and younger or in any way more

vulnerable than the bully This research was heavily dependent on primary resource such as

Questionnaires and Interviews, as well as secondary sources such as websites, books and article.

This was done in order to achieve the aim of this research which is to investigate ways in which the

disciplinary body of Merl Grove High School controls the issue of bullying within the school's

environment and how students are affected by acts of bullying. Therefore, the data derived from these

sources will be elaborated on in this area of the Internal Assessment.

From the data collected, it is evident that majority of the student who participated in this

researcher is of the lower school of grade 7-9 as the age range for these students are ages 11-14.

In Figure 1, the table shows that 13 students are from age 11-14 and 12 are from age 15-18.

While the minority is from the upper school of grades 10-11 as the age range for these students

are ages 15 -18. However, there is just a slight differentiation as the lower school is only one

individual above the upper school. Though persons of the lower school might be beyond the age

of 14 it would still have the majority of the representation as 3 out the 5 grades belonged to the

lower school, which means that their number of representative would be above the upper school.

In Figure 2, the diagrams illustrates the students’ responses to whether they were ever a

bully or not. 5 students responded saying ‘Yes I was once a bully’ and 20 responded saying ‘No I

was never a bully’. It is highly recommendable that 5 person out the 25 persons used as sample

honestly confessed that they were once bullies a point in their lives. That is 1/5 of the whole

sample that participated in this research. The other 20 of the respondents said they were never
bullies which represents 4/5 of the sample population. Maybe, this is because a bully can have

many victims and the population is filled with person who were being bullied than actual bullies

themselves. It is however notable, that the respondents may lie to this questions due to personal

biasness or guilt.

In figure 3, it is evident that majority of the students of Merl Grove High has experienced

some form of bullying as Figure 6 shows that the most common form of bullying the students

experienced are Verbal bullying, Cyberbullying and Physical bulling. According to the graph, 6

students said that they received verbal bullying which represent 25% of the school’s population.

5 students said they received cyberbullying which represents 20% of the school population. 4

students said they received physical bullying which represents 16% of the school population. 0

students said they received sexual bullying which proves that the rate of sexual bullying at Merl

Grove High School is extremely low. This maybe as a result of the lack of masculine figures at

the school as the school is an all-girls institution. Therefore, it is safe to say that 61% and 39%

have not. Hence, it is safe to say that bullying is one of the most common issues at Merl Grove

High School.

In Figure 4, majority of the students said that suspension was the most frequently used

method of punishing bullies. The minority of the students said that detention was used as a

punishment for bullying. The graph unveils that 8 students responded that the school gives order

marks as sanctions for bullying. 2 student responded that the school gives detention as a

sanction. 11 students responded that the school gives suspension as sanction for the act of

bullying. 4 students said that the school gives expulsion as a sanction for bullying at Merl Grove

High School. Therefore, according the majority of the students, to their knowledge the school

gives mostly suspension for the act of bullying at Merl Grove High School.
 In Figure 5, the students responded to the means by which Merl Grove High school

makes the student knowledgeable about bullying being wrong. Based on the graph, majority of

the students agreed that guidance classed is the most frequently used method of educating

students on bullying being wrong. Minority of the sample agreed that posters are the most

frequently used method of educating students on bullying being wrong. The diagram reveals that

11 students agreed that Guidance class is aid in making the school population knowledgeable

about bully being wrong which represents 44% of the sample. 5 students agreed that Signs aided

in making the school population knowledgeable about bullying being wrong which represents

20% of the sample. 4 students agreed that presentations in the assembly aided in making the

school population knowledgeable about bullying being wrong which represents 16% of the

sample. 3 students agreed that speeches from visitors aided in making the school population

knowledgeable about bullying being wrong which represents 12% of the sample. 2 students

agreed that posters aided in making the school population knowledgeable about bullying being

wrong which represents 8% of the sample. This may be because the posters are recognizable

enough for students to acknowledge or read them.

In Figure 6, the students indicated the type of bullying that encountered varying from

cyberbullying, verbal bullying, physical bullying and sexual bullying. Majority of the respondent

agreed that verbal bullying was the most common bullying they received. Minority of student

agreed that physical bullying was the most common type of bullying they received. Fortunately

no student indicated that they were sexually bullied. The graph is a representation of the 15

students who said they were bullied as only these students were able to answer this question.

According to the graph, 6 students said that they received verbal bullying. 5 students said they
received cyberbullying, 4 students said they received physical bullying and 0 students said they

received sexual bullying.

In Figure 7, the students indicated how often they were bullied. Majority of the students

said not at all. This is probably due to the fact that 10 students had indicated that they were never

bullied in question number 4, “Have you ever been bullied?” which represents 40% of the

sample. Minority of the students indicated that they were bullied not so regularly and every other

day as these two options received the same amount of responses.9 students said that they were

everyday which represents 36% of the sample. 2 students said they were bullied not so regular,

another 2 said they were bullied every other day and another 2 said they were bullied once a

week. This represent 8% of the sample for each of these response.

In Figure 8, the students indicated how bullying someone made them feel. This question

was answered by the 5 students who indicated that they have been antagonizers sometime in the

past. Majority of the students said that they felt powerful and good; while the minority said they

felt normal. 2 students said that they felt good after bullying a person and another 2 said they felt

powerful. This represent 40% each of the 5 students from the sample. 1 student said they felt

normal after bullying a person which represents 20% of the sample. 0 students said they felt bad

after bullying which represent 0% of the sample. As a result, it can be concluded that after

bullying most antagonizer feel powerful and good about their actions.

In Figure 9, the students gave their rates to their tolerance to bullying. Majority of the

students had a low tolerance for bullying; while the minority had a high tolerance for bullying.

With reference to the graph 15 students responded with 1 saying that they had an extremely low

tolerance for bullying. 4 students responded with 2 saying they had a low toleration for bullying.

Another 4 students responded saying that they had an averaged toleration for bullying. 2 students
responded with 4 saying that they tolerated bullying; while 0 students responded with 5 saying

that they sought no problem with bullying. Therefore, it can be concluded that majority of the

students who participated in this research had a low tolerance for bullying.

In Figure 10, the students gave their responses to whether or not they spoke up about

being bullied. This question was answered by the 15 students who indicated that they have been

bullied before. Majority of the students indicated that they did; while the minority indicated that

they did not. According to the chart, 9 students said ‘Yes’ they spoke up for themselves; this

represents 60% of the sample. 6 students said ‘No’ they did not speak up for themselves; this

represents 40% of the sample. Thus, it can be conclude that over a half of the students from the

sample spoke up for themselves about being bullied.

 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

According to an article published by Psychology Today entitled “Understanding

Bullying”, “bullying is a distinctive pattern of harming and humiliating others, specifically those

who are in some way smaller, weaker, and younger or in any way more vulnerable than the

bully”. Bullying has become a prevailing issue in secondary schools as the year passes; one such

school is the Merl Grove High School located on constant spring road. Merl Grove High School

is a prestigious institution which offers many educational experiences for secondary school

student in Jamaica. However, over the years it has been struggling with bullying as technology

and society continues to improve. Thus, a well-coordinated research was done to investigate this

matter. During the research many conclusions were made and the topic being studied proved the

evidence of bullying in Merl Grove High school. Therefore, the nature of bullying, the different

sanctions available for an antagonizer; as well as how bullying affects students' social behavior;

and what motivates students to bully each other at Merl Grove High School will be discussed

throughout this section of this internal assessment.

Based on the data retrieved, Merl Grove High school employs a numerous amount of

sanctions. According to Mr. Miller, the Dean of Discipline, “The topic sanctions varies: an

aggressor based on the severity of her case may be dragged to the board and then immediate

expulsion. Aggressors in the form of cyber bullying they are referred to the School Resource

Officer who will bring the matter to the attention of the cyber-crime unit of the JCF, which will

adjudicate over the matter according to find where any breach may arise. Order Marks are given

which are placed on the files of the students which are not expunged. Suspension for a maximum
of nine days; in class suspension, community service, Behavioral Modification Camps inter

alia.” However with reference to Figure 4, it can be concluded that the most common sanction

used is suspension. 11 students said that the most common form of sanction was suspension

which represents 44%, almost a half the sample population. It is quite evident that Merl Grove

High School is effective in sanctioning students for deviant acts such as bullying. However, it is

questionable to why is the school having a reoccurring issues with bullying. The answer lies

within the community, online and peer pressure.

Modern societies are nothing like traditional societies as there are various types of

violence occurring over the past years. These violence may contribute to students becoming

bullies. According to an article by the gleaner, the violence in communities as aided in the

development of bullies within schools. “Jamaica has earned itself a long history of struggle with

violence which sadly, our children have not been immune to experiencing either as a victim or a

perpetrator”. These violence range from domestic violence which occurs in the home and gang

violence which occurs on the streets.

Domestic violence may be harmful to a child as the child may be victim of abuse. It is not

physical violence alone. According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, domestic violence is

defined as any behavior the purpose of which is to gain power and control over a spouse, partner,

girl/boyfriend or intimate family member. For instance, a child seeing his father hit his mother

might see this as right and as a result starts to bully students at school in the same manner he saw

his dad treating his mother. This is a factor of poor parenting as one of a child’s learning

platform is the home. Many sociologists believes that bullying is tied to the parents’ anti-social

behavior as the actions and behaviors portrayed by adults can affect their children’s behaviors.

According to Matt DeLisi, an ISU associate professor of sociology and director of the criminal
justice program, “bullies engaged in problem behaviors that over time, add up. His studies

compares numbers of different kinds of antisocial behaviors with adults who had a history of

bullying and those who did not have a history of bullying”.

In addition, gang violence may also cause a child to become a bully at school, especially

if this child is a part of a community gang. According to the US Legal Dictionary, gang violence

means criminal and non-political acts of violence committed by a group of people who regularly

engage in criminal activity against innocent people. This may affect a child in the sense that the

child may bring what he was thought in the gang (harming innocent persons) to school and

possible physically or verbally bully other innocent students at school. As in reference to

majority of the respondents in Figure 8, bullying makes them feel powerful and good. This is

because this was the way they were grown by society, this is what they know.

Another common contributor to bullying is the rise in the use of the internet and social

media in modern society. According to an article from The Gleaner, by Andrea Martin Swaby,

“cyberbullying has become the most dominant form of bullying in Jamaica”. Cyberbullying is

the use of electronic communication to bully a person, typically by sending messages of an

intimidating or threatening nature. Students now a day are using the internet to target other

students instead of studying and doing homework or projects. Through social media a numerous

amount of students are trolled, called dirty or bad names and have sexual contents of themselves

being exposed to the public. This form of bullying is nothing like the traditional form of bullying

and pose a real cause of concern, as sometimes these bullies are hard to trace as they might use

fake social media accounts to bully another. With reference to Figure 6, 5 students said that they

were cyberbullied. This is 33.3% of the sample which is way too high, as it can be concluded

that 33.3% or even more of the school population receive this form for bullying. Cyberbullying
is one of the worse form of bullying as it becomes a viral or public offence. This means that

thousands of persons could be involved in making a child’s life miserable by circulating the bias

or unwanted content of another student or even making harsh comment about that student.

Peer pressure is another common factor which contributes to students becoming bullies.

According to Mr. Miller, the Dean of Discipline at Merl Grove High School, “Students patronize

and model behavior or social class, background and peer groups are some of the myriad of

factors which stem to bullying in school”. Peer pressure is a feeling that one must do the same

things as other people of one's age and social group in order to be liked or respected by them.

Students may believe that becoming a “class clown” or a person who humiliates the vulnerable

may get the majority of his peers to like him. This is also bullying as the perpetrator in this case

is making another person’s life miserable by verbally bullying for the entertainment of others. In

fact with reference to Figure 6, verbal bullying is the most common form of bullying present at

Merl Grove High School as 6 students said they were verbally bullied which is 40% of the

sample. Thus it can be concluded that verbal bullying is the most common form of bullying at

Merl Grove High School.

Consequently, bullying may affect students in a numerous amount of ways depending on

the individual. Being bullied can hold a psychological toll on students which results in isolation,

low self-esteem, bad moods, depression, substance abuse, and self-arm. According to an article

from nobullying.com, entitled “Discover the Psychological Effects of Bullying”, self- harm can

take the forms such as cutting, persistent scratching, skin picking, choking oneself, burning

oneself, substance abuse, reckless behavior, eating disorders and possible suicide. This can be

deemed as unbearable for family members and create a shock in society to know that bullying

can cause one to do such grievous acts to themselves. After being bullied students feel
unimportant, unwanted, humiliated, embarrassed, disrespected and depressed. Bullying may

cause students to become socially unstable, having no friends, not participating in class activities

etc. According to Mrs. Hunter, the guidance counsellor of Merl Grove High School, “the

students that I have interacted with within my seven years who have been victims of bullying are

usually depressed, they hate coming to school, they sometimes can't focus on their academics,

sometimes they become angry and very aggressive and there are times when they become

withdrawn.” Therefore, bullying may change a child’s life drastically especially if the bullying is

prolonged.
 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, According to an article published by Psychology Today entitled

“Understanding Bullying”, “bullying is a distinctive pattern of harming and humiliating others,

specifically those who are in some way smaller, weaker, and younger or in any way more

vulnerable than the bully”. Based on the data collected, it is safe to say that the sanctions used by

Merl Grove High School is efficient for the deviant action of bullying. However, the data proved

that they are not deterring the students from bullying as it is a matter of society, the internet and

peer pressure that are influencing students to bully. Merl Grove High School employs sanctions

such as order marks, detention, community services, suspension and expulsion. However

expulsion is rarely used. Therefore it can be concluded that Merl Grove High School needs to get

rid of bullies by implementing stricter sanctions such as expulsion on a regular bases in order to

reduce the issue of bullying within the school environment. As bullying is a deviant act which

may change a student’s life forever and needs to be stopped before it is too late.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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