Peer bullying according to the opinions of school counselors: Türkiye–France example

Abstract

School counselors play an important role in detecting and resolving peer bullying, which is commonly seen in schools. Many characteristics of school counselors, such as their perspective on peer bullying, the communication they provide with students, their observation skills, and their position in the school, are effective factors on these challenging experiences of students. This research aimed to examine the views of school counselors working in Türkiye and France regarding peer bullying. The research is a qualitative study and its participants consist of a total of 24 school counselors, 12 counselors working in Türkiye and 12 counselors working in France. Research participants were determined by purposeful sampling method. The data was obtained from the participants through a semi-structured interview form and the data obtained was subjected to content analysis with the MAXQDA 2020 program. According to the research results, participants defined peer bullying as interpersonal power imbalance, violence, and aggression. Participants as reasons for peer bullying; they stated several factors such as digital content creating a negative example, lack of empathy, poor communication skills, individual differences, and psychological problems. Finally, the participants aimed at solving peer bullying. They made suggestions such as providing individual counseling to students, increasing cooperation between school and family, and training all stakeholders against bullying. As a result, the problem of peer bullying in schools negatively affects students physically, socially, and psychologically, and there is a need for collaborative work by all stakeholders to solve this problem in order to raise healthy generations.