Education Commons^™

Views Of Catholic Middle School Students On Handling Peer Aggression, Ishita Khemka, Linda Hickson, Lina Gilic

Journal of Catholic Education

Peer aggression toward peers who are perceived as weaker or different is a widespread problem for middle-school students including those attending Catholic middle schools. Middle school students’ normative beliefs about the acceptability of various types of aggressive behavior influences their own potential involvement in bullying or as bystanders to bullying in school environments. This study examined decision-making preferences of 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th grade girls and boys for how they thought a targeted peer (from a vulnerable group) should handle a situation of physical, verbal, or cyber aggression. Significant gender, grade and type of peer …