Bullying in Lithuanian schools in 1994–2002

Apolinaras Zaborskis, Lina Cirtautienė, Nida Žemaitienė

Institute for Biomedical Research, Kaunas University of Medicine, Lithuania

Key words: children, teenagers, bullying, boys, girls, school.

Summary. This study provides overview of the extent of bullying in Lithuanian primary and secondary schools using findings from the 2002 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC): WHO Collaborative Cross-National Study. This study examined the prevalence of being bullied and bullying others among 11-, 13- and 15-year-old children. The study was based on the data of three surveys conducted in Lithuania in 1994, 1998 and 2002. The results showed that 36% of boys and 32% of girls were bullied and 40% of boys and 28% of girls were bulling others at least two times a month in the previous couple of months. There was a significant difference in responses according to the living place – higher percentage of pupils living in village reported being bullied as compared with pupils living in town. The extent of bullying among school pupils was similar in 1994–2002. This study showed that the highest percentage of bullying was in Lithuania.

Conclusion. This study showed that the highest percentage of bullying was in Lithuania. Thus, bullying is a psychological and pedagogical problem connected with public health. It must be solved by various professionals immediately.

Correspondence to A. Zaborskis, Institute for Biomedical Research, Kaunas University of Medicine, Eivenių 4, 50009 Kaunas, Lithuania. E-mail: socped@kmu.lt

Received 4 March 2005, accepted 22 June 2005