Einelti og brotthvarf úr námi : framhaldsmenntun þolenda

Abstract

Einelti hefur verið tengt við ýmsar neikvæðar afleiðingar. Rannsóknir hafa bent til þess að þolendur eineltis séu með lægri meðaleinkunn og séu líklegri til þess að hverfa frá námi en aðrir. Skýr tengsl hafa fundist milli eineltis og andlegra erfiðleika þolenda. Þegar vandinn er skoðaður út frá sjónarhóli skólakerfisins þá hafa rannsóknir einnig leitt það í ljós að andlegir erfiðleikar nemenda gera þeim erfiðara fyrir í námi. Þessi rannsókn studdist við hentugleikaúrtak 402 þátttakenda á aldrinum 18 til 75 ára, 72 karla og 330 kvenna. Aðaláherslan var lögð á að skoða samband þess að hafa verið þolandi eineltis og þess að hætta í námi án framhaldsmenntunar. Einnig var skoðað hvort fylgni væri milli tímalengdar eineltisins og þess að hætta í námi, hvort fólk teldi að eineltið hafði haft áhrif á að þau hættu í námi án framhaldsmenntunar eða verið lengur að ljúka námi.Niðurstöðurnar leiddu í ljós að marktækur munur var á hlutfalli þeirra sem hafa enga framhaldsmenntun eftir því hvort fólk hafði lent í einelti eða ekki, en þeir sem höfðu lent í einelti voru 133% líklegri en aðrir til þess að hafa enga framhaldsmenntun. Marktækur munur viðhélst þrátt fyrir að fjarlægðir væru þátttakendur sem mátu námsgetu sína almennt undir meðallagi. Einnig kom í ljós að 67,2% þeirra sem höfðu lent í einelti og voru lengur að klára nám tengdu það þó nokkuð eða meira við eineltið og 90% þeirra sem höfðu hætt í námi án framhaldsmenntunar tengdu það þó nokkuð eða meira við eineltið. Sterk fylgni var milli tímalengdar eineltis og líkum á því að hafa hætt í nám án framhaldsmenntunar. Lykilorð: Einelti, brotthvarf, vanlíðan, námsárangur.

Bullying has been connected to various negative outcomes for the victims.Studies have for example shown that the victims of bullying have lower gradesand have higher dropout rates than students that have not been bullied. A clearconnection has been found between bullying and psychological difficultiesamong the victims. When this psychological distress is considered from thepoint of view of the educational system, it is clear that these various mentaldifficulties can decrease the odds of academic success for the student suffering.It is therefore possible that when people are struggling or failing in schoolbecause of psychological difficulties, it could in some cases be traced back toan experience with being bullied at some point in their lives.This study used a convenience sampling of 402 participant from the ageof 18 to 75 years old, 72 males participated in the study and 330 females. Themain focus was to look at the relationship between being bullied at some pointand dropping out of school without finishing some sort of degree after thecompulsory education in Iceland is over (10th grade). Another area of studywas whether there was a correlation between the duration of the bullying andthe odds of dropping out without a degree. Participants were also asked toevaluate whether they felt that their experience of being bullied had anythingto do with the fact that they didn’t continue their education. Those who didfinish some kind of further education but took longer to finish it than thestandard time would predict, were also asked if they believed that the fact thatthey were bullied had something to do with them taking a longer time to finishtheir education.The results of this study showed that there was a significant differencebetween those who had been bullied and those who had not when it came towhether or not they finished any further education after the compulsoryeducation ended. Those who had been bullied were 133% more likely thanothers to not have any further education. The difference remained significanteven when participants who believed their academic abilities were belowaverage were removed from the sample. Meaning that even when we only lookat people who should have the academic ability to get a further education, therewas still a significant difference in the proportion of people who dropped out without obtaining a degree. A significant difference was found for the entiregroup, but also for men and women separately. Women were 109% more likelyto be without further education if they had been bullied and the men were 163%more likely to be without further education than men who had not been bullied.When this was considered based on the duration of the bullying, theresults showed that there was a strong and significant correlation (r = 0.66)between the duration and the odds of finishing some kind of further educationafter the compulsory education.When it comes to how long it took people to finish their education, theresults showed that 67,2% of people who had both been bullied and took longerto finish their degrees believed that the bullying did play a considerable role inthe delay.An astonishing total of 90% of those who had dropped out of schoolwithout finishing any degree and had been bullied at some point, believed thatthe fact that they were bullied played a considerable role, directly or indirectly,in their drop out.This study supports the view that bullying in schools is a serious matterthat the educational system needs to pay special attention to. Seeing thecorrelation so clearly between a history of bullying and dropping out of schoolwithout a degree calls for a strong prevention and intervention plan.Keywords: Bullying, dropout, education, psychological distress.