Physical Bullying in Guyanese Schools: Prevalence and Intervention Strategies – Head Teachers’ and Teachers’ Perspectives

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine how head teachers and teachers viewed the
prevalence of physical bullying in their schools. Additionally, the study sought to investigate head
teachers and teachers’ perspectives on the effectiveness of adult supervision, speaking with the bully
and the victim, and communicating with the parents of the bully and victim in decreasing physical
bullying in four government schools within the Central Corentyne area of Guyana. The study
comprised sixteen teachers from both primary and secondary schools. The data indicated that
participants felt that physical bullying was prevalent in the four schools regardless of the extent of
prevalence. The data also indicated that participants were of the view that all three strategies had a
positive effective in combating physical bullying in the four schools. The most effective strategies were
adult supervision and speaking with the bully and the victim. The least effective strategy was
communicating with the parents of the bully and victim about the bullying incidents. The findings of
this research are very significant to Guyana. It is significant to Guyana because it provides landmark
data on physical bullying prevalence and intervention strategies that have been used by Guyanese
teachers and head teachers to combat physical bullying. This information can be used by educators to
make informed decisions relating to bullying prevention.