Case Study of Knowledge, Perceptions, and Attitudes of Middle School Teachers Towards Cyberbullying

The availability of electronic devices and the increased use, as well as accessibility to social media, has provided students a new venue for bullying, known as cyberbullying (Ang, 2015). While several researchers have examined students', preservice and high school teachers' perceptions about cyberbullying, there is a critical gap in the literature regarding middle school teachers' perceptions. This dissertation is a qualitative case study examining middle school teachers' knowledge of cyberbullying and cyberbullying events, their attitudes about cyberbullying, and their perceptions about the severity and occurrence in their building. Twelve middle school teachers from a suburban middle school located in central New Jersey participated in semi-structured interviews and a mini-focus group. Data from archival documents and interviews was imported into Dedoose(c) and was numerically coded, segmented into themes and patterns, then categorized according to themes and patterns that summarized the content. The results indicated teachers perceive cyberbullying is a serious problem but due to the covert nature of cyberbullying, it is difficult for teachers to recognize that it is occurring or to determine the extent of cyberbullying. Finally, teachers expressed having first hand awareness of this issue would help them identify bullies and victims and give them the tools to intervene. Based on these findings, recommendations include finding time for meaningful professional development, training for parents, and providing teachers with recent data, curricular materials, and knowledge about cyberbullying cases in the building. Future research could include a comparative study of the knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of all three middle schools towards cyberbullying or to include administrators and child study team members from the research site in this study.